Gambling Law

National Football League

The National Football League (NFL) has dropped its opposition to the Barney Frank's online gambling bill. The NFL has spoken out against previous legislation, which would have potentially allowed US gambling operators to offer sports betting. However, US Representative Pete King has amended the bill, which now states that operators cannot offer any form of sports betting, with the exception of wagers on pari-mutuel racing.

Heavy.com has reported on an e-mail received from Brian McCarthy, vice-president of communications at NFL. McCarthy told the sports website that King’s amendment “adequately addressed our specific concern”. The spokesperson also suggested that the NFL is “pleased with the outcome” of the legislation. The bill has now lost one of its strongest opponents, but as we reported earlier this month, it’s a race against time to pass the legislation.

The bill, along with attached legislation relating to online gambling, has to be approved by November; else it’s back to the drawing board for Frank and supporters of internet casinos. However, given that Congress is about to take a break for the next seven weeks, it’ll be difficult – to say the least – for the bill to be passed by both the House and Senate in time.

Barney Frank

Barney Frank’s online gambling bill has been scheduled for a “markup” by the House Committee on Financial Services. The bill, which could potentially legalise online casinos in the United States, will be debated, amended and discussed by the committee on Tuesday 27th July 2010. Current legislation in the United States dictates that online gambling is illegal, without providing a definition of what constitutes “unlawful internet gambling”. Frank’s bill proposes the introduction of a regulatory framework, which would generate revenue for the government.

Michael Waxman, a spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, has suggested that the decision to markup the bill indicates “that Congress is serious” about Frank’s proposal “and establishing a strict regulatory framework” for online gambling. The bill has been backed by various figures in the internet gambling industry, including poker star Annie Duke. In the bill hearing earlier this week, Duke suggested that the “at a basic level”, the committee must decide whether Americans have the right “to do what they want in the privacy of their homes without the intrusion of the government”. Duke urged the House Committee to consider legalising the online gambling industry – noting that it has thrived underground for quite some time.

Atlantic City Boardwalk

Senators in New Jersey have approved a new gambling bill, which, if put into practice, would legalise online gambling in the state. The Senate voted three to one on the bill, which would allow casinos in New Jersey cities, such as Atlantic City, to also offer online casinos. Senator Ray Lesniak suggested that they would be able to set the network up, without violating federal laws. At the moment, online gambling legislation in the United States suggests it’s illegal for companies which don’t have a license in the country to operate an online casino. However, as casinos in New Jersey have already obtained licenses, they would be able to set up their own online casinos which would provide games to residents in New Jersey.

The Senate has proposed that the online casinos would only be available to New Jersey residents. The bill put forward by the Senate also went on to note that procedures would be put in place to stop underage gamblers and those outside the state being able to wager on casino games. The Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) has suggested that if online casinos were legalised in New Jersey, they would bring in revenues of up to $55 million a year for the state. Casinos in New Jersey would also profit from the legalisation, as gross gaming yield would increase to an annual rate of up to $250 million.

If you have an opinion on legalising online gambling in New Jersey, then we’d love to hear from you. Whether you believe allowing residents access to online casinos could prove to be either a good thing or a bad thing, we’d like to hear from you, so make sure to leave a comment.

California

In today’s blog we’ll be addressing an often troublesome issue: Whether internet gambling is legal in California. While the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006 didn’t outright ban online gambling (instead it attempted to ban financial institutions from processing online casino payments), many Californian gamblers are rightly confused over whether they can legally wager online.

The Californian online gambling issue is almost as complicated as the UIGEA, but we’ll bring you the relevant, recent information you need when it comes to making a decision on whether, as a resident of California, you can gamble via the internet.

A report from the LA Times in December reported how the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and Commerce Casinos had joined together to encourage the Californian government into legalising online poker. Using a loophole in the UIGEA, such a law would be possible, provided the internet gambling websites were only available to Californian residents and operated within state lines. While the aforementioned consortium of casinos, who will have their proposal heard and discussed in February, are keen to legalise online poker. Tribe owned casinos in the state currently have a legal monopoly on electronic slots, so it’s unlikely that California would be able to offer a wide range of casino games.