The Battle to Legalize Internet Poker in the U.S. Continues
The resistance to legalize online poker, which is led by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) and the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (IMEGA), are looking forward to the chance of arguing their case in court for legal online poker in the US. They want to argue that poker is a game of skill rather then a game of chance.
When $30 million in transit from offshore poker websites to the American public was seized in June by the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) it looked as if this may be the platform needed to argue the case. Right away the PPA announced that they had brought together a team of legal experts to combat the seizure.
When the heat simmered on the seizure case and the SDNY indicted Douglas Rennick, a citizen of Canada, it was the clear that the poker resistance would have an uphill battle.
The indictment against Rennick stated that he committed bank fraud in opening accounts stating that his various companies would be processing both rebate and affiliate checks when in reality they were making payments that had to do with online gambling.
iMEGA chairman Joe Brennan Jr. stated, “It doesn’t even give you the opportunity to get into a debate on the status of Internet poker. Whether Internet poker is legal or not is almost inconsequential when you have a processor lying about where the money is coming from.”
The Illegal Gambling Business Act of 1955 is mentioned in the following 2 counts of money laundering and gambling conspiracy in the Rennick’s indictment. If he were found guilty of bank fraud then he would not really have to come back to the U.S. to face trial.
An amicus brief was filed by the PPA for the SDNY and said that the seizure of funds to the public is in conflict with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in that poker is a skill game and that skill games are not illegal under the Gambling Business Act. The amicus brief is really the only thing that the PPA can do about the issue.
PPA chairman John Pappas stated, “We think it’s an underhanded move by the (Department of Justice) to get away from actually having a hearing and a trial on the facts. I think the odds that (Rennick) will appear and that there will be a trial are very slim. We think this move was tactical by the DOJ to avoid pushing forward with a trial on the merits of whether poker is a lawful game.”
Even though it was the case that the seized funds were payouts for poker players online the bigger poker websites of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker refunded the withdrawals as well as player bonuses into the accounts of the players that were impacted by the seizure. The poker websites located offshore will not go after seized funds and open up their operations to the American legal system.
