GamblingCompliance US DoJ Memo Spotlight

New Jersey is prepared to fight the federal government in court on sports betting, but the state is now confident of agreement with the Department of Justice on a way forward for Internet gambling, New Jersey’s chief gambling regulator said Wednesday. 

All but a “handful” of state lotteries will likely require formal legislative approval before they can exploit a recent Department of Justice opinion on the legality of Internet ticket sales, according to industry behemoth Lottomatica.

Another big gambling debate is brewing in Massachusetts, this time over whether the state’s lottery should take the plunge into online wagering.

“Some number” of U.S. state lotteries will likely begin selling traditional games via the Internet before the end of 2012, according to the chief executive of lottery technology supplier Scientific Games.

Suspicion and contempt may be the best way to describe how California tribal gaming officials regard the December 23 opinion on Internet gambling by the U.S. Department of Justice.

December’s adoption of Internet poker regulations in Nevada completed a ten-year state process to take a leading regulatory role on interactive gaming, with a subsequent Department of Justice memo putting the Silver State in position to be first to roll out intrastate online play, writes Greg Gemignani of Lionel Sawyer & Collins in Las Vegas.

The first congressional hearing on last month’s Internet gambling opinion by the Department of Justice is scheduled February 9 in the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

State and tribal governments, including in California, need to move quickly to secure their regulatory role and revenue slice of the online gambling market in the wake of December’s Department of Justice ruling on Internet wagering, state lawmakers were warned at a weekend conference in Las Vegas.

Following the DoJ’s position reversal on gambling under the Wire Act, the potential legalization of internet gambling remains a divisive issue as tribal governments, lotteries and commercial operators all ponder their potential involvement in any federal scheme.

A coalition of Indian tribes and card rooms is hopeful the landmark Wire Act ruling by the Department of Justice will prompt the California legislature to legalize intrastate online poker this year.

American Indian tribes must aggressively pursue Internet opportunities to protect their share of the nation’s gambling market in the wake of the Department of Justice’s December 23 ruling on the legality of online wagering, political and industry observers say.

After years of speculation over the legality of internet gambling under the Wire Act, the DoJ today made public an opinion that could open the door to proliferation of internet gambling in the US.

Senators Harry Reid and Jon Kyl have urged U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to declare all forms of Internet gambling illegal to pre-empt states from sanctioning online wagering within their borders, including via their state lotteries.

While legal doubts have to date restricted U.S. lotteries’ activities on the Internet, states led by Illinois and New York are now challenging prior assumptions regarding online lottery sales and intrastate Internet gaming in general, notes Mark Hichar of law firm Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge.

Illinois has begun dialogue with President Obama’s Department of Justice over the prospect of offering internet lottery gaming within its borders as the state moves towards the privatisation of the Illinois Lottery’s management in September 2010.