[clevfan]

Judge backs state law against online poker

By VANESSA HO
P-I REPORTER

KENT -- A King County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of upholding a state law Friday that bans Internet gambling in a widely watched case filed by a Renton poker player last year.

Lee Rousso had argued that the law, which makes online gambling a Class C felony, violates the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause.

Rousso, a lawyer, is the director of the Washington state chapter of the Poker Players Alliance, a national group that promotes the game. After the hearing, nearly 70 poker enthusiasts, many of them members of the group, rallied outside the Maleng Regional Justice Center. Undeterred by Judge Mary Robert's decision, they vowed to continue fighting the law, through an appeal and the Legislature.