Poker Legislation News
It seems as if every week there are some moves – for good and for bad – in the world of online casino gaming, online poker and sports betting. Some of the latest news involves three states, with one examining a very limited dip into the pool, one looking for a potential wider expansion and… Read more »
Long at the forefront of casino gaming, especially when it comes to the Native American population, the Seminole Indians of Florida have traditionally been hard core negotiators. With both the federal and Florida governments, the Seminoles have more often than not come out on the winning side when it comes to negotiations over their sovereign… Read more »
Maine has become the latest state to take a serious look at sports betting, as a pair of bills have been introduced in the state House of Representatives with the same goal of legalizing sports gambling, though with different takes on the matter. LD 1348 was introduced a month ago by Rep. Jeffrey Evangelos (I… Read more »
The U.S. Department of Justice is starting to show its cards in defense of the lawsuit brought by the New Hampshire Lottery Commission (NHLC) over the DoJ’s revised opinion on the Wire Act and to my non-lawyer eyes, the Department’s hand looks weak. That doesn’t mean that hand won’t win, though. To review, the DoJ’s… Read more »
The news for online gaming and poker continues to be on the rise. Coming out of nowhere, the state of West Virginia has become the fifth state to authorize online gaming and poker inside its borders. The bill pushing for such activities became law after Governor Jim Justice did not sign the legislation passed by… Read more »
The United States Department of Justice has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the New Hampshire Lottery Commission (NHLC) over the DoJ’s revised opinion on the Wire Act. In what is probably the biggest gaming news of the year so far, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) published a new… Read more »
The molasses-like rate of passage of sports betting, DFS and online gaming and poker regulations in the States of America has been the norm in the industry rather than the exception. Since it was sparked to life in 2011, only four states have passed any type of regulations regarding online gaming and/or poker, with more… Read more »
Last year, Michigan lawmakers passed a trio of bills that would have legalized online gambling in the state, but Governor Rick Snyder vetoed them on his way out the door. Early on in the new legislative year, another bill has been introduced and is already starting to roll. 2018 Bill Couldn’t Get Past the Governor… Read more »
The United States Department of Justice has decided to extend the grace period during which online gaming operators will not be prosecuted for violations of the Wire Act under the Office of Legal Counsel’s (OLC) recent re-interpretation. The directive was set forth by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein via a memo to the director of… Read more »
There have been small pushes in the state of Georgia over the last several years to legalize casino gambling, but not until last week has there been any sort of progress in the state capitol. It is a very small step, but on Friday, March 1st, the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee unanimously passed… Read more »
In what might be a first for me in my nearly decade and a half here at Poker News Daily, I am writing about horse racing. I know nothing about horse racing beyond the “Let’s Go to the Races” VCR game that I played when I was a kid. But when I read that a… Read more »
We knew there would be legal backlash against the U.S. Department of Justice for the Office of Legal Counsel’s revised opinion on the Wire Act and the first shoe to drop comes from New Hampshire. The New Hampshire Lottery Commission has filed a lawsuit against the DoJ and Attorney General William Barr, demanding that the… Read more »
You can’t fault New York Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow for a lack of persistence. The biggest champion of online poker in that chamber of the state legislature has once again introduced a bill to legalize internet poker in the Empire State. Online poker has had some success in Albany, though it has obviously never been… Read more »
Perhaps the new Wire Act opinion from the Department of Justice won’t slow down online gambling, after all. A bill was recently introduced in the West Virginia House of Delegates that would legalize and regulate online gambling in the state. The West Virginia Lottery Interactive Wagering Act (H 2934) could end up permitting virtually any… Read more »
During a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee regarding the special counsel investigation last week, Acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker was surprisingly asked a question about his involvement in January’s new opinion on the Wire Act issued by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). Whitaker denied any involvement. The opinion, as has… Read more »
The Attorneys General of New Jersey and Pennsylvania – two of the four states that have legalized online poker – have written a letter to Acting U.S. Attorney General Matt Whitaker and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosentein, protesting the recent new Wire Act opinion issued by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). In… Read more »
The North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL), a non-profit trade association of 52 lottery organizations in the United States and Canada, has responded to the Justice Department’s reversal of the 2011 Wire Act Opinion. As one might expect, the response is not a positive one, as NASPL believes the reinterpretation “creates a… Read more »
One of the key questions posed in the aftermath of last week’s new Wire Act opinion published by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) was, “Will this even have any effect on online poker?” It didn’t take long to find out the answer, as the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board quickly sent a letter… Read more »
Since the U. S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel issued a reversal last Monday of the 2011 decision by the Obama Administration’s decision regarding online sports betting, gaming and poker, there have been a flurry of opinions on the issue. Some entities have called the new opinion “unfortunate,” while other organizations are tempering… Read more »
Around Christmas of 2011, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued an opinion on the Wire Act, saying that it online made interstate online sports betting illegal, not all interstate online gambling. This paved the way for states to begin legalizing online gambling and so far, four – Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey,… Read more »
Online poker is once again on the table in the New York state legislature, as a bill has been introduced that would legalize and regulate the pastime. Senate Bill 18, sponsored by Senator Joseph Addabbo (D – 15th District), would only legalize online poker, not online casino games, which have been more profitable in other… Read more »
Waiting until the very last minute possible before he left office, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder dashed the hopes of the Michigan legislature and thousands of online gaming fans in the Wolverine State by vetoing recently passed online gaming and poker legislation. Late Night Decision to Pass… On December 21st, in a last-minute session, the Michigan… Read more »
In an event that occurred rapidly (and Poker News Daily actually resisted reporting on until it was a done deal), the Michigan General Assembly passed legislation that would regulate online gaming and poker within the borders of the Wolverine State. On Thursday, the Senate Approved… In what was a late-night vote on Thursday evening, the… Read more »
The Washington, D.C. Council passed a bill to legalize sports betting on Tuesday which, if it becomes law, will make the District of Columbia the ninth U.S. jurisdiction to permit the pastime. Nevada, of course, has had sports betting for years, but it wasn’t until this May – when the Supreme Court overturned PASPA –… Read more »
Online poker players, hold on to your butts. According to a report from Online Poker Report, the United States Department of Justice is working on a new opinion of the Interstate Wire Act of 1961, known simply as the Wire Act, that will say that it applies to all forms of online gambling, rather than… Read more »
