DC passes intrastate poker proposals
District of Columbia beats NJ, Iowa, California and Nevada in passing first intrastate poker proposals under UIGEA carve out.
Washington DC could become the first US jurisdiction to license and regulate online poker after budget measures allowing lottery provider Intralot to add poker to its offering came into force on Friday.
The window for US Congress – which has final approval over the District’s laws – to raise objections expired on Thursday, moving the federal enclave ahead of New Jersey, Iowa, California and Nevada in the race to license and regulate online poker within its borders. Nevada passed a law authorising egaming in 2002, but did not adopt regulations after the US Department of Justice advised at the time that federal law prohibited the activity.
The Washington DC budget provision would allow the nation’s capital to bring in US$13m in revenue over three years, or US$4.3m annually, according to councilman Michael A Brown. The provisions would also allow DC to operate a fantasy sports site.
Greek lottery systems supplier Intralot acquired a stake in California-based Cyberarts in late 2009 to better position itself to supply US state lotteries with egaming products. Earlier this year SciPlay, Playtech’s JV with lottery provider Scientific Games, admitted to eGaming Review it is involved in intrastate poker proposals in Iowa, where Sci Games is the primary vendor. Legislation in the Hawkeye State however now looks unlikely to pass in 2011 after Senate Bill 458 failed to make it through the state’s “funnel stage”, designed to dismiss certain legislature and lessen the workload on lawmakers.
The US Department of Justice is yet to issue an opinion on the DC proposals, eGaming Review understands. Amendments to the wording of legislation to bring it into compliance with federal laws could be required, delaying the implementation of new laws governing the licensing and regulation of online poker within DC.
While the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) 2006 banned deposits related to internet gambling which were already illegal under other federal, state or tribal gambling laws, it also established the framework for legalising intrastate gambling by explicitly declaring that online intrastate wagers did not constitute “unlawful internet gambling” if expressly permitted by the laws of a state.