For a while, I’ve been unsure of what to call my next book, the one on the Wire Act and gambling prohibition. I tentatively settled on a title of something like “America’s gambling Prohibition,” but I wasn’t sure whether the title was apt. I think I’ve found some proof.
Mr. Lotto himself leads an article in the New York Daily News with this pithy gem:
You’d think they’d have learned from Prohibition, but the more the government tries to stop Internet betting, the hotter it getsNew York Daily News – City Life – Mr. Lotto: You’re in for Lotto grief with pirate Net gambling
Mr. Lotto goes on to talk about an email he got asking him if an online lottery site was legal or not.
Join the club, Mr. Lotto. I get emails almost every day asking me for my legal opinion on a variety of gaming issues, all despite the fact that I am not a lawyer and I have specifically disavowed, several times, any authority to rule on what is definitively legal, illegal, or barely legal. While I perfectly willing to talk with people about the evolution of gaming law from a historical perspective, trends leading towards gaming legalization, and things like that, I am not the person you want to call for a quick ruling on whether your grade school hold’em tournament is legal.
Of course, when people google “Hold’em tournament legal” now, they’ll get a hit for this page, and email me with questions, but that’s just the fun of the game.