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Gaming Guru  Internet Gambling and the Presidential Race2 May 2008
For far more than 200 years, the federal government has let the states decide what their public policy toward gambling will be. Neighboring states, like Utah and Nevada, can adopt prohibition or casinos, and the federal government's role has been to either step aside or, if asked, to help a state enforce its laws. That relationship changed on October 13, 2006, when Pres. George W. Bush signed the SAFE Port Act. As part of a futile presidential bid, Bill Frist (R.-TN.), then Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate, had tacked on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The impact of the UIGEA is well known. Now the question is, when will it be changed? The answer depends in part on presidential politics. The Republicans have little interest in liberalizing Internet gambling, especially in an election year, when they are pandering to the religious far right. Even if the Democrats could squeeze a legalization bill through Congress, Pres. Bush would veto it. When Democrats took control of the Senate, Harry Reid, senator from Nevada, became Majority Leader. The American Gaming Association, the lobbying group for land-based casinos, wants a study that will conclude that online gaming can be conducted safely and should be limited to operators who are already licensed. For example, land-based casinos. Sen. Reid could make that happen, if the President is also a Democrat. But if John McCain wins, Republicans will take over the Senate, so nothing will change. Insiders know that if Hillary Clinton is the nominee, Democrats will lose the Senate, even if she wins the presidency by carrying large, industrial states. Although she is admired by many, Hillary is the most hated woman in America. She is so despised that it is hard to think of any woman who would be in second place. As John A. Millin, chair of the Wyoming state Democratic Party put it: "It has become the dirty little secret in the Democratic Party. For reasons I don't agree with and don't completely understand, most voters in Wyoming seem to hate Hillary Clinton." It has been said that she is the only person who can unify the Republican Party. Many conservatives will sit out the election if it is Barack Obama versus McCain. But they will be energized if they can vote against Hillary. In the process they will also vote against Democratic candidates for Congress. It will be massive numbers of Democrats who won't vote if the Clintons are seen as stealing the nomination from Obama, or sending him to the back of the bus as Vice President. There will then be four years of deadlock. Assuming Obama is nominated and wins, the Democrats will keep control of Congress and there will be a change in federal law. It might come as early as 2009. More likely, it won't be until 2010, or even later. The federal law will go back to allowing the states to decide. If a state wants to allow its residents to bet online, it can opt-in, exactly the system that exists for horseracing today. But that change won't happen for many years, unless Obama is elected President and the Democrats keep control of Congress. © Copyright 2008. Professor I Nelson Rose is recognized as one of the world's leading experts on gambling law. His latest books, INTERNET GAMING LAW and GAMING LAW: CASES AND MATERIALS, are available through his website, www.GAMBLINGANDTHELAW.com. #2008-4 © Copyright 2008, all rights reserved worldwide. Gambling and the Law® is a registered trademark of Professor I Nelson Rose, www.GAMBLINGANDTHELAW.com This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network, John Robison managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. Who owns tokens left in slot machine trays, or how to turn 5¢ into a fortune - by suing the casino1 March 2008
Stella Romanski found a nickel token in a slot machine tray and won a jackpot, thanks to a runaway jury and judges who think casinos have too much money.
Stella, 72, and her friends, Dorothy Dombrowski and Linda Holman, had paid $9 each for bus rides and a lunch buffet at the MotorCity casino in Detroit. ... (read more)
Californians Will Vote, Again, on Compacts9 February 2008
The voters of California are being asked to vote, once again, on Indian gaming. But unlike the prior two elections, the question is not whether tribes can have casinos. Rather, it is whether a few tribes may more than double their existing operations, creating some of the largest casinos in the world.
... (read more)
NETeller, you and the feds6 January 2008
On March 21, 2007, NETeller made a public statement about the funds from U.S. online players that it had frozen. I wrote then that the statement contained both good news and bad. The good news was that NETeller had announced it was going to give back the money.
But the bad news included that the ... (read more)
A surge in the war (of intimidation)The latest news in the United States Department of Justice's war against Internet gambling is not good news for online poker players. Up until 2006, most of the attacks by law enforcement were against sports betting sites. The DOJ has publicly taken the position that the Wire Act, the main federal anti-gambling law that might apply to the Internet, outlaws all forms of gambling. ... (read more)The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 AnalyzedThe Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 was rammed through Congress by the Republican leadership in the final minutes before the election period recess. According to Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), no one on the Senate-House Conference Committee had even seen the final language of the bill. ... (read more)Is It Bingo, Or A Slot Machine?A new casino competitor is coming to America: the bingosino. Bingo is already being played on video screens. These gaming devices are about to become virtually indistinguishable from video slots. They will be joined by other machines and fast-action table games, giving bingo halls, especially those on ... (read more)The Bizarre Law of Dealer SchoolsChanges in the law always trail changes in society. As legal gambling becomes more accepted, legislatures and judges find themselves struggling to catch up. Sometimes they fail. One of the best examples of a court refusing to accept that the ... (read more)The Day Congress Outlawed Sports Betting and Violated the U.S. ConstitutionAfter losing the Republican presidential nomination to George W. Bush, Arizona Sen. John McCain took up a new crusade -- sports betting. The media reported McCain's crusade as if it were the first time the federal government confronted Evil Gambling and Organized Crime. ... (read more) |
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