The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the million member poker advocacy non-profit organization known for its lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill, released a statement late last week applauding the U.S. Department of Justice’s ruling that online poker does not violate the Wire Act of 1961. While the Fifth District Court determined that the Wire Act only applied to sports betting in 2002, the Department of Justice essentially ignored that ruling and has been of the opinion that online poker was illegal. Until now.
In the statement, the PPA’s executive director, John Pappas, said, “This is a much needed clarification of an antiquated and often confusing law. For years, legal scholars and even the courts have debated whether the Wire Act applies to non-sporting activity. Today’s announcement validates the fact that Internet poker does not violate this law. The PPA commends Assistant Attorney General Seitz for recognizing this.”
Pappas continued, reminding everyone that this doesn’t mean that the PPA and poker players are satisfied. “However,” he said, “this ruling makes it even more important that Congress act now to clarify federal law, and to create a licensing and regulation regime for Internet poker, coupled with clear laws and strong enforcement against other forms of gambling deemed to be illegal.”
The PPA reiterated the importance of regulation on the federal level, not only because of the protections it would offer players, but also because the player base, and in turn the games and resulting revenues, would be much better with online poker rooms open to players across the entire nation, rather than just in individual states.
“State by state licensing and regulation could result in a balkanized online poker world where players across the nation would be limited in their choices of where and against whom they could play,” said PPA Chairman and former United States Senator Alfonse D’Amato. “This could potentially reduce the number of total players, reducing revenues state lawmakers project from this activity. At the same time, it would deter entrepreneurs from entering the online poker market, as there would essentially be 50 different sets of laws and rules to which they would have to adhere.”
The state of Nevada has already gotten the ball rolling on intrastate online poker, as it officially approved regulations last Thursday. Several gaming companies, including Caesars Entertainment Corporation, which operates casinos under the Harrah’s, Horseshoe and Caesars brand names and owns the World Series of Poker, have already applied for online poker licenses in Nevada. They and other companies who are already licensed for brick and mortar gaming will need to prove that they have the technology in place to meet strict requirements, such as preventing underage gambling, but overall, their path to acquiring a license should be rather painless. Potential operators who are not already licensed in the state will have to go through the full, much more rigorous licensing procedure.
