Gamblers Have Little to Fear from Feds

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that although US based gamblers account for about half of the estimated $12 billion on online gambling market, they are not breaking any federal laws. In fact, there are only a handful of states that explicitly bar citizens from placing bets online.

For its part, the Justice Department said it is focused on the online gambling businesses, not individuals. “There is certainly not a law that expressly prohibits a bet by a casual bettor,” said a Justice Department official in a phone interview. “We think that is more for state law to decide.”

As I mentioned in a previous post, indictments have been based on the 1961 Wire Act, which forbids companies from taking bets on sporting events over state or international lines. While there have been a few quotes mentioning that some in the Justice department interpret the act to cover those sending or receiving bets, they generally don’t see that they will be going after casual bettors.