A Poker Player’s Guide to Online Gambling Law (Part 2: Kentucky and the EU)

Posted by Dave McCarthy | Filed under Bloggers Corner

On February 26, the Kentucky House of Representatives passed by 85-8-1 a bill that would allow intrastate online gambling on horse racing. This might not be noteworthy except that back in 2008, the Governor of Kentucky ordered the seizure of 141 websites associated with online gambling (including poker), a case which is still open.

In 2008, Governor Steve Beshear (D) said: “…Internet gambling poses a tremendous threat to the citizens of [Kentucky] because of its ease, availability and anonymity…The owners and operators of these illegal sites prey on Kentucky citizens, including our youth…”

Since the domain name seizure case is still open, it’s possible that the Governor will sign into law a bill allowing online gambling while simultaneously engaged in legal action to “protect the citizens of Kentucky” from online gambling.

From Frankfort to Frankfurt

You don’t have to be too cynical to realize that Kentucky’s 2008 opposition to online gambling was not a matter of protecting its citizens, but rather protecting its horse racing industry (or, rather, the politicians who need its tax revenue and campaign donations).

The same forces are at play in some corners of the European Union. According to a July 2009 Economist article, of the 27 EU member states, only 13 have liberalized (i.e. free) online gambling markets. It’s no surprise that Great Britain is one of them: small island nations with backwards laws don’t civilize the globe. Seven EU states, however, outlaw the pastime altogether, while seven restrict it to national sites. Like the Governor of Kentucky, they argue that restricting their citizens to gambling within their borders is a way to protect them. (Making the tax revenue that goes to them rather than a foreign nation just a little bonus for doing the right thing.)

If you’ve been reading my posts (that’s a big if), you’ll recall that a certain AG Bot has argued that this sort of protectionist mischief violates EU law. After all, free trade is the whole point of the EU. EU AGs (Advocates General), alas, have no real authority. So AG Bot is like a dealer at a low-stakes Atlantic City limit holdem table, weakly asking a few dirty old men to play nice while the rest of the table looks on, annoyed at the disruption and hoping The Floor (EU Court of Justice) comes soon.

What’s also interesting is that the EU has repeatedly accused the United States of violating WTO rules in restricting foreign online gambling sites’ access to US markets. Fortunately for the host nations of online poker companies, the US government’s position on online poker is: our citizens can play, but we refuse to accept the tax revenue generated by it.

Note: Part 1 of this series was titled “A Poker Player’s Guide to Online Poker Law.” This post, however, dealt mostly with online gambling laws in general, so I titled it accordingly. Depending on who you ask (Jon Kyl or Barney Frank, for example) poker is either a game of luck or a game of skill. I think it’s skill. There’s no way you can suck out on people as much as I do just by luck. You gotta practice.

Tags: AG Bot, online poker law

Permalink | March 2nd, 2010 Play Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker

4 Responses to “A Poker Player’s Guide to Online Gambling Law (Part 2: Kentucky and the EU)”

Alan Says:
March 4th, 2010 at 11:08 am
Really interesting article – I agree with you the EU can often be hypocritical in realtion to procedures and laws.

Do you have any information on Full tilts advertising policy in relation to the EU or the world for that matter.

Are they resticted from TV and online advertising in some countries and not in others??

I am doing some research into poker advertising globally at the moment for a thesis so any info would be awsome!!

Keep up the good work!!

Thanks for visiting! Dave will be contacting you shortly.
Napoleon Christiani Says:
May 5th, 2010 at 4:18 am
The Parlay System is one of the most famous of betting systems that are commonly used in horse racing. Many have said that contrary to other sports betting systems, the Parlay System has a pyramiding effect on your profit which means your winnings are played on successive wagers.
Quentin Furnace Says:
June 24th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Keep posting stuff like this i really like it
kameralı chat Says:
January 31st, 2011 at 11:39 pm
Very nice sharing thanks/01.02.2011 05:39:39