Need advice about online gambling laws

[Third Eye Open]

So in Washington state it is a felony to gamble on line. It is ok in a real casino, but the stakes are too high and its too smokey for my tastes

I am wondering if anyone savvy with the law knows of any loopholes. Some people have told me that if you use a reloadable debit card you will be safe, but I'm not convinced.

I asked on another site and got this answer:

You should be able to use a regular credit card with few or no problems.

There are no laws that prohibit playing poker online, even for cash. No one has ever been arrested for playing poker for real money online. You should not have any fear of playing poker for cash online.

There was a law that was passed in October of 2006 called the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which disallows transferring money from an American financial institution to an internet gambling site, but this does not put the consumer (you) at risk. Only the banks that transfer money to the gaming sites would be at risk.

Ironically, since the law was passed, it has become easier to make a deposit on a poker site. Before the UIGEA was passed, most deposits went through a third party ewallet site called NETELLER (the PayPal of online gaming sites). Credit card deposits were only available to non-US players. Now, credit card deposits are the primary method for getting money on poker sites.

Also note that this does not prohibit money from flowing in the other direction. If a poker site sends you a check, you can cash it with no problems at all.

But this seems to be referring to the federal law, and not the WA specific one. Does this apply to the WA one?

Also, several people have been telling me that no one has been arrested for online gambling, and that there are so many people doing it that the odds of me being caught are very low. But how low? If they are lottery low, then I may go for it, but I really don't want to risk being a felon!

Any info is greatly appreciated!

 

[Brainster]

If it's a felony to gamble online in your state, you should not do it.

 

[uk_dave]

Interestingly, the National Lottery in the UK is having to make an effort to advise that playing the lottery online from some countries (including the US) would be illegal and therefore no prize could be claimed.

Which would be a real bugger if you hit the jackpot!!

I've played the UK lottery online a number of times while in the US and just figured that so long as you didn't claim your prize until you returned home (and would be difficult to do otherwise) you'd be okay, but I assume that the IP of the computer you accessed the site from would be recorded.

Though since, as a UK citizen residing in the UK I am entirely eliigible to play the Lottery and could pre-purchase tickets prior to travelling overseas, I can only assume that it is the contravention of another country's laws which makes your purchase void.

or sumfin'

 

[dtugg]

According the Washington State Gambling Commission, online gambling is a class C felony.

A bill was passed during the 2006 Legislative Session changing the penalty for Internet gambling from a gross misdemeanor to a class C felony. The bill became effective June 7, 2006.

However, they don't actively go after players and if a player's name was found from the seized records of an operator he/she would likely get a warning in the mail for a first offense.

Enforcement is focused on larger, higher level Internet gambling activities, such as gambling sites and service providers.

Players gambling on the Internet, whether playing poker, slots or other gambling games, run a risk of a felony conviction. If players’ names appear in an operator’s seized records, the Gambling Commission would likely send the player a warning letter, notifying them that betting on the Internet is a felony. If a player’s name appears again, charges may be filed. There is not an active campaign against regular players.

It seems extremely unlikely (very close to zero chance) that they would be able to sieze records of an operator in the first place because all of the sites are located outside of the United States.

I don't think there is any real risk that you would become a convicted felon by gambling online.


Source

 

[Third Eye Open]

thanks for the info dtugg! so sounds like if I stay under the radar and don't win to much that I have to fill out a tax form I should be alright?

 

[funk de fino]

Land of the free!!