Washington State’s ban on internet gambling may be excluding gamblers in neighbouring states to
Media in Seattle picked up on a Part Time Poker story this week regarding the extension of the tough Washington State ban on internet poker beyond the state's borders, thanks to geo-locating technology.
Washington State, which supports almost every other form of gambling, has the dubious reputation of boasting some of the most stringent anti-internet gambling laws in America – laws that include penalising individual players as if they were Felony C criminals.
Seattle blogger Curtis Cartier picked up the tale of a smart phone user outside Washington State who tried to connect with the Rush Poker site but was blocked by geo-locating exclusion.
He was told that other players in regions surrounding Washington State had also been affected by the restrictions
"This is due to the Geo-IP currently in use by your Internet Service Provider. Your Geo-IP holds the information that determines where our gaming platform will define as your geographical location and unfortunately your current Geo-IP is being identified as Washington State," he was informed.
"Your Geo-IP address is assigned solely by your Internet Service Provider and only they have the authority to modify this.
"We understand that this is very inconvenient but unfortunately Full Tilt Poker have no control over your advertised Geo-IP.
"As such; we strongly suggest contacting your Internet Service Provider and requesting that your Geo-IP be changed to reflect your true location. If this is not possible, the only other suggestion we can offer would be contacting an alternative Internet Service Provider."
The Seattle blogger observed that it is at present not clear how widespread the problem is, but considering that it's not uncommon to see IP addresses register a user as being hundreds of miles from where they actually are, it's likely an occurrence we'll see more of.
Cartier concluded with an apology: "So, on behalf of Washington: sorry, rest of the nation. We suck!"
