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From Year in Review - Five High Profile Gambling Stories from 2010
1. The Midterm Elections
Although not a gambling story per se, the midterm elections were crucial for bettors. Barney Frank’s bill HR2267 had just passed in Congress and there was every indication that the pro gambling movement was gaining momentum. However, if the movement was going to continue to be relevant the Democrats had to hold some power on Capital Hill. Certainly there were objections on both sides of the House to legalizing online gambling, but the majority of supporters of HR2267 were Democrats and more importantly the strong objectors to online gambling like Kyl and Bachus were Republicans. It was pretty much a given that the Democrats were going to get trounced in the House of Representatives but if they lost their majority in the Senate as well, then the future of online gambling would be greatly hampered.
2. Mandatory Enforcement of UIGEA Rules
June 1, 2010 was supposed to change the industry forever. Mandatory financial services industry compliance with the regulations written by the Treasury and AG under George W. Bush was supposed to set the offshore gaming world on its head. The rules, as most will recall, required banks to use due diligence to stop online gambling transactions and while the financial institutions asked for a list of illegal transactions and companies that they should look for, the Treasury and AG instead put the onus on banks to identify illegal transactions and block them. The banks cried foul, claiming they were not the police and trying to find the needle in a haystack illegal transaction would be quite costly but the treasury refused to help out and put the burden on the banks.
3. Horse Racing
While many gamblers tune in for the Triple Crown and Breeder’s Cup races, most gamblers ignore the industry in other times. Consequently the industry has been struggling for years and numerous efforts to grow it have failed. The industry is still booming in Europe and Asia and in Canada there has been some renewed interest but in the United States, attendance and handle decreases yearly. Delaware attempted to try and help the industry last year by adding a sports lottery at the racetracks and most tracks now have slot machines aimed at spurring interest in the product. Interest has increased for slots but not for horse racing. An industry that was once seen as foolproof has seen several tracks close in recent years and purses have declined.
The issue should be finalized early in 2011.
4. New Jersey’s Move to Offer Online Gambling and push for Sports Betting
NJ Senator Raymond Lesniak has been hinting for a couple of years now that New Jersey was going to offer online gambling in the state under their own rules and that they would push to allow Sports Betting despite the fact that PASPA prohibits them from doing so. The issue of online gambling should be a no brainer since the UIGEA allows for states to offer online gambling provided it is totally intrastate, but the DoJ has always contended that any online gambling is interstate by nature and hence banned.
Nevertheless, New Jersey moved forward with its gambling legislation and in November the New Jersey Senate passed the intrastate internet gambling bill (S490) by a 29 to 5 vote. If the State Assembly ratifies the plan next year then the bill will go to the governor to sign as a law. Under the plan current casino operators will be allowed to offer online versions of their games making New Jersey the first state to offer online gambling. No doubt the federal government will continue to argue that the State has no right to do so despite the wording of the UIGEA and the regular complainants like Focus on the Family and various Republican Congressman will try and argue that online casinos are the “crack cocaine of gambling” and must be stopped by any means.
How exactly the games will be offered online is unknown, nor is the method they will employ to ensure citizens from other states are blocked, but in the past online gambling proponents in New Jersey suggested that they would place servers on the casino floors and anyone would be able to see the games being played to guarantee the authenticity of games. As well, there has been talk of live streaming of casino games online that will allow people to bet on real time live table games.
5. Kentucky’s attempt to Seize 141 Gambling Domain Names
Once again not a new issue, Kentucky’s plan to seize 141 gambling domain names has been in the news for over 2 years. The case started when Kentucky’s governor announced he was going to seize 141gambling domain names since the websites were breaking Kentucky law by allowing residents to wager with them. They ordered the domains to block Kentucky residents or risk losing their websites. iMEGA stepped in to represent the 141 domain names and in 2008 Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate ruled in favor of the state. The ruling didn’t last long when the Court of Appeals overturned Wingate’s decision by a 2 to 1 margin and naturally the case was appealed up to the Supreme Court. The issue was heard at the Supreme Court level and in 2010 the Supreme Court ruled for the state again, well sort of. The state told iMEGA that they would not prepared to rule for iMEGA because they weren’t convinced iMEGA had standing. In other words, they told iMEGA that there was no proof that the organization represented the 141 domain names and unless they proved that the organization had standing by presenting at least one owner out of the 141 domain names under question, they couldn’t rule on the case.
iMEGA headed the warning and produced an affidavit from the owners of Yatahay Limited which holds the rights to the domain name truepoker.com. The affidavit stated that iMEGA indeed represented their interests. The defendants argued that the affidavit wasn’t sufficient but the Supreme Court seemed to side with iMEGA. Instead of making a ruling, however, the Supreme Court sent the issue once again to Justice Wingate to make a determination on whether iMEGA had standing. Joe Brennan Jr., the President of IMEGA was clearly frustrated but also noted that it was part of the process. The Supreme Court is not set up to hear arguments of the case but rather to make a determination of whether the arguments presented are warranted. It’s unusual for the Supreme Court to overrule appellate decisions unless there is a grave error made by them and that doesn’t appear to be the case with the domain names.
Source Hartley Henderson OSGA!
1. The Midterm Elections
Although not a gambling story per se, the midterm elections were crucial for bettors. Barney Frank’s bill HR2267 had just passed in Congress and there was every indication that the pro gambling movement was gaining momentum. However, if the movement was going to continue to be relevant the Democrats had to hold some power on Capital Hill. Certainly there were objections on both sides of the House to legalizing online gambling, but the majority of supporters of HR2267 were Democrats and more importantly the strong objectors to online gambling like Kyl and Bachus were Republicans. It was pretty much a given that the Democrats were going to get trounced in the House of Representatives but if they lost their majority in the Senate as well, then the future of online gambling would be greatly hampered.
2. Mandatory Enforcement of UIGEA Rules
June 1, 2010 was supposed to change the industry forever. Mandatory financial services industry compliance with the regulations written by the Treasury and AG under George W. Bush was supposed to set the offshore gaming world on its head. The rules, as most will recall, required banks to use due diligence to stop online gambling transactions and while the financial institutions asked for a list of illegal transactions and companies that they should look for, the Treasury and AG instead put the onus on banks to identify illegal transactions and block them. The banks cried foul, claiming they were not the police and trying to find the needle in a haystack illegal transaction would be quite costly but the treasury refused to help out and put the burden on the banks.
3. Horse Racing
While many gamblers tune in for the Triple Crown and Breeder’s Cup races, most gamblers ignore the industry in other times. Consequently the industry has been struggling for years and numerous efforts to grow it have failed. The industry is still booming in Europe and Asia and in Canada there has been some renewed interest but in the United States, attendance and handle decreases yearly. Delaware attempted to try and help the industry last year by adding a sports lottery at the racetracks and most tracks now have slot machines aimed at spurring interest in the product. Interest has increased for slots but not for horse racing. An industry that was once seen as foolproof has seen several tracks close in recent years and purses have declined.
The issue should be finalized early in 2011.
4. New Jersey’s Move to Offer Online Gambling and push for Sports Betting
NJ Senator Raymond Lesniak has been hinting for a couple of years now that New Jersey was going to offer online gambling in the state under their own rules and that they would push to allow Sports Betting despite the fact that PASPA prohibits them from doing so. The issue of online gambling should be a no brainer since the UIGEA allows for states to offer online gambling provided it is totally intrastate, but the DoJ has always contended that any online gambling is interstate by nature and hence banned.
Nevertheless, New Jersey moved forward with its gambling legislation and in November the New Jersey Senate passed the intrastate internet gambling bill (S490) by a 29 to 5 vote. If the State Assembly ratifies the plan next year then the bill will go to the governor to sign as a law. Under the plan current casino operators will be allowed to offer online versions of their games making New Jersey the first state to offer online gambling. No doubt the federal government will continue to argue that the State has no right to do so despite the wording of the UIGEA and the regular complainants like Focus on the Family and various Republican Congressman will try and argue that online casinos are the “crack cocaine of gambling” and must be stopped by any means.
How exactly the games will be offered online is unknown, nor is the method they will employ to ensure citizens from other states are blocked, but in the past online gambling proponents in New Jersey suggested that they would place servers on the casino floors and anyone would be able to see the games being played to guarantee the authenticity of games. As well, there has been talk of live streaming of casino games online that will allow people to bet on real time live table games.
5. Kentucky’s attempt to Seize 141 Gambling Domain Names
Once again not a new issue, Kentucky’s plan to seize 141 gambling domain names has been in the news for over 2 years. The case started when Kentucky’s governor announced he was going to seize 141gambling domain names since the websites were breaking Kentucky law by allowing residents to wager with them. They ordered the domains to block Kentucky residents or risk losing their websites. iMEGA stepped in to represent the 141 domain names and in 2008 Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate ruled in favor of the state. The ruling didn’t last long when the Court of Appeals overturned Wingate’s decision by a 2 to 1 margin and naturally the case was appealed up to the Supreme Court. The issue was heard at the Supreme Court level and in 2010 the Supreme Court ruled for the state again, well sort of. The state told iMEGA that they would not prepared to rule for iMEGA because they weren’t convinced iMEGA had standing. In other words, they told iMEGA that there was no proof that the organization represented the 141 domain names and unless they proved that the organization had standing by presenting at least one owner out of the 141 domain names under question, they couldn’t rule on the case.
iMEGA headed the warning and produced an affidavit from the owners of Yatahay Limited which holds the rights to the domain name truepoker.com. The affidavit stated that iMEGA indeed represented their interests. The defendants argued that the affidavit wasn’t sufficient but the Supreme Court seemed to side with iMEGA. Instead of making a ruling, however, the Supreme Court sent the issue once again to Justice Wingate to make a determination on whether iMEGA had standing. Joe Brennan Jr., the President of IMEGA was clearly frustrated but also noted that it was part of the process. The Supreme Court is not set up to hear arguments of the case but rather to make a determination of whether the arguments presented are warranted. It’s unusual for the Supreme Court to overrule appellate decisions unless there is a grave error made by them and that doesn’t appear to be the case with the domain names.
Source Hartley Henderson OSGA!
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