Exceptions for Indian Tribes

[JJKillian]

I have done a ton of reading on here, but cannot remember what it says about the Indian Tribes. I know they are in the exception area with horse, lotteries etc.

If a native american tribe starts an offshore site, is that a loop hole?

Seriously doubt it, but thought came across my mind.

JJ

[NoXiousNuts]

Actually did my HLS paper on the constitutionality of Indian Gaming (though it was 1998, lord I'm old). Not a loophole because you still have to get funds to the Indian on his island (or on the reservation in CT). It isn't the acceptance of a bet by the Indian that is illegal, it is the transfer of money in connection therewith.

[NozeCandy]

A tribe could always open up a bank and offer wifi throughout the whole reservation if they were feel generous.

[PokeReader]

Actually this is a possible loophole. The reason that Canada hasn't gone after the IG industry there though it is thought to fall within the Canadian ban on gaming is that all the IG is Canada is on a Indian reservation. The gov't lost a case trying to close down the IG industry on the reservation, and both FullTilt and PokerStars have a license from the tribe, (PokerStars is also licensed from the Isle of Mann).

This extra protect may be why these companies feel safer from the reaches of the legislation. Not to cover too much familar ground, but the legislation is based entirely on Interstate Commerce grounds, and doesn't change the current questionable legality of internet poker. (The government maintains that the 1961 Wire Act, meant to legislate gaming over phone and telegraph wires, applies to the internet as well. The government is appealling its' current loss on these grounds, and indeed, the courts have never accepted in any context an arguement for the transfers of legislative intent from phone wires to the internet.

So if the Wire Act is ultimately strucked down, and thus internet poker is legal, but it is illegal to transfer money or run an internet gaming site, the Indian reservation might really come into play, as Indian tribes are exempt from many Interstate Commerce provisions. It would probably become another area for all kinds of legal appeals, and might buy more time and leverage to revise the bill. Also, unlike the short-sighted IG industry, they are major contributors in D.C., and have some real juice.