US appeals court overturns DiCristina poker ruling
Court reversal defines poker as gambling in New York state and will impact on Black Friday defendants
A US federal court has overturned the US v Lawrence DiCristina ruling from August last year that determined poker should not be considered gambling under state law.
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York reversed the decision, made by Judge Jack Weinstein, which determined the US Illegal Gambling Business Act (IGBA) to be ambiguous regarding its application to poker.
Weinstein considered poker to be “not predominately a game of chance” and ruled that Lawrence DiCristina, accused of running a poker game from Staten Island, could not be prosecuted under the IGBA, which makes it illegal to run a gambling business that violates state laws.
The 2nd Circuit disagreed with Weinstein’s finding. “Because we find no such ambiguity, we decline to limit the statute’s reach beyond its plain terms,” US Circuit Judge Chester Straub said.
Weinstein’s ruling triggered New York Senators to propose the regulation of online poker as part of 2013’s budget.
Pepper Hamilton attorney Jeremy Frey noted that none of the judges in the court of appeal was willing to write an opinion that poker-for-money is not gambling.
“The ruling probably boils down to an unstated premise that playing poker for money is popularly considered gambling, and not much more is needed,” Frey adds.
The case has subsequently been returned to Weinstein to schedule sentencing, with DiCristina facing a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.
The decision is likely to have implications on those indicted as part of Black Friday proceedings, with individuals citing the US v DiCristina ruling as part of a defence.
Elliot Peters, a lawyer for Tiltware board member Howard Lederer, previously called on Judge Leonard B Sand to hold a status conference in light of the ruling.
“If this court agrees with Judge Weinstein”¦ then much of the government’s case here, and many of the seizures which have already been authorized, will no longer have a legal basis,” he said at the time.