WA State Seizes Funds From Poker Payout Accounts

WA State Seizes Funds From Poker Payout Accounts - Image via Wikipedia
Online poker players have a new reason to be nervous in Washington State. The state has recently brought a 2006 law which prohibits online gambling under the spotlight. The 2006 law makes it illegal to play poker online in Washington, and along with that receive payments from online gaming profits.
Forbes reported lately that “nearly $8 million” in funds related to online poker was seized from payment processors by Washington State Federal Prosecutors. Banks accounts involved in the seizure came from JP Morgan Chase & Co, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo and Co. Online poker sites such as Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars use payment processors to forward account funds to online players. Forbes also reported that the payment processors affected in the sting were Arrow Checks, Etegrity Processing, Secure Money and Anaya Trading Solutions. Also included was Blue Lake Capital Management and Logistics.
Top online poker sites PokerStars and Full Tilt have addressed the crackdown of the WA law recently with drastic measures. Both have both pulled out of Washington in a couple of different ways. PokerStars blocked all accounts and IP addresses from Washington state from accessing the site. Full Tilt Poker kept the WA player’s accounts open, but they are not able to log in from an IP address in Washington.
Other online sites such as Ultimate Bet and Carbon Poker have not made any changes or attempts to stop WA poker players from accessing their sites. As state prosecutors get more aggressive with enforcing the law, players may find it too difficult to continue with sites still offering play however.

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