INTERNET
POKER AND THE LAW
We wish we had a simple
answer. The legality of anteing up on the Internet is a
complex matter with multiple offshoots, and pertinent legislation
is evolving, not locked in stone. The issue of jurisdiction
alone - federal versus state versus international law -
is only one of several thorny issues that have legal pundits
and politicians scratching their heads and burning the midnight
oil. In the United States, even Native American rights are
in contention.
For example: Do tribes
presently owning land casinos offering poker have the right
to branch out into cyberspace? And will poker, already defined
by many state and national governments to be a game of skill
and not one of random chance, be treated differently under
possible new Internet regulations as well?
The legality of online
poker is a gauntlet of sticky wickets, and you must be prepared
to run that gauntlet if you want complete clarity about
your rights. That said, let's venture into the briar patch
and sort a few things out.
Remember prohibition,
or at least movies about it? Were the Feds after the local
good ole' boys nipping a bit of the local moonshine, or
were They after the guys who brewed it and distributed it?
In other words, are you planning to launch a Web site offering
cash poker games or merely planning to one?
As this site goes
to press, we know of no instance where anyone in the United
States has been arrested, let alone prosecuted, for playing
poker online. That doesn't mean it couldn't happen tomorrow.
But law enforcement logistics preclude a scenario of Keystone
Cops taking you away in handcuffs as you're bellied up to
the computer playing hold'em in your PJs.
Visualize this lead
to a story in your local newspaper: "Caught Dead to
Rights With a Mound of Virtual Chips, Joe Aceright was arrested
in Plainville late last night for the crime of playing Internet
poker on his PC."
Sound absurd? We think
it is. The journalistic record tells us we're on the right
track. Policemen are already overwhelmed by thieves, murderers,
rapists, and other assorted thugs - not to mention international
terrorists. Given a choice, the average policeman will be
in hot pursuit of the "usual suspects" rather
than John Q. Citizen betting his flush online.
