Eric Persson, the Maverick Gaming CEO and a poker player to boot, is one of many who voiced their concern about the alleged bias the Washington State Gambling Commission has against non-tribal card rooms in the state.
In the commission's public meeting in May, multiple casino employees and managers, including Persson, claimed that the commission is favoring tribal gaming interests while harming other local businesses.
Find out exactly what has been going on and what Persson claims is happening in poker rooms across the state in the Everygame Poker news report.
What Happened in Washington?
The Evergreen State is one of the states with the strictest regulations regarding gambling of all forms, including sweepstakes casinos. Lately, some card room owners have been claiming that those regulations are unfair and that they favor tribal casinos over other venues.
Natalie Easter, a representative of a coalition of card room employees and owners, said that there has been a dramatic decline in licensed house-banked card rooms, going from 100 to fewer than 40. As a result, thousands of people lost their jobs, affecting small businesses and working-class families.
Some pointed fingers at the states' self-exclusion (SE) program. The program, implemented in May of 2022, allows individuals to submit a form to voluntarily exclude themselves from all house-banked card rooms across the state. Once enrolled in the SE program, gamblers can't place bets at Washington venues, and they can't ask for early removal from the program.
However, at this moment in time, tribal casinos are not participating in the SE program. That means that while some people can't gamble at most poker venues, they can still place bets at tribal casinos, rendering the program ineffective.
Carter Heel went even further by accusing a couple of commissioners of having conflicts of interest that compromise their ability to make regulatory decisions. According to Heel, Bud Ipsen had accepted campaign contributions from tribal entities in the past, and Commissioner Julia Charles consistently voted against measures that could help the gambling field remain competitive.
He said: "… commissioner Charles claims to care about the jobs and livelihoods of card room employees yet consistently votes against every petition aimed at allowing house-banked card rooms to grow, always siding instead with tribal competitors."
In light of this information, Eric Persson decided to submit a formal ethics complaint to the Washington State Attorney General.
Reports state that when faced with said allegations, the commission's heads pushed back strongly, stating that any concerns about an individual member of the commission should be handled by the Governor's office and that the public meeting wasn't the right forum for that discussion.
In Conclusion
If the claims made at the latest meeting are true, the future of poker, and gambling in general, in the state of Washington is facing some serious challenges.
However, if the right people keep fighting for equality, things are bound to straighten themselves out.