Online Poker, is it legal?

[USCTrojans]

The direct answer to the title question is: I don't know. I'm not an attorney, a Justice Department official, nor a Supreme Court Justice. Nothing here should be seen as legal advice. What is here is a collection of court rulings and the best information on this subject that I have been able to find.

Many recent events have brought attention to the legal standing of online wagering in general. The first thing to understand is the skill game of poker is not the same as sports betting nor even "random chance" casino games like craps and roulette. It may be treated the same eventually, but it may not. Legal precedent for a lot of this simply does not exist. As of this writing, no person has been charged, let alone brought to trial, let alone convicted, let alone sentenced for playing poker online. But this does not guarantee one or more of these things will not happen in the future.

According to Professor I. Nelson Rose, one of the world's leading gambling law authorities: "no United States federal statute or regulation explicitly prohibits Internet gambling, either domestically or abroad." Still, the US government has taken the position that certain things are illegal, and more importantly, certain things are worthy of prosecution. The Wire Act is the statute most often cited as making on-line gambling a federal offense. The operative subsection reads: "Whoever being engaged in the business of betting or wagering knowingly uses a wire communication facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets or wagers or information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest, or for the transmission of a wire communication which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or wagers, or for information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."

Rose goes on: "The first element of the Wire Act, says that the statute applies only to an individual involved in the 'business of betting or wagering' (not to a common player)."

The question of whether Internet sportsbetting is covered by the Wire Act seems to have been answered by the US Supreme Court's refusal to review the conviction of Jay Cohen. Whether online casinos and online poker cardrooms are covered under the aimed-at-sportsbetting Wire Act is a different question. In February 2001, Judge Stanwood Duval of the US District Court in New Orleans ruled that it did not: "'in plain language' [the Wire Act] does not prohibit Internet gambling 'on a game of chance.'"

On November 21, 2002, the US Fifth Circuit Federal Appeals Court upheld Duval's ruling, stating: "The district court concluded that the Wire Act concerns gambling on sporting events or contests... We agree with the district court's statutory interpretation, its reading of the relevant case law, its summary of the relevant legislative history, and its conclusion." (Text of Appeals Court ruling)

The Appeals Court further states: "Because we find neither the Wire Act nor the mail and wire fraud statutes may serve as predicates here, we need not consider the other federal statutes identified by the Plaintiffs... As the district court correctly explained, these sections may not serve as predicates here because the Defendants did not violate any applicable federal or state law."

The Appeals Court specifically cites Duval's statement: "[A] plain reading of the statutory language [of the Wire Act] clearly requires that the object of the gambling be a sporting event or contest." This is very explicit language. You would have to jump through a lot of mental hoops to consider the playing of online poker to be "a sporting event".

So, while the US Justice Department recently stated that the Wire Act covers casino games in addition to sports wagering, the Federal Appeals Court has directly ruled that that interpretation is not correct. This is not a small disagreement. It is a direct contradiction that could well spur the creation of new, 21st Century Federal legislation that actually deals with these issues. The UIGEA aims to inhibit the ability of citizens to gamble online. It however does not criminalize actual gambling online. But other bills may be introduced in the future with that goal.

Gambling regulation traditionally has been the responsibility of individual states. For instance, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer reached a settlement with Citibank and PayPal regarding their involvement with online gaming. Some individual states have laws prohibiting any form of gambling, a different issue from whether it is legal on a Federal level.

A key distinction exists on a Federal level between bettors and those operators whose business is to benefit from the actual making of wagers: "engaged in the business of betting or wagering... which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or wagers, or for information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers..." As long as players stay in the "players" category and not in the in-the-business-of-wagering owners/bookies/runners/agents categories, a significant difference in status exists.

There are many ways to read the Wire Act, but only under the broadest interpretation could playing online poker be deemed illegal in terms of the Wire Act. In my opinion playing poker online is not illegal for US citizens, in regards to Federal Law - unless it is a crime in an individual state, in which case the Federal Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 may apply. The Act makes it a federal crime for five or more persons to engage in a gambling business illegal under state law. Gambling online is definitely illegal in some states, but the Crime Control Act of 1970 does not apply to players. In addition, since the Crime Control Act does not refer to foreign commerce, it is hard to see how a case could be made that it applies to Internet gaming across multiple international borders.

In November 2004, the Caribbean island nation of Antigua and Barbuda won a World Trade Organization ruling that United States legislation criminalizing online betting violates global laws. In April 2005, the WTO Appellate Body affirmed the principal conclusions involved.

Finally, in September 2006, the Congress passed legislation that makes it a crime for a bank or financial institution to transfer money to an online gambling site. The bill that was passed did not include language about the Wire Act that was in previous versions. The bill does not appear to address playing online in any way.

So, as long as online poker players do not participate in owning a share of the house rake; as long as players only wager against each other; as long as players participate in the skill game of poker and do not bet sports; as long as players obey state laws... draw your own conclusions.

All the best,

USC

[NeverWinHere]

Thanks USC where did you find that info?

[USCTrojans]

Bunch of articles I saved up when it all broke through a couple of years ago. Basically grabbed most important parts to make a full post on "legality" of online gaming.

I became really interested on this because, unfortunately, I also suffer from whaetever USA decides on this =o/

[Buster]

All I can say is that I blelieve we should all be free to use our cash in whatever way we want to...aint that the real FREEDOM?

They should Tax it and let us players be....anyone thinks the same way?

[USCTrojans]

All I can say is that I blelieve we should all be free to use our cash in whatever way we want to...aint that the real FREEDOM?

They should Tax it and let us players be....anyone thinks the same way?

Same thing US players have been complaining about for like 3 years now...if you make your own money, they should let you also spend it however the hell you want...its unreal how they are really taking away your rights to freedom just because they have not found a way of making the government profit from it....sick....

[Buster]

Same thing US players have been complaining about for like 3 years now...if you make your own money, they should let you also spend it however the hell you want...its unreal how they are really taking away your rights to freedom just because they have not found a way of making the government profit from it....sick....

I can only wonder if it will ever change for the better or will USA just get tougher for gamers?

[NeverWinHere]

Bunch of articles I saved up when it all broke through a couple of years ago. Basically grabbed most important parts to make a full post on "legality" of online gaming.

I became really interested on this because, unfortunately, I also suffer from whaetever USA decides on this =o/

Found it all in one article here actually
http://www.playwinningpoker.com/online/poker/legal/

[USCTrojans]

Yeah, once again, LOL
When the "legal issues" about online poker started coming up I researched a lot of sites and saved up a bunch of info which I still have on my PC, i have thousands of poker articles and tips and almost anything you can imagine about poker.

I just thought it was a good idea to bring this here specially for the US players...

[Buster]

Yeah, once again, LOL
When the "legal issues" about online poker started coming up I researched a lot of sites and saved up a bunch of info which I still have on my PC, i have thousands of poker articles and tips and almost anything you can imagine about poker.

I just thought it was a good idea to bring this here specially for the US players...

Thanks for the info indeed, although, legal or not legal, the hell with it, I will play poker until they come to my door and ask to take away my PC

[NeverWinHere]

Yeah, once again, LOL
When the "legal issues" about online poker started coming up I researched a lot of sites and saved up a bunch of info which I still have on my PC, i have thousands of poker articles and tips and almost anything you can imagine about poker.

I just thought it was a good idea to bring this here specially for the US players...

For sure, something that a lot of us in the U.S. keep thinking about and possibly worrying about that one day all the sudden their favorite site will disappear or worse!!

[USCTrojans]

For sure, something that a lot of us in the U.S. keep thinking about and possibly worrying about that one day all the sudden their favorite site will disappear or worse!!

Also keep in mind, what happens in the US affects us all over the world as well :(

[NeverWinHere]

Also keep in mind, what happens in the US affects us all over the world as well :(

Yeah true!

[Buster]

Yeah true!

No kidding, seen all this wall street crap going on, its unbelievable and scary. hope ot all turns out good

[USCTrojans]

No kidding, seen all this wall street crap going on, its unbelievable and scary. hope ot all turns out good

Yeah, I am expecting higher gas prices again here, they go up almost every week :(

[Lilred36]

yup same here, everythings higher.

[USCTrojans]

yup same here, everythings higher.

It will never end, lol, too bad but its the truth, it will never stop going higher :(