Relvin
03-14-2006, 01:20 AM
As far as I can tell the answer is no. It is pretty clear to me that online poker is not illegal in the United states on a federal level (the Wire act only dissalows sports betting over telephones) and I believe federal judiciary committees have ruled in such a way in the past.
It seems the states are left to rule on the matter. If it were illegal to play online poker on a federal level it seems that the USA would already be in conflict with the WTO ruling. However, the WTO seems to just warn against the USA passing federal law against online gambling and until the USA does so they will be in compliance with the ruling.
I read somewhere that some states have banned online gambling. I believe there was a list of less then 10 states that have done this. A few banned online gambling entirely and the others just banned some online wagering activities. So it seems that in these few states online poker is illegal.
Idaho was not listed as one of the states that had specific language banning online gambling. However, the following is true in Idaho (somewhat random aside, we have Indian casinos).
http://www.gambling-law-us.com/State-Laws/Idaho/
This link says poker is banned, but does the state need to specificaly mention online poker, since that seems to be in a different jurisdiction? At one point I thought the states did not have the power to regulate the internet. They apparently do since some states have specificly said online gambling is illegal.
Does anyone have thoughts on this, most specificly I am interested in the situation for an online poker pro in Idaho but other thoughts are also welcome. My mother is urging me to show her that online gambling is illegal in our state / country. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif
It seems the states are left to rule on the matter. If it were illegal to play online poker on a federal level it seems that the USA would already be in conflict with the WTO ruling. However, the WTO seems to just warn against the USA passing federal law against online gambling and until the USA does so they will be in compliance with the ruling.
I read somewhere that some states have banned online gambling. I believe there was a list of less then 10 states that have done this. A few banned online gambling entirely and the others just banned some online wagering activities. So it seems that in these few states online poker is illegal.
Idaho was not listed as one of the states that had specific language banning online gambling. However, the following is true in Idaho (somewhat random aside, we have Indian casinos).
http://www.gambling-law-us.com/State-Laws/Idaho/
This link says poker is banned, but does the state need to specificaly mention online poker, since that seems to be in a different jurisdiction? At one point I thought the states did not have the power to regulate the internet. They apparently do since some states have specificly said online gambling is illegal.
Does anyone have thoughts on this, most specificly I am interested in the situation for an online poker pro in Idaho but other thoughts are also welcome. My mother is urging me to show her that online gambling is illegal in our state / country. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif