Poker League Northern Virginia

In order to understand gambling law in Virginia, we must first look to how they define illegal gambling, which is as follows:

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““Illegal gambling” means the making, placing or receipt of any bet or wager in the Commonwealth of money or other thing of value, made in exchange for a chance to win a prize, stake or other consideration or thing of value, dependent upon the result of any game, contest or any other event the outcome of which is uncertain or a matter of chance, whether such game, contest or event occurs or is to occur inside or outside the limits of the Commonwealth.” (1)

So this is a very encompassing definition, as all gambling involves betting on outcomes that are uncertain, including poker. They also mention that being dependent on a matter of chance, but this isn’t even needed, we may wonder what matter of chance means here but we need not wonder what the outcome being uncertain means, this is an all-inclusive definition which would make any form of gambling illegal.

They even go as far as to state that it is of no consequence where the game or event is hosted, meaning that it may be hosted in another country as online poker is, but if the betting itself occurred in Virginia, and that requirement can merely be assumed since they don’t have jurisdiction if the entire process occurred outside the state, then such betting is illegal regardless.

So with that in place, the penalty for illegal gambling is set at a Class 3 misdemeanor, other than certain forms of unauthorized horse race betting which is a Class 1 misdemeanor. (2).

Home Games And Internet Poker

There are exceptions set out though where certain types of gambling is excluded from the definition of illegal gambling, which includes getting paid variable amounts depending on your finish in sporting events, charitable bingo or raffles, playing the state lottery, authorized pari-mutuel wagering, and most notably to poker, gambling in private residences:

“Nothing in this article shall be construed to make it illegal to participate in a game of chance conducted in a private residence, provided such private residence is not commonly used for such games of chance and there is no operator as defined in subsection 4 of S. 28-2-325.” (3)

“Operator” here is defined as “any person, firm or association of persons, who conducts, finances, manages, supervises, directs or owns all or part of an illegal gambling enterprise, activity or operation. (4)

So home games which aren’t being run for a profit would be legal, but w hat about playing poker on the internet in a private residence? First of all, like all forms of gambling, this is going to be included in the general definition of illegal gambling, as would home games for that matter if not for the exception provided above.

Playing online poker generally takes place in a private setting, in a private residence, so that part matches. It isn’t clear on what is meant by “commonly used,” and while it may be that playing poker online would probably involve it being more commonly used for gambling than the occasional social game, the intention here is probably to not exclude residences which are themselves used as gambling venues by operators.

However, the last part would indeed seem to exclude online poker, as there clearly is an operator involved as set out in the definition, and that would be the online poker operator, and remember that it doesn’t matter that the location of the game may be seen as outside the state, as it would be in this case.

So when we take all of this into account, it would at least not seem to be legal to play online poker in Virginia, although it is true that this is less cut and dry as it is in other states, where we can usually say that it is or isn’t with a pretty high degree of certainty. It appears to be illegal here but we can’t be certain since we don’t know if the courts will interpret the spirit of this exception as intending not to prosecute private individuals gambling in their own home and therefore finding that this is close enough to the exception stated to permit it.

Playing Poker In Virginia

Aside from home games, there is nowhere else in Virginia that you can play poker legally, as they have no card games or casinos, not even tribal casinos or offshore cruise ships sailing from their ports that you can gamble on.

So people in Virginia who wish to gamble at gambling establishments either have to travel to a casino or card room located in another state, or gamble online. Whether or not it is illegal to play online poker in Virginia, no one seems to care and no one is being charged with any crimes for doing so, and as is always the case, due to the nature of this gambling occurring purely in private, it would be extraordinarily difficult to prosecute, which is the main reason why this has never happened in the entire country, even in states where it is explicitly illegal beyond question.

Online Poker for Virginia Citizens

So people in Virginia continue to play online poker in spite of the fact that most online poker sites have chosen to no longer accept Americans. There are still a few that do, and a few that still accept players from Virginia as well. So here’s our top recommendations for online poker in Virginia:

Ignition Poker heads our list of Virginia-friendly online poker rooms, and have been a long time favorite of Americans in general. This is mainly because the site is formerly Bovada Poker, whose software was acquired and re-branded by Ignition Poker. There are several states that Ignition Poker has chosen to no longer serve, and they are probably the most conservative of the online poker sites out there still offering play to U.S. residents, but they have no problem at all with Virginia residents.

Ignition Poker and Casino offers new players a FREE $5 casino chip and a 100% bonus up to $1,000 should you decide to play for real money. I love that they still have anonymous poker tables, Zone Poker and the best cash games in the industry today despite being relatively new to the industry. Get your account today!

Our “honorable mention” goes to America’s Cardroom is another excellent choice for people from Virginia looking to get back into online poker or to check it out for the first time. Both of these online poker rooms are of high quality and both offer generous welcome bonuses to first time depositors.

References:

(1) Code of Virginia, 18-2-325, Definitions

(2) Code of Virginia, 18-2-326, Penalty for illegal gambling

(3) Code of Virginia, 18-2-334, Exception to article: private residences

(4) Code of Virginia, 18-2-325, Definitions

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Old Dominion is perhaps best known for having spawned more US presidents than any other state, and despite somewhat prohibitive rules on gambling it has provided the world with one of the most famous young players in the world. While he currently hails from Maryland, Dan Kelly was born in Virginia. He’s arguably better known by his screen-name, djk123.

Dan has a pretty stellar track record of scores stretching back over seven years in live games, with the high point of his career thus far being his first place finish in the WSOP 2010 $25k 6-max event for a mind-blowing $1,315,518. One wonders where Dan got his practice in, since there is no legal poker room in Virginia at the current time. Some clubs were shut down fairly recently though, prior to some legal flip-floppery about poker’s status as a skill game, a chain of events we’ll look into a little further below.

Belying its strict modern countenance regarding gambling, Virginia has a rich history of it in the early days. The Puritan pilgrims even put in place whipping punishments for certain offences of this type, but nonetheless the activity blossomed through the 17th century. Charles II had such a penchant for gambling that it became seriously en vogue, and the aristocracy was known to frequent Virginia gambling halls. The Earl of Sandwich himself is said to have invented his eponymous foodstuff while relaxing at the tables.

As it stands today, you’ve a fairly meagre selection of options when it comes to gambling within the law in Virginia. There is a state lottery, and a small amount of pari-mutuel horserace wagering. Other than that, you can play games held by charitable organizations, play at home socially within the letter of the law, or stick to freerolls.

The Letter of the Law

The law on gambling in Virginia is pretty old and extremely broadly stated. Section 18.2 – 325(1) states that illegal gambling consists of “the making, placing or receipt, of any bet or wager in this Commonwealth of money or other thing of value, made in exchange for a chance to win a prize, stake or other consideration or thing of value, dependent upon the result of any game, contest or any other event the outcome of which is uncertain or a matter of chance,”. This very concept of uncertainty came up in a recent Supreme Court case about the legal status of poker in the state, the results of which have not been to poker players’ liking so far, and will be touched on below. Suffice to say that uncertainty in outcome is a far broader definition than “a matter of chance”. Many activities highly determined by skill but subject to a degree of chance, typically not regarded as gambling, would arguably qualify as illegal under such a definition.
A simple class 3 misdemeanor of illegal gambling carries a $500 fine, but organizing or running illegal events can carry several misdemeanor charges or even a felony charge. Enforcement is carried out – in 2011 the state recorded over 150 gambling related arrests. Over a quarter of these charges were against players.

Allowance is made under state law for social home games however, so there’s always that recourse for the future Dan Kellys of Virginia. Section 18.2-334 declares that “Nothing in this article shall be construed to make it illegal to participate in a game of chance conducted in a private residence, provided such private residence is not commonly used for such games of chance and there is no operator”. So provided it’s not a regular game, and the host takes no consideration, you should be alright on the home game front.

Virginia state law also allows for certain forms of charity gaming, mainly consisting of bingo and raffles. The full scoop on what’s allowed in this context can be found at this government portal [1]. For more on Virginia state code, here’s a full breakdown [2].

Online Gambling

First of all, as with almost any state in the USA, if there’s no specific ruling naming online gambling as illegal, such activity would still likely be deemed illegal under broader legislation. In the case of Virginia any such wagering would surely be considered illegal and a class 3 misdemeanor, since it would involve wagering money on an unregulated game with an uncertain outcome.

There are sources online which will give you the guidance that Virginia has no such specific ruling against online gambling. However our research suggests otherwise. As NV Daily discussed back in February 2011,[3] a bill to clarify a ban on Internet gambling passed both chambers of the General Assembly that year, a bill which clarified that any conduct of a game online would be considered lawful only under certain conditions, namely those of not qualifying as a form of gambling. The bill is supposed to clarify that any computer used for gambling should be considered a gambling device, and to close up existing loopholes allowing “sweepstake Internet cafes” and the like to continue operating. The bill itself, HB 1584, can be found here [4].

As a final nail in the coffin for those waiting for new legislation in the state, Senator Richard Salslaw recently commented that it might be “maybe 48” states needed to take the plunge towards Internet gambling before Virginia followed suit, clearly referring to Utah as the only state likely to hold out longer than Virginia. In short, don’t hold your breath.

What Forms of Gambling Are Legal

Your first port of call for a legal wager in Virginia is going to be the state lottery, which has run since 1989 after it was voted in to existence back in 1987. Since 1999 the proceeds have gone solely to educational funding, with total proceeds thus far amounting to almost $9 billion. Interestingly, Virginia also operates an “Off Debt Collection Act”, in which winners’ payments are withheld to cover obligations such as taxes and child support.

The official website [5] keeps a public record of exactly what proportion of funds have benefited which school divisions, as well as an exact tally of how silly anyone believing themselves to be able to “beat the lottery” is. For example, in 2013 sales of tickets added up to $1,689,000,000, and prizes totalled $1,025,000,000. This means that for every $10 a player invests in the lottery, they’ll win prizes totalling $6.07 for an average loss of 39.3% negative ROI. However, it’s all in good fun, since a nice 28.8% of the total sales figure went to deserving causes in 2013, totalling a whopping $486,500,000.

Now, if participating in the educational lottery isn’t for you, there’s always a bit of horseracing available in Virginia. This principally occurs at one venue, Colonial Downs in New Kent. The racecourse features off track betting facilities across many counties, a Derby, and a live racing calendar which will feature motorcycle events and a Rodeo in 2014. For those wishing to keep up with the news on Virginia horseracing a dedicated site exists and for those wishing to understand the legal elements more clearly, the Virginia Racing Commission can be found here.

The off track wagering element is covered by the installation of “EZ Kiosks” around the track and in numerous bars and public locations, providing a means of wagering on races from around the state.

A limited amount of charitable gambling is available, basically bingo rooms and raffles, this is overseen by Agriculture and Consumer Services, with regulations and the relevant gaming statute made available here.

A new law has apparently been passed in late 2013 allowing “network bingo” for charitable purposes, whereby a group of bingo rooms may join together to provide tickets to a live video stream of numbers drawn at a centralized location. The Richmond Times Dispatch has this story on the development.

As for poker, the pickings are sparse. A twoplustwo thread discussing the closure of certain poker rooms in Portsmouth in 2010 goes on to track the progress of a legal case before the Supreme Court up to 2011, in which the court seemingly chose to decline to rule on whether poker was a game of skill or luck.

Since social home games are allowed within certain restrictions, a number of groups have sprung up organizing friendly social events, such as the several hundred strong Richmond Poker group on Yahoo.

Free to play poker leagues do exist as well, the principle one in Virginia seems to be World Tavern Poker, where top winners over a season go on to qualify for regional and national events. The national league events offer 41 tickets to the WSOP as top prizes every year, and run twice a year in Atlantic City and Las Vegas.

Recent Developments

Poker League Northern Virginia Basketball

The Washington Post Local put out a snappy article [6] in November 2013 discussing how Virginia is now amongst ten or fewer states holding out against “the siren call” of commercial casinos. As part of the story, the article covers the various legislative efforts to get some sort of allowance for casinos in Virginia, every one of which has crashed and burned, including two concerted efforts at riverboat casinos made during the 1990s.

This hasn’t stopped certain lawmakers from making recent attempts at the same, with a new bill filed by Senator Louise Lucas for the 2014 General Assembly. The senator has made such efforts in the past and they’ve gained very little traction.

Tom Jackman runs a regular post for the Washington Post Local amusingly entitled “News for Degenerates” in part three of which he discusses the case mentioned earlier in which the Supreme Court was asked, and declined, to define poker in terms of skill and luck – but not before listening to testimony from none other than Greg “Fossilman” Raymer.

Busts and Arrests

Several notable gambling related arrests have taken place in Virginia in recent years.

Poker League Northern Virginia Tech

In 2011 a Vietnamese-American gang was busted for running a gambling operation straight out of a shopping center. The gambling involved seventeen coffee shops running over seventy computers and had raked in over $1 million in profits prior to being busted. This bust of “the Dragon Family” is recounted in detail by NBC Washington.

A home game allegedly running far more than a friendly social event was bust in 2013, as covered by Hampton Roads. According to police reports, the house was raking in around $2000 a night and selling paraphernalia alongside the games themselves.

An extremely disturbing account put out by Salon covering the overuse of police force, even deadly force in relation to gambling busts opens with a worrying account of an undercover cop in Virginia “befriending” a casual sports gambler, encouraging him to increase his stakes and then busting him with a full SWAT team raid on his home which culminated in his being shot dead whilst unarmed. This is certainly a very thought provoking article on gambling law enforcement issues.

Poker League Northern Virginia Beach

Summary

If you’re looking to get your wager on in Virginia, there are a few limited options open to you within the law. You can play the state lottery, place pari-mutuel wagers at Colonial Downs racecourse either in person or remotely, or take part in charitable bingo games and raffles. As for poker, social home games are permitted provided no rake or consideration is taken, and further provided that they are not held as regular events. Free to play poker leagues also exist.

There’s no movement on online gambling regulation, nor on commercial casinos – if you’re looking for anything further, you’ll have to head out of state.

Poker League Northern Virginia Map

• Official Virginia State Website
• NVDaily.com: Internet Casino Bill Passes
• WashingtonPost.com: Virginia Reists the Siren Call of Casinos as Gambling Halls …