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Coarse Bung
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06-07-2006, 08:06 PM
Post subject: I am Now a Felon
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#1 (permalink)
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 20
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I live in Washington state. Earlier today I played a $2 turbo re-buy Texas Hold'em tournament at pokerroom.com. As of today, playing online poker for real money is a class C felony in Washington, leaving me open to a fine of up to $10,000 and a prison term of up to 5 years. What complete BS.
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fjuanl
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4-of-a-Kind
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,446
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either the second choice or move out of washington
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theDEEPdish
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Straight
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: in a van by the river
Posts: 236
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meh class c felonys rarely get that harsh of punishments and you can fight this and will probably win, if I lived in washington i would continue to play
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WhooFleuryScores
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Full House
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 918
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Move to either:
1)New England
2)Florida
3) Southern California.
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Coarse Bung
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 20
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I'm hoping this gets taken up by the state Supreme Court and overturned; but I'm not hopeful. Washington State is turning into the nanniest nanny-state around lately. Cigar bars were recently banned as part of the statewide anti-smoking initiative. Land of the Free? Hardly. Moving elsewhere may end up being the best option.
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Eric
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Administrator
Administrator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: on my laptop
Posts: 1,782
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Moving might not be a bad idea.
On a side note, I hope you don't live near Mount Rainier. The Discovery Channel said that unlike Mount St. Helens, Mout Rainier is near populated areas and a lot of people could be in serious danger when the volcano erupts...
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Awaji E
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Japan
Posts: 61
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How could you get caught playing online poker. Is there some way for police to know you're on a poker site. And couldn't you just say, "I was only doing the play-money tables." Could they track you by Neteller transactions?
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Chicago_Kid
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Full House
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: People let me tell you about my best friends...
Posts: 1,132
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by theDEEPdish
meh class c felonys rarely get that harsh of punishments and you can fight this and will probably win, if I lived in washington i would continue to play
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Ok conclusion, crazy logic. A felony can really hurt your chances of legit jobs and such, no matter what the class. If you are young and in school, take every precaution to avoid getting caught, or move if you are really serious about online poker.
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"Been gone so long, forgot how to poker"
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bigred
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PROFESSIONAL TROLL
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Nest of Douchebags
Posts: 2,184
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"I'm gonna go ahead and tell you to rebel against the law and take a stand because hey, it's not illegal where I am and it's easy for me to be vicariously rebel!"
I don't think this legislation will stand for long but I would be a little more cautious than most are advising. I agree with CK on this one.
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LOL OPERATIONS
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Pelion
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4-of-a-Kind
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 3,206
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They "should" just ignore it. If everyone ignores it then it goes away.
However if I actually lived there id be far more cautious. Its probably better to wait and see how seriously the courts are taking this before you risk a criminal record ... unless you just want to look 'ard.
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gabe: Ive dropped almost 100k in the past 35 days.
bigspenda73: But how much did you win?
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Greedo017
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Full House
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: wearing the honors of honor and whatnot
Posts: 1,461
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from my understanding, they made this change with no changes to enforcement. So online poker was also a crime before and you are just as likely to be arrested today as you were 2 months ago.
that said, i wouldn't just brush it off. I would only play in the privacy of my house, i wouldn't talk much about it unless with close friends, and I wouldn't make any big deposits to/from pokery type places from my bank account, though that's probably less detectable.
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i betcha that i got something you ain't got, that's called courage, it don't come from no liquor bottle, it ain't scotch
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jameseyb
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Straight
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Sapley, Cambs.
Posts: 169
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I thought the US was a democracy? Can you not just start a huge petition and get the law repealed?
Grass roots is the way forward!
J
p.s. I feel for you. We have our share of stupid laws in the UK (one introduced specifically to stop a single person protesting about the war in Iraq) and none of them ever get dropped.
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EricE
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Full House
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 894
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Greedo017
from my understanding, they made this change with no changes to enforcement. So online poker was also a crime before and you are just as likely to be arrested today as you were 2 months ago.
that said, i wouldn't just brush it off. I would only play in the privacy of my house, i wouldn't talk much about it unless with close friends, and I wouldn't make any big deposits to/from pokery type places from my bank account, though that's probably less detectable.
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That is my understanding also. The wire act made gambling over phone lines illegal in 1968. So they could have arrested people under the wire act if they cared. I don’t think they care. This was mainly a move to make sure the Indian casinos don’t setup domestic poker sites. That’s my $.02.
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Stakes: Playing $0.10/$0.25 NL
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LimpinAintEZ
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Flush
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: working myself up to FTR fullhouse status while not giving 1 solid piece of advice
Posts: 591
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domestic sites from casinos? No - the entire problem with it is that they can't control the offshore accounts, hence they can't tax it - Thats it - Plus the casino's all want the players to come and play in their casinos (especially since poker is SO damn big now)...Remember, Horse Racing is still legal as well as the lottery in Washington - The only reason they have no problem with that gambling (and really, those are the purest forms of just Gambling around anymore) because they are already regulating it -
I removed all poker programs from work and i'm not playing here at lunch anymore - I still plan on playing at home...But it's sickening that someone can get caught for Drunk Driving and face LESS of a penalty than if i'm sitting online in a $25NL poker game....
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LimpinAintEZ
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Flush
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: working myself up to FTR fullhouse status while not giving 1 solid piece of advice
Posts: 591
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im not sure why the poker rooms are so worried anyway - Playing live is a blast - Raking in huge pots of real chips is a thrill that you cannot replace online - I can't see live games ever going under - but when they have $4 of rake every pot it gets a little expensive to play 3/6 or 4/8 even....
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Irisheyes
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4-of-a-Kind
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: over there
Posts: 3,708
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Move up to $100 SnGs obv.
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AceRagSuited
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 26
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Eric
Moving might not be a bad idea.
On a side note, I hope you don't live near Mount Rainier. The Discovery Channel said that unlike Mount St. Helens, Mout Rainier is near populated areas and a lot of people could be in serious danger when the volcano erupts...
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I know I don't want to be anywhere near Mount Raymer when he erupts, I bet he eats a lot.
</bad joke>
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givememyleg
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WHO YA GONNA CALL?!??
Administrator
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: ISHPERMING MISHIGEN
Posts: 5,040
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by AceRagSuited
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Eric
Moving might not be a bad idea.
On a side note, I hope you don't live near Mount Rainier. The Discovery Channel said that unlike Mount St. Helens, Mout Rainier is near populated areas and a lot of people could be in serious danger when the volcano erupts...
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I know I don't want to be anywhere near Mount Raymer when he erupts, I bet he eats a lot.
</ VERY bad joke> |
FYP
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mrhappy333
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Full House
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Hartford, CT
Posts: 1,078
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You should stop playing, and transfer your money to my account, only because It's ok for me to play in CT.
Just kidding. I don't know what I would do..I stole some car rims when I was 17 and got a class D felony, I'm 34 now and it's still on my record. It's a pain in my ass...I can't believe they made it a felony to play cards!! It's ok to shoot heroin or snort coke, thats probly just a misdemeanor.This isn't a free country anymore..It's only a free country so long as you do as your told.
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3 3 3 I'm only half evil.
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givememyleg
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WHO YA GONNA CALL?!??
Administrator
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: ISHPERMING MISHIGEN
Posts: 5,040
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We're all living in America, Coca Cola, Wonderbra....
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"The Dragon in My Garage" by Carl Sagan
I say onto you, I've felt the dragon! I felt the touch of his tail, the breath of his fire, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that the dragon exists!
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05-26-2012, 03:08 PM Australia Legalized Online Poker coming up in next 6 to 12 Months
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