Monday, September 11, 2006

Is online gambling now definitely illegal in the US?

The simple answer is: sports betting has always been illegal, but the situation with other parts of online gambling – such as casino gaming and poker – is still unclear.

The relevant legislation is the 1961 Interstate Wire Act. It is clear that sports betting via phone lines, which includes the internet, is illegal. Only one person – Jay Cohen, former president of World Sports Exchange – has been convicted for running an online gambling company and it’s notable that the company concerned was an online bookmaker. Sportingbet, similarly, is primarily a bookie but it does offer casino and poker gaming. It is harder to make the case that these products are illegal under the Wire Act. The US Department of Justice has stated that it regards online gambling as illegal.

The important thing to note is that the law has not changed: the Wire Act still applies. A Bill to ban explicitly all online gambling is being discussed in Congress but may not become law. All that is happening is that different states are applying the Wire Act in different ways.

To read full the full article TimesOnline.

Happy learning,

David

2 comments:

José Mª Díaz Vallejo said...

great blog!!! congratulations from Madrid. as u can see in my blog, our portfolios are very similar. And althoug i havent buy GCI (im waiting for it at $45) im agree with u about its undervaluation. i hope to be a great value investment manager too. what do tou think about CHKP? i think its a bargain now and it could add some GARP in your portfolio ;)

well, congratulations again. i have add your blog to my favorites. my english its horrible, im sorry ;)

Unknown said...

Hi I think CHKP is a very interesting company and severely undervalued! I would like to own it but unfortunately my UK account could not hold Israeli shares!

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