This Week in Gambling

[one_half padding=”0 10px 0px 0″][/one_half]How is online gambling tied to dark money? And how is it connected to the Department of Justice opinion for Internet betting? That decision to change their position on the Federal Wire Act has took many by surprise… and that decision has come under increasing scrutiny over the weeks. Their about-face has jeopardize the regulated online gambling industry in America, along with poker and sports betting. But perhaps even more significantly (from a legal perspective) is how the changing opinion affects states Internet lottery sales and horse racing. Now, a suspicious connection is making gambling news…

Tribal casinos might be next on deck for regulated sports betting in Minnesota. On Wednesday, Rep. Pat Garofalo unveiled a new sports betting bill as part of a press conference in the capital. Garofalo has been the primary spark for related discussions in Saint Paul over the past year, an effort which has finally spawned a piece of proposed legislation. The bill has both a title: The Safe and Regulated Sports gambling Act of 2019. The bill for sports betting in Minnesota proposes language to define and legalize “sports pools” within state lines. It would create a new five-member Minnesota…

A Utah lawmaker rolled out a bill seeking to legalize horse race betting, despite the fact that gambling is for the time being illegal in Utah. The new bill called SB181 is sponsored by Senator David Hinkins. It will provide local voters with the chance to make decisions on the fate of wagering on horse racing or so-called “parimutuel betting” in each county. According to the bill’s sponsor, the proposed piece of legislation is to be backed by some counties across the state. Senator Hinkins has further shared that to him, the state ban on horse race betting is an…

Former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker Dark Money ties are coming to light: A single six-figure mystery donor accounted for 100 percent of funding raised by his nonprofit group, a new tax documents obtained by the Center for Responsive Politics reveal. President Trump tapped Whitaker to become acting Attorney General earlier in November after Jeff Sessions was asked to resign. The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) is a self-proclaimed 501(c)(3) “watchdog” nonprofit. This is not the first year a single big donor has accounted for the entirety of FACT’s funding, according to an exclusive new analysis by CRP….

United States banking giant JPMorgan Chase is launching its own cryptocurrency, the JPM Coin, in a first for U.S. banking. In a move commentators may see as unlikely, the multinational lender will use its newly developed asset to increase settlement efficiency, initially within three of its operations. Speaking to CNBC, Umar Farooq, who leads JPM’s blockchain focus, appeared buoyant on blockchain technology’s perspectives at the bank. JPM Coin will initially focus on international settlements by major corporations, helping speed up transactions that currently take a day or longer using extant options such as SWIFT. The new coin operates on a…

Casinos would run sports betting in Iowa if the new bills in the Iowa House and Senate were to legalize the practice. Bets  would be allowed on college and professional sports at the state’s 19 land based casinos, as well as online if Iowans visit a casino in person to register an account and provide age verification. The requirement to visit a casino in person would sunset after 18 months under a Senate bill. The bill, which passed a Senate subcommittee Tuesday, would also legalize fantasy sports for the first time in Iowa. A similar bill in the House is…