Flush(ed): Online gambling banned in Washington state

Beginning next month, Washington residents who play poker or make most other types of wagers on the Internet will be committing a Class C felony, equivalent under the law to possessing child pornography, threatening the governor or torturing an animal.

Gambling Commission Director Rick Day and Prentice, who sponsored the legislation, said the law is necessary, partly to protect the gamblers themselves.

Online poker games invite organized crime and money laundering, they said, and it's easier for dishonest players to collude against unsuspecting opponents. And when online gambling operators refuse to pay winners their proceeds, some gamblers have said there is little recourse.

It's also as addictive as other forms of gambling, they add, and more accessible to minors.

If I were a television producer, I might jump on the next big series. It's an organized crime drama run by 17-year-old online poker mafiosos. They have to battle the Washington state police and the big poker sites' anti-collusion software. Instead of guns and knives, they use weapons like poker-playing bots and IP spoofers. Maybe the title of the show would be El33t C4rd Sh4rkz