Pixabay If a lawsuit that IGT and its US-based subsidiary filed last month against the Biden DOJ goes the way US gaming law attorneys expect, US online poker could expand to several more states in short order, and it could open the doors to shared liquidity with Michigan and Pennsylvania.
That’s because IGT, the nation’s largest provider of iGaming and lottery services, has taken the DOJ to task over its continued silence regarding the Wire Act . Regulators in Michigan, Pennsylvania and elsewhere frequently label the law as the primary obstacle to their states joining interstate compacts that could provide the shared liquidity needed to support online poker.
“I think IGT wins this case and hopefully earns the decision and protection it hopes for,” Jeff Ifrah, of Ifrah Law PLLC, told pokerfuse. How the Parties Got Here
Late last month, IGT filed suit in District Court for the District of Rhode Island that asks the court to declare a 2018 opinion by the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), issued during the Trump Administration, as “contrary to law.” The company said the 2018 opinion puts it at risk of prosecution, unless it undertakes a prohibitively expensive restructuring effort.
At issue is a decision by the Trump DOJ to reverse a 2011 opinion by the Obama DOJ that the Wire Act applies only to sports betting. But the 2018 opinion didn’t get far in court: a district court in New Hampshire ruled against the Trump DOJ in 2019, and the First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s ruling in January 2021 .
The Biden DOJ then declined to appeal before a deadline to do so in June. But to the annoyance of state officials and the industry, the DOJ has been tight lipped about what the missed deadline means. To date, states have been wary of joining interstate compacts like the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), which currently includes Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey.
“The Biden DOJ agenda is focused on other matters that are the priority of the administration,” said Jeffrey Silver, of counsel with Dickinson Wright. “Gaming is not one […]
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