GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 19 - February 2012

anti-lottery laws are the only federal anti- gambling laws that can apply to legal games. Every other federal anti-gambling statute is designed to go after organized crime. These laws are all written as applying only to il- legal gambling. Any state that wants to can now authorize Internet gambling and allow operators to take bets from residents of that state and of other states and nations that have also legalized online gaming. Questions remain. The Wire Act still ap- plies to bets on horse races. In December 2000, Congress amended the Interstate Horseracing Act to expressly allow the states to decide for themselves whether their residents can make bets on horse races by phone and computer. More than half the states have passed laws allow- ing this remote betting, called Advanced Deposit Wagering, including across state lines. But the DOJ’s official position is still that the ADW operator and the bettor have to be in the same state. No one else, including the World Trade Organization, agrees with the DOJ. And payment pro- cessors have to figure out who is right. Another federal statute, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, grandfathers-in Nevada, Delaware and a half-dozen other states, while prohibit- ing any other state from legalizing sports betting. This is now being challenged in the courts, because New Jersey voters ap- proved sports betting in November 2011. What impact will all this have on pro- posed federal laws? Proponents are try- ing to spin the DOJ opinion. The Poker Players Alliance stated, “However, this ruling makes it even more important that Congress act now to clarify federal law, and to create a licensing and regulation re- gime for Internet poker, coupled with clear laws and strong enforcement against other forms of gambling deemed to be illegal.” But the reality is that Congressional ad- vocates, like Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.), have had some of the wind knocked out of their sails. Since states are now clearly free to legal- ize intrastate online poker, and perhaps even interstate, there is not much reason to even bother with a federal law. It might be a good idea to have one unified law. But the success of all the gambling now licensed or operated solely by states and tribes shows that consistency is not essen- tial. Only the major operators, like Caesars Entertainment, need an overriding federal law, because they don’t want to be compet- ing with politically connected local gaming companies for limited numbers of licenses in 50 states. Opponents, like Kyl and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), might get some leverage for their attempts to expand the Wire Act to cover all forms of gambling. But, as I have pointed out (to the ire of some who have given money to politicians and lob- byists), Congress has passed literally no substantive laws since the Republicans took over the House of Representatives in January 2011. There is as little chance of this Congress passing a new prohibition as there is of it passing a repeal of the UIGEA. So, while Congress continues to do noth- ing, Internet gambling is about to ex- plode across the nation, made legal un- der state laws. In 1962, there were no legal state lotteries in the U.S. It took more than 40 years before almost all the states made lotteries legal. Internet years are like “dog years.” Developments now happen so fast that it won’t take four decades before Internet gambling is legal in almost every state. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I. Nelson Rose is one of the world’s leading experts in online gaming law. He is often called upon to testify as an expert witness or act as a consultant on legal gambling. You can read more articles by Rose at rose.casinocitytimes.com and GamblingAndTheLaw.com. © Copyright 2012, All rights reserved. Gambling and the Law® is a registered trademark of Professor I. Nelson Rose, www.gamblingandthelaw.com/blog.html. “ While Congress continues to do nothing, Internet gambling is about to explode across the nation, made legal under state laws.” Department of Justice building in Washington. Photo of by Coolcaesar, licensed under GNU Free Documentation and Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 25