Online poker players in the State of Washington have reason to look on the bright side after a bill to regulate Internet poker was prefiled last Friday.

Those players, many of whom currently access offshore sites according to the proposal, are committing a crime when doing so. Washington State has a 2006 statute on the books that makes playing online poker a felony.

Apparently, that law has never been enforced, and it never will be if House Bill 1114 as introduced by Rep. Sherry Appleton finds enough ‘aye’ votes from state legislators. HB 1114 was filed in advance of the legislature’s 2015 regular session.

Player protections