Nevada Tests Internet Poker; Sports Betting OK’d for Jersey; Congress Must Act
US Regulation
Nevada to OK Private Testing of Internet Poker Sites
By Brian Pempus – cardplayer.com
Go to www.cardplayer.com to keep abreast of the latest news on online poker legislation
In the midst of a rapidly changing gaming industry, Nevada regulators are looking for some help to keep the state competitive.
Silver State officials announced Thursday in an industry notice that they will begin drafting regulations and accepting applications for private testing labs, which would inspect and help certify online poker sites, as well as other gaming devices in the casino industry.
A bill signed into law this past summer essentially gives regulators the power to allow more businesses to enter into the equation for an online-poker system. The Gaming Commission will collect fees from such companies.
The law’s purpose was to speed up the process of bringing games to the market. The state legislature was also concerned with maintaining a “balance” between regulators and business interests.
Dr. David Schwartz, Director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, said that there has been a “bottleneck” in the state’s understaffed testing labs. Regulators have said that the bulk of the scrutiny in licensing online poker sites would take place in the lab.
The state budget deficit that online poker is expected to mitigate won’t allow for new public sector jobs to police gaming, Gaming Control Board member A.G. Burnett said in October.
Schwartz pointed out that interest in taking some of the burden off of regulators was around well before the ball got rolling with online poker this past March.
Regulations for commercial labs must be adopted before May 1, 2012. According to the industry notice, the level of interest has been increasing, despite rules not yet being in place.
In addition to the lab testing component of an intrastate online-poker industry, regulators are still hashing out language that covers rules and requirements for software and equipment, segregated funds, player registration and player-collusion safeguards
Control Board Chairman Mark Lipparelli said last month that the rules will be fine-tuned before an application is sent to the Commission for final approval. There hasn’t yet been any formal action on the seven applications already submitted.
The core set of online-poker regulations were finished in late December.
Regulators have been tight-lipped about giving a time frame for web poker. Schwartz said the goal is to have sites operational by the spring.
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US Regulation
New Jersey legislature authorizes intra-state sportsbetting
By Staff Writer – igamingbusiness.com
Monday was a busy day for gambling legislation in the eastern American state of New Jersey as the General Assembly and Senate overwhelmingly approved a proposed measure that would permit intra-state sportsbetting.
Sponsored by New Jersey State Senators Raymond Lesniak and Jeff Van Drew, the legislation would permit the New Jersey Casino Control Commission to issue licenses to casinos and racetracks allowing them to accept wagers from punters resident in the state on some professional and collegiate events.
The proposed legislation was approved in the Senate by a vote of 35 to two while the measure sailed through the General Assembly with 73 of the body’s 80 members voting in its favour.
However, even if the proposed measure is subsequently approved and signed into law by Governor Chris Christie, New Jersey will still have to win a court case and overturn 1992’s federal Professional and Amateur Sports Promotion Act (PASPA) before intra-state sportsbetting would be legalised.
New Jersey failed in a previous attempt to overturn PASPA after a federal judge dismissed a suit filed by Lesniak and fellow State Senator Stephen Sweeney on the grounds that the state, through the Attorney General’s Office, should have brought the suit.
Following the passage of his proposed legislation, Lesniak earlier declared that he plans to re-file his federal lawsuit after consulting with the Attorney General’s Office and subsequently stated that he expects a ‘year-long’ court battle before the issue will be resolved.
“You have to be realistic,” State Senator Jim Whelan said after the proposed legislation cleared the Senate on Monday.
“It’s not going to have the impact that it would have had had we been able to get it passed 20 years ago when it was first proposed.”
However, hopes are high that New Jersey residents will soon be able to place wagers on most professional, college and amateur sporting events with the exception of collegiate events taking place in or involving teams from New Jersey via eleven Atlantic City casinos and the state’s four horseracing tracks.
“These votes by both houses of the legislature and the voters of New Jersey mark the beginning of the end of the inequitable Federal ban on sportsbetting,” said Lesniak.
“This time next year our residents won’t have to fly to Las Vegas or visit their local bookie to bet on the Giants, Jets or Eagles to win the Super Bowl. They will be able to go to an Atlantic City casino, Monmouth Racetrack or The Meadowlands.
“I guarantee a victory in the federal courts for New Jersey to be able to enjoy the same benefits from sports betting Congress has given to Nevada.”
Owing to a brief experiment with parlay sportsbetting in 1976, only residents of Oregon, Montana, Delaware and Nevada are currently permitted to engage in intra-state sportsbetting while casinos in Atlantic City have welcomed the passage of the proposed legislation, saying that it could help them compete with venues in other states by offering one more attraction to customers.
“If and when the federal ban is overturned, this law would permit casinos to accept wagers on sporting events, adding another amenity to enhance our ability to compete and grow as a destination resort,” read a statement from the Casino Association of New Jersey, a trade group that represents the gaming industry in the seaside resort.
“Legalised sportsbetting would provide an economic boost for Atlantic City and the entire state of New Jersey as it would attract more tourists to our city and its world-class entertainment, thriving restaurants, brand-name retail shopping and world-famous Boardwalk.”
In order to improve the odds that Christie will subsequently sign the bill into law, Lesniak and Van Drew had earlier dropped provisions from their proposed legislation that would have permitted residents to place wagers using their home computer or mobile phone.
“We don’t need any delays on this,” Lesniak told The Associated Press at the time.
“I am willing to not include it in the bill only because I want to get into court as soon as possible to have the federal law declared unconstitutional.”
The Senate and General Assembly also approved proposed legislation that would require the holders of sportsbetting permits that have not yet constructed off-track parlours to do so within a year or forfeit a bond of one million dollars and lose the right to build such a facility in the future.
In addition, both houses also approved legislation that could see the New Jersey Casino Control Commission land-based casino regulator reduced from five members to three. It is anticipated that the Republican Governor will sign this measure into law as he has left vacant two spots with the authority that have recently become available.
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US Regulation
Administration decision on Internet gambling may force Congress’s hand
By Juliana Gruenwald – nextgov.com
Jan 9, 2012, 13:28
A Justice Department memo last month that cleared the way for states to legalize online poker and lotteries makes it more important than ever for Congress to clear up the issue on a federal level, supporters of legislation say.
The Justice Department said the 1961 Wire Act, a federal law barring certain types of betting using wire communications, only applies to gambling on sporting events. The memo, which was written in September but not released until late last month, was crafted in response to questions from New York and Illinois about the legality of selling state lottery tickets online.
Supporters of legalizing online poker cheered the ruling but said it may create confusion and encourage the creation of a patchwork of state Internet gambling rules. Congress passed legislation in 2006 aimed at barring online gambling in the United States by prohibiting financial institutions from processing payments for online bets.
“I think that this ruling creates more confusion than clarity in the Internet gambling debate,” American Gaming Association President and CEO Frank Fahrenkopf told National Journal in an interview.
Critics of the 2006 law say it has not prevented Americans from gambling online. Many Americans continue to gamble on websites based outside the United States, a situation that deprives U.S. players of consumer protections and state and federal governments of tax revenues, said John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance. Pappas and others say Congress needs to step in with federal online poker legislation.
Both Pappas’ group and the American Gaming Association favor legislation that would legalize and regulate online poker. Rep. Joe Barton , R-Texas, introduced a bill last year, though Fahrenkopf’s group has not taken a formal stand on it. Supporters say poker is a game of skill and can be more easily regulated online than other forms of Internet gambling.
Barton said while the Justice memo makes clear that playing poke online does not violate the Wire Act, the department’s interpretation of the law could lead states to adopt a variety of individual laws.
“If Congress doesn’t act soon we could end up with fractured rules and regulations that vary state to state, leaving more opportunity for fraud and fewer safeguards for players,” Barton, a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement. “I plan to keep moving forward with my efforts to move H.R. 2366 through the committee process, and I am confident it will be passed by the House and Senate – hopefully in this session.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., also is reportedly working on online poker legislation and has been aiming to gain the support of Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., who helped craft the 2006 anti-gambling law, according to industry sources and news reports. Spokesmen for both Reid and Kyl did not respond to requests for comment.
The Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade has held two hearings on Internet gambling and is likely to hold at least one more to gather additional feedback from the Justice Department and other officials on the issue. A spokesman for subcommittee Chairwoman Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., said she has not made up her mind whether she will support Barton’s bill, which must go through her panel.
