The Washington Supreme Court has rejected the central argument according to which PokerStars had kept providing real-money online poker for the residents of the state. This had been the legal opinion that „the state could not constitutionally regulate Internet poker, or at least could not discriminate in favour of local cardrooms and against online sites.” After the decision of the Supreme Court, however, PS now ceases to allow Washington players to play at their tables: “In light of this decision, following extensive consultation with our legal advisors, we believe that the right course of action is to now block real money play by Washington residents on the PokerStars.com site. This policy will remain in effect until the law changes or subsequent legal challenges succeed.”
At the same time, Denmark seems to have chosen to embrace a more progressive approach. While the government realised the need to regulate the industry, letting international providers into the country is considered, as opposed to Italy or France. This way the draft favours the consumers and not the state monopoly: “In terms of poker, it’s proposed operators can still keep international liquidity, unlike Italy and France, which makes it much easier for us to set up, and for the Danish consumer, it is going to be much more positive. I think the Danish Gambling Board saw early on in the process that running a ring-fenced poker network based on 5.5 million people would be very unattractive for Danish poker players,” Ladbrokes Nordic Country Manager for Denmark Richardt Funch told eGR.
Interesting chapters in the very recent history of online poker regulation, we shall see which one is going to have a greater effect on the worldwide process.
At the same time, Denmark seems to have chosen to embrace a more progressive approach. While the government realised the need to regulate the industry, letting international providers into the country is considered, as opposed to Italy or France. This way the draft favours the consumers and not the state monopoly: “In terms of poker, it’s proposed operators can still keep international liquidity, unlike Italy and France, which makes it much easier for us to set up, and for the Danish consumer, it is going to be much more positive. I think the Danish Gambling Board saw early on in the process that running a ring-fenced poker network based on 5.5 million people would be very unattractive for Danish poker players,” Ladbrokes Nordic Country Manager for Denmark Richardt Funch told eGR.
Interesting chapters in the very recent history of online poker regulation, we shall see which one is going to have a greater effect on the worldwide process.
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