This Week in Gambling

The executive director of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission, Charles McIntyre, said he expects a decision on their Wire Act lawsuit before the end of May, even as arguments in the case begin in about a week. The justice system can sometimes move slowly, but McIntyre predicts a fairly quick resolution. He stated that he expects Judge Paul J. Barbadoro to render his decision before the end of May. “In a statutory issue,” McIntyre said. “There’s a lot of things to look at. We’re talking about a law passed pre-internet. Most laws have been updated to reflect technology, and this…

New York sports betting plans do not include mobile bets for the state’s 2020 budget. However, legislators have included a number of reforms and initiatives for other forms of gambling. Agreed upon by Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders in the state, the budget sets out spending plans for $175.5bn (£134.6bn/€156.7bn) for the next 12 months. However, the approved budget does not include any language related to mobile sports betting, despite Senator Joseph Addabbo’s efforts to have it included in the final document. New York sports betting plans will still move forward with regulate in-person wagering, with preliminary talks on…

The Department of Justice does not want to fight the online gambling lawsuit brought by the fifteen states defending their right to regulate Internet betting. Now the DOJ has made a proactive move to try to avoid having to defend their actions in court… and to keep states under their thumb. The Justice Department is now asking that the court throw out the lawsuit brought against them, using some creative legal maneuvering to try to wiggle off the hook. Also, another state has regulated online gambling… bringing the total to five.   The DOJ argues that just one clause of…

West Virginia online gambling has officially become law, thanks to the inaction of the governor. The West Virginia Lottery Interactive Wagering Act cruised through the House in February, and the Senate then approved and made amendments to the bill. The House accepted those changes and sent the bill to the desk of Governor Jim Justice. The state legislature passed the bill in full the day before it adjourned on March 9, giving the Governor 15 days to sign or veto the act. Now that the veto deadline has passed, the bill has become law. As was the case for West…

Less than a year after launching two retail sports books, Rhode Island mobile sports betting is ready to launch. Governor Gina Raimondo signed into law S 37, a bill adding mobile Rhode Island sports betting to the state’s lottery-run operation. Raimondo also spurred the start of Rhode Island’s sports book operations last year by including sports betting revenue in her budget. Rhode Island sports betting is legal at the state’s two casinos: Twin River Lincoln and Twin River Tiverton. Those casinos both opened their sports gambling operations in 2018 and plan to expand into permanent space this year. Twin River…

The US Justice Department has filed a motion to dismiss the Wire Act lawsuit brought against it on behalf of the New Hampshire Lottery and NeoPollard Interactive. The filing, written by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate and John Tyler, Assistant Director of the Federal Programs Branch, argues that the District Court of New Hampshire should dismiss the case, on the basis that there is no actual case to answer. It says that there have been no prosecutions as a result of the revised stance, and that to date states have not been blocked from carrying out any activity. This,…