The New Hampshire Lottery won a major victory in US District Court earlier this year against the US Department of Justice. The state organization prevailed when it was determined that the Wire Act only applied to sports betting. Now, the DOJ online gambling fight has renewed, and they have appealed the decision in an effort to target online gambling and poker. Experts agree that this case will most likely end up before the Supreme Court.
Hello friends, and thank you for streaming another edition of This Week in Gambling. Our friends at the US Department of Justice are back in the news… but hey, we all knew this day would come… and that is this week’s big story. Back in January the DOJ decided to change their opinion on the Federal Wire Act. After years of claiming that the Act only applied to sports betting, suddenly they want to use it as a weapon against Internet casinos and poker.
However, New Hampshire called bullshit and sued the Justice Department. And in April, a US District Court ruled that, in fact, the wire act only applies to sports bets…. not internet casinos… not internet poker. The DOJ’s opinion be damned. At the time of that ruling I came on this program and said that eventually this case will most likely have to be settled by the US Supreme Court… just like the sports betting case was the year before that, and now it looks as if we’ve taken step toward that showdown.
A few days ago the DOJ officially appealed the New Hampshire case. It seems they don’t take rejection very well… sort of like a drunk frat boy at a kegger, they just can’t get it through their heads! Now I’m sure that some of you watching this program may have concerns that the DOJ online gambling opinion could really screw things up for sports betting and the Internet casinos industry here in America. So let me take just a moment to put your minds at ease.
First of all the Wire Act is a federal law which means it only applies to bets placed across state lines. It can do nothing to stop sports betting that’s being regulated within a state, just like it can’t do anything to stop online gambling that’s being regulated within a state. So even if the DOJ fights this all the way… and even if the DOJ somehow wins the day… it won’t hurt anything except cross border play between states, which I know would suck for online poker. But other than that the Wire Act won’t stop or change or undo anything!
As I mentioned before the break the DOJ online gambling Wire Act opinion can do nothing to stop online gambling or sports betting that’s regulated completely within state borders… it doesn’t matter what the DOJ’s opinion is or what they file or fight or want. And I think the states know this! For example, six casinos in Iowa just started accepting sports bets a few days ago. And within a month, residents there will be able to place those bets on their mobile devices!
Also, online gambling finally went live in the state of Pennsylvania last month… and now the revenue numbers are in! In just the last two weeks of July, residents in the state wagered nearly fifty million dollars! And that, my friends, put over 800 grand in the pockets of the state!
Finally this week, any of you remember 10… 15 years ago when the US government wanted to ban online gambling under the pretense that somehow it was funneling money offshore to our enemies and terrorist groups? Well then, you’re gonna love this!
Cambodia… that mecca of wealth and technology has decided to ban online gambling under the pretense that somehow it’s funneling money offshore to foreign criminals! Now this ban has not so surprisingly or coincidentally spurred new investment in the country from Cambodia’s closest ally… China! And if China is their closest ally, then I suppose their foreign criminals are… Us!
