The feds say online gambling is illegal - does this include Party Poker (and similar)?

[lander]

Have any of the 100,000 Party Poker winners had to forfeit their winnings or anything? Does the gov just overlook this?

I'm just curious.

 

[Dante]

Lander....that part is still up in the air as to being "officially" illegal. But I have read that games of SKILL could be exempt or at the least a loophole in this net gaming as it includes "skill" and is not just strictly chance

 

[WildBill]

Actually it isn't games of skill as much as it is sports betting versus everything else. The only law the Feds have really to try to do anything with is the Wire Act and a judge in Louisiana confirmed that since it refers to sports that other gambling games are not included.

 

[Fishhead]

Crazy stuff!!!

 

[lander]

I've heard that it's ok to bet with friends since no vig is involved ...

Does middling with a positive expectation since theoretically there is no vig (or potentially positive vig)?

 

[bryan305]

If it was a matter of being a game of skill or not, then betting on sports would be legal for me

 

[MeyerLansky]

What a total joke. Extricating millions from poker players is ok, but sportsbetting is taboo. total hipocracy.

 

[oldmantime]

Does anyone know what happened to the guy from one of the Dakotas who moved to Kentucky so he could placed sports wagers with only minor difficulty? (At least that's what I remember about the article)

 

[mindboggle]

I would hate to think that playing poker online is illegal. The gov't needs to just figure out a way to tax it and then quit with all their fussing about it being illegal. They are just pissed that they don't see any of the money.

 

[WildBill]

Just remember these laws were written in the days when organized crime ran every angle on sports betting and this was Bobby Kennedy's attempt to crimp their business. Organized crime even ran the score reporting service, they literally OWNED sports betting. Today it isn't quite the same, still some mob influence in the Northeast, but they have their hands in very little of the industry overall so from that standpoint the law was successful. Bad part is now that the law doesn't really apply to its original purpose, others that had no original hand in the law are now trying to keep it and extend it to their own benefit.

 

[wilheim]

The Wire act of 1961 is obsolete, kind of like the law in Maryland that makes it illegal to play baseball without a shirt on.

Lander - Middling still counts vig or no vig. Betting with friends or anyone else face to face does not break the law as defined by the wire act. You have to use electronic means and c**** state lines to break the wire act law.

wil.

 

[WildBill]

Wil, actually middling doesn't count if you make two or more bets with no vig. Many states have laws that purely prohibit betting where one side charges a fee, ie a bookmaker. If it is person to person betting with no fee charged that is legal. I suppose that is a tough argument for prosecutors and one of the many reasons bettors don't get prosecuted. You could say "hey it was a man to man bet and I didn't charge a fee" because of course it is the bookie that is collecting the fee.

 

[shotgun69]

do you guys still think its safe to bet on sports on the internet?

 

[AdamSelene]

Online sports gambling is not illegal. For example, many UK books have online websites, and they are perfectly legal for UK bettors.

If you look at all drafted US federal legislation, it always states "prohibition of illegal gambling". That means it prohibits only gambling that is *already* illegal by State or local law. States laws vary greatly.

 

[wilheim]

Wild Bill, I'm speaking in regard to the 1961 Wire Act, sports betting is sports betting, juice or no juice.


wil.