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Protecting State Interests

If you were to ask a legislator in Washington State why the online casino gambling industry is illegal in the state they would likely either give a sputtering response or begin defensive claims about the dangers of internet gambling – and some politicians are actually wholly ignorant to the situation and have very little awareness of the big debate going on right now. The fact is, the situation in Washington State is very transparent, the online casinos and internet poker sites are wholly illegal throughout the state as a way to protect state land gambling interests. That’s it. That’s essentially the whole reason why an online gambler in Washington could face some hefty jail time, because the state makes a whole lot of money from the highly regulated land gambling industry.

Washington State has made internet gambling a felony offense within the state which is certainly punishable by jail time and potentially a huge fine as well. The entire situation though seems a bit absurd – a *felony* offense? Really? For gambling at the online casinos in a state that already has a huge and developed land gambling industry? The state of Washington receives tax revenues from the state land gambling interests as well as tribal gambling in the state and there is a very real fear in the state government that the online casino industry would negate and lower some of the profit margins and revenue for the legal land gambling industry.

But then you listen to the Washington politicians speak about why the ban is in place and they mention the dangers of online casinos, the difficulty in effectively regulating, the threat to potential underage gamblers even. No where in these discussions are mention of the indisputable fact that the legislation was put in place as a protectionist law for the state’s land gambling interests.