Rousso Is Getting Close to Court

April 15, 2008

Lou Rousso is getting close to finally getting to try his online gambling case in court. The Poker Players Alliance member is taking on the state of Washington in regards to the constitutionality of the online gambling ban the state currently has. He is a lawyer, as well as the state representative for the PPA, and originally filed his lawsuit on the first day of the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event.

Rousso has accused the state of imposing the ban of online gambling so that they can keep their gambling dollars in the state. This violates the US Constitution that says that you cannot pass a protectionist law against another state’s business.

It would seem that they are attempting to create a monopoly within their state, and that is just plain illegal. Now, Rousso has something else to be excited about, Judge Mary E. Roberts issued her ruling on his discovery dispute with the state.

Roberts found for him regarding roughly 99% of his argument and only 1% for the state according to Rousso. He says that he is looking at debating one more item with the state and then will probably be looking at heading to court.

When the state demanded information that was of a personal nature, Rousso said that it was “confidential and implicated his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination” and would not furnish the information that they were asking for. This slowed him down for a bit, but did not take him out of the race.

He is asking that all Seattle area poker players come to court on May 15th when he pleads his case. He will also continue to update those following the case at http://pokerplayersalliance.org.




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