Has any American ever been in legal trouble for playing online poker

Relvin · #1 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. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

Benjamin · #2 03-14-2006, 01:18 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Has any American ever been in legal trouble for playing online poker

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.

...

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.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a vague memory that some guy in North Dakota was hit with a misdemeanor for gambling online.

From what I've read, your statements about the Wire Act are accurate, though the Federal Justice Dept official position is that the online gambling is illegal under federal law.

As far as the power of states to regulate internet activity ... the presence of laws on the books attempting to regulate it doesn't necessarily mean that those laws would hold up to a challenge. Laws are overturned by the courts on a regular basis. That said, I don't know if state regulation of online gambling would stand up to a challenge or not.

B.

Bud Light · #3 03-14-2006, 01:54 PM

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I have a vague memory that some guy in North Dakota was hit with a misdemeanor for gambling online.

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I think I remember reading about this. The guy was a car salesman or something and made like $400,000 or some ungodly number from sports betting and kept the money in overseas accounts. The feds busted him for being a bookie, but once he proved that he was the bettor and not the bet-taker and that he had reported the winnings on his taxes, I believe he was let off.

He then moved out of North Dakota because North Dakota had some old gambling law still on the books to some other state with no or little regulations on gambling (North Carolina?). I believe someone named I. Rose Something or other wrote an article about the whole ordeal.

Anadrol 50 · #4 03-14-2006, 03:10 PM

This guy got nailed for being an affilliate...

http://www.gambling911.com/030606Fnews.html

Relvin · #5 03-14-2006, 03:55 PM

Thanks for the responses, I was more curious to know if anyone has ever gotten into legal trouble specificly for playing online poker.

Kurn, son of Mogh · #6 03-14-2006, 05:27 PM

Again, gambling is regulated at the State level. Most state gambling laws are sufficiently vague, but usually, players don't get punished, just those running the games (here I'm talking live games).

As far as I know, the only State that has a law that specifically makes gambling on the internet illegal is Nevada (for obvious reasons).

Relvin · #7 03-14-2006, 09:59 PM

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Only two states -- Utah and Hawaii -- have no forms of legalized gambling. Four states -- Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and South Dakota -- prohibit all forms of Internet gambling. Three others -- Nevada, Louisiana and Oregon -- prohibit most forms of Internet gambling but allow some online betting, such as for horse racing.

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I found the above statement in the following article:

http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-.../s_413664.html

So if a state does not specificaly address online gambling is the assumption that it is not illegal in the state?

mpslg · #8 03-14-2006, 10:38 PM

Just because a state doesn't specifically prohibit online gambling, that doesn't mean it's legal in that state. Many states have laws that outlaw any form of "gambling" unless it's on one of the state's riverboats, lottery etc. Whether anyone would actually be prosecuted is another issue (which was the question of the OP).

It seems like I read somewhere a few years ago that a person was prosecuted, paid a fine and ended up moving to another state. I can't remember where that was or if it was poker.