Bovada Closes Accounts of All Washington State Residents

Bovada Closes Accounts of All Washington State Residents
4/11/2012
http://winsgame.com/bp/bo/poker


Bovada, the US facing site on the Bodog Poker Network, has banned the accounts of all residents in the state of Washington. It is the latest addition to a growing list of US player restrictions at the once US-centric poker room and sportsbook.


An email distributed to the affected players cites “continuing difficulties finding and maintaining acceptable payment options” as the reason for the ban.


Last month, Bovada banned players from Maryland, citing the same reasons for the pull-out. In addition, it was discovered that Bovada had also stopped accepting new players from New York, Utah and Washington State, however players with existing accounts could to continue to play.


Players in Washington State have until the end of the month to request their funds, after which availability of payments options is not guaranteed.


Bodog is the second largest poker network that continues to accept customers from the United States, with Merge Gaming the clear front-runner. 


Back in December, Bodog’s US-facing operation was rebranded to Bovada.lv.


But this was not enough to avoid the attention of the US authorities: in February 2012, Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment against four top-level officers including founder Calvin Ayre, and seized their (unused) Bodog.com domain name, following an undercover investigation that spanned six years.