This interpretation was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in 2002, which ruled that the Wire Act applied to sports betting by telecommunication across state lines, but “in plain language does not prohibit Internet gambling on a game of chance.” Open raising 3x from the button in an online 25c/50c game is not, according to this interpretation, a violation of the Act. From this perspective, what is being prohibited is someone in Ohio phoning a bookie in Vegas to get down a bet on Davante Adams having the most receiving yards this year. Perhaps more compelling is the fact that, as quoted above, the Act specifically references wagers placed on sporting events or contests.

The counter arguments are varied, but include the observation that the Wire Act cannot (or should not) be applied to a technology invented decades after its passage into law. Opponents of online poker naturally claim it does. Thus the first ambiguity in applying the Wire Act to online poker surrounds whether “a wire communication facility” includes internet transmission. You don’t need to be a legal scholar to recognize immediately that something is problematic here. Whoever being engaged in the business of betting or wagering knowingly uses a wire communication facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets or wagers or information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest, or for the transmission of a wire communication which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or wagers, or for information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both. The preamble summarizes its scope and intent: The first, the Interstate Wire Act, dates back to 1961.

There are two federal acts that dominate the discussion of the legality of online poker in the U.S. This constitutes the second part of the article. For this reason we feel a better way of approaching the issue is to look at when online poker will be regulated on a state by state basis. You may be surprised to learn that, despite a confusing legal landscape, it is generally accepted that playing online poker is currently legal in the U.S., at least at the federal level. First, we attempt to summarize the current legal status of online poker in the United States.

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