DOJ Makes a Gamble with Seizure of Online Poker Cash
Gambling experts are debating whether the Justice Department’s recent seizure of $34 million belonging to online poker players will pay off.
Whittier senior law professor I. Nelson Rose claims the seizure by the Manhattan U.S. attorney could backfire, leading to a ruling that supports Internet poker, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. “It’s a big gamble by the Department of Justice,” Rose told the publication.
But lawyer Benham Dayanim of Paul Hastings told National Public Radio he doubts that poker players will win one frequently made argument: that poker is a legal game of skill rather than an illegal game of chance. “If you look at the court decisions that have examined this question, they almost uniformly determine that poker is a game of chance for purposes of gambling, and therefore is considered gambling,” he said.
Buffalo State College professor Joseph Kelly told NPR that past online gambling prosecutions have relied on the Wire Act and they targeted offshore bookies, rather than U.S. Internet players. If the Wire Act is cited in the new case, lawyers are likely to argue that the law applies only to sports betting, said Kelly, who co-edits Gaming Law Review and Economics.
Another law, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, is somewhat toothless and unlikely to be used in the seizure case, he said. The 2006 law prohibits use of credit cards, checks and electronic fund transfers for online bets, according to the Associated Press and the Washington Post’s Investigations blog. Prosecutors are more likely to rely on the Wire Act and money laundering statutes, according to Kelly.
Even if the poker players did lose this case, they could win a bigger battle if legislation proposed by U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., were to become law. It seeks to legalize and regulate Internet gambling, allowing revenues to be taxed.
Another twist that could affect the outcome: The European Union contends U.S. Internet gambling laws violate international trade rules, the Wall Street Journal says.
