GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 14 - October 2010

By Aaron Todd N ick Jenkins’s long court battle with the state of Washington is finally over, and the Betcha.com founder didn’t get what he was hoping for. “The Washington State Supreme Court issued its opinion today, and we got creamed,” Jenkins wrote in his family’s blog following the decision. The state Supreme Court ruled in a unani- mous decision that Betcha.com operated as an illegal bookmaker, allowing users to make bets against each other and generat- ing revenue by taking a percentage of the bet as a fee. Jenkins launched the online betting ex- change in the summer of 2007, and the Washington State Gambling Commission raided his offices and shut the site down just 13 days later. Jenkins’s contention, which was supported by the Washington State Court of Appeals in February 2009, was that his site did not constitutegambling since losingplayershad the opportunity to back out of bets by refus- ing to pay up. “Welching,” or refusing to pay lost bets, however, could result in negative feedback from the winning bettor on the site, making it more difficult to find others to bet with on the site down the road. “Under the statutory definition of book- making, it is immaterial whether or not Betcha users were engaged in gambling activity,” wrote Justice Tom Chambers. “The Court was so wrong it almost defies belief,” wrote Jenkins. “The Court never reached the question of whether Betcha bettors were ‘gambling.’ Thus, the Court held that I was engaged in professional gambling even if no one was actually gam- bling. Amazing.” “Never in a million years did I expect an opinion like this one,” Jenkins continued. “The Court’s error is so obvious that I wonder if a single justice even cracked our brief, let alone the Revised Code of Washington.” QUOTABLES WEBMASTER NEWS & QUOTABLES Betcha.com “creamed” in Washington “It’s time to let the UIGEA ride off into the sunset and to replace the virtual Wild, Wild West it has created with workable regulations designed to protect American adults – in numbers that only continue to grow – when they choose to place a bet over the Internet.” – Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) “This is a landmark ruling which will have a decisive impact on the much needed reform in Germany. Other member states have opened or are opening their markets... They show that consumers can be better protected in a market that is both regulated and open to competition.” —Sigrid Ligne, secretary general of the EuropeanGaming and Betting Association, after the European Court of Justice ruledGerman gambling restrictions breach EU law “This is clearly a missed opportunity to follow the same path as other jurisdictions, such as Denmark, which do not seek to discriminate against different forms of gambling and recognize that all are capable of being properly regulated.” – Clive Hawkswood, Chief Executive of the RGA, discussing a proposed online gambling plan in the Netherlands that would legalize only online poker “One of our prerogatives is the confidentiality of our membership. We have been through the federal courts and asserted our right to keeping that confidentiality.” – iMEGA Chairman Joe Brennan, Jr. “We are confident that the CEREUS Network has found an excellent home in Blanca Games. Over the past several years, CEREUS has developed into an outstanding platform, which is poised for significant growth.” – Blanca Games CEO Stuart Gordon “Why lose all those billions of revenue? Online gaming is going to happen, so we might as well have it work to the public’s advantage.” – Donald Trump “The release of the Betfair iPad application is another example of us offering our customers the most cutting-edge methods of placing their bets.” – Don Fotsch, Betfair’s Global Director of User Experience Webmaster News