The State of Washington shuts Down Betcha.com

The state of Washington (in the United States) has become notorious for having a strict platform against online gambling. Washington has the strictest laws against online poker out of any of the 50 US states, and they don’t look kindly upon any other form of gambling either. This was recently proven when Washington lawmakers decided to shut down Seattle-based bookmaker Betcha.com.

Betcha.com was one of the most promising online sportsbooks in the business since they allowed bets on almost anything. Betcha didn’t relegate gambling to just sports since customers could also place bets on politics or even obscure things such as whether or not there would be a full moon. Other features of Betcha.com were that gamblers could wager up to $1,000 on a single bet, and they could also opt not to pay a losing wager (though this would negatively affect their rating).

Unfortunately for Betcha.com, they didn’t get to operate for very long when the state of Washington ruled that Betcha was operating illegally. Before, Betcha.com thought they were safe because losing bettors had the option to not pay their debts. But according to the Washington Supreme Court, simply giving people the option on paying losing wagers does not void the fact that Betcha was making a profit off of gambling. According to Justice Tom Chambers, “Under the statutory definition of bookmaking, it is immaterial whether or not Betcha users were engaged in gambling activity.”

Seeing as how Washington is so tough on internet gambling, it didn’t seem like Betcha.com had much of a chance of surviving. The only forms of gambling that Washington allows includes tribal casinos and low stakes cardrooms. Online bookmakers and poker rooms are definitely not on the list of acceptable gambling, and those caught playing in this state can even do jail time.