Internet Betting Taking Place In Nevada

Published: Friday, March 04, 2005 Online-Casinos.com

INTERNET BETTING ALREADY TAKING PLACE IN NEVADA

WTO lawyer puts the spotlight on a Nevada land casino's Internet betting facility

In a fascinating study of the WTO dispute on online gambling between Antigua and the USA, the respected publication Las Vegas Review-Journal this week comments on the fact that while Internet gambling may be illegal under federal law, at least one Las Vegas casino is offering online betting to customers within Nevada's borders.

The Journal reports that Station Casinos' online wagering service came up during hearings this week on a U.S. appeal of a ruling last year by the World Trade Organisation. In March, the WTO declared that U.S. restrictions on Internet gambling are unfair trade barriers.

During hearings in Geneva, Switzerland, Stanford McCoy - a lawyer for the United States Trade Representative -- argued Internet gambling is harmful because it is "remote" gambling that is not regulated.

Mark Mendel, a lawyer representing the Caribbean nation of Antigua against the United States, criticised the "remote" gambling argument and cited Station Casinos.

"In fact, the U.S. is full of remote gambling, including telephone betting in a number of states, telephone and Internet sales of lottery tickets in a number of states, telephone and Internet betting in Nevada, interstate telephone and Internet gambling on horse racing and a number of other instances," Mendel said in an interview after the hearings.

Mendel said there was at least one other Nevada casino that offers Internet gambling.

Station Casinos spokeswoman Lesley Pittman later confirmed an Internet betting service has been available for about four years to the casino's customers who are Nevada residents. Customers are required to come to the Station sports book with documents proving they are Nevada residents older than 21. If customers meet these requirements, they are allowed to set up an account with Sports Net Connection.

"They can make bets over their computers with a maximum of $2,000 a day per player," Pittman said.

Pittman said the Internet service is a closed-loop system approved by the Nevada Gaming Control Board. She said she doesn't know whether other casinos are offering similar services.

Mendel said the three WTO judges from Australia, Egypt and Italy seemed impressed when he pointed out the Nevada example.

The U.S. Trade Representative's office declined to comment on the appeal, and a call to McCoy was not returned.

A WTO ruling on the U.S. appeal is expected by late March or early April, Mendel said.

"If we win on appeal, which I expect, the U.S. is going to resist implementation of the judgment, and we are going to have to hold their feet to the fire," Mendel said. "If it is a substantive ruling against us, then I think there will be a dramatic crackdown on Internet gambling businesses."

The Department of Justice has said a 1961 federal statute, which bans the use of telephones to place bets across state lines, also prohibits Internet gambling. But efforts in Congress to strengthen the 44-year old law or impose a blanket ban on Internet gambling have repeatedly failed.

After last year's WTO decision against U.S. restrictions on Internet gambling, the British Isle of Man began targeting customers in America, Mendel said. "It was absolutely a landmark ruling, and the appeal will be, too," he said.

But Mendel insists Antigua's case is about more than Internet gambling. Since American businesses have benefited tremendously from international trade agreements under WTO, he said, the United States can ill afford to ignore an unfavorable ruling on its appeal. "The U.S. has benefited from WTO more than any other nation," Mendel said. "The U.S. has used WTO and its dispute resolution process as a sword against other countries to gain access to foreign markets for U.S. goods and services."

This may explain why the European Union, Japan, Mexico and Taiwan are supporting Antigua's case against the United States.

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