"No" to Online Poker?

While lawmakers in Washington continue to argue over if, how and when to implement laws reforming the previous administration’s stance regarding online poker, several states have jump-started the process and have begun to explore developing their own online poker presences for their state residents.

However, there are still several states that have resisted the urge to jump on the online poker bandwagon.  Here is a look at the five states least likely to legalize online poker.

#5 Hawaii
In light of the tragedy in Japan, and the lost tourist revenue for the state, Hawaii legislators recently proposed a bill that would legalize online poker.  However, the bill is expected to lose steam in the Senate.  Also, the state has no infrastructure to regulate land-based casinos, as it relies heavily on tax revenues generated by tourists visiting from throughout the Mainland and around the Pacific Rim.

#4 Texas
In an ironic twist, players living in the birthplace of “Texas Holdem” cannot legally play the game online.  As one of the richest states in the Union, Texas does not have a budget crisis on the scale of California or Nevada and, therefore, does not feel the urgency to legalize online poker.  Also, many of the ultra-conservative politicians in the state vehemently opposed a 2009 measure that would legalize the game, in spite of testimony from such poker luminaries as Howard Lederer and Annie Duke.

#3 Washington State
Last year, the Washington State Supreme Court upheld a law that made playing online poker a Class C felony.  The punishment for such illicit activity is comparable to that for possession of child pornography. Margarita Prentice, one of the legislators behind the 2006 law, said that the arguments for legal online poker “are utter nonsense.”  She also denigrated the pros that make their living through online poker, including World Series of Poker standout and Seattle native Matt Affleck, telling them to “go pump gas.”

#2 South Carolina
In 2005, police in South Carolina raided a private poker game under an 1802 law that states that “any game (played) with cards or dice” is illegal.  Also, the law bans “any machine or device … used for gambling purposes”.  Another part of the same law prohibits playing any game “on the Sabbath”.  Under a strict interpretation, the South Carolina law would send an entire family to jail for playing Monopoly on a Sunday afternoon.  As long as such archaic and draconian laws are on the books, South Carolinians will not have the legal right to play online poker

#1 Utah
Utah is one of only two states (along with the aforementioned Hawaii) that have no forms of legal gambling.  The state has no horse tracks, slot parlors, card rooms, or even a state lottery.  The vast majority of state legislators are members of the Mormon church, which prohibits such activities for all of its adherents.  While these church members maintain their grip on the political power (and purse strings) of the state, Utahans will have to move to nearby Nevada to partake in online poker when and if that state legalizes the game.
 

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