BLOG
The New California Sports Betting Initiative Moves Forward.
(Updated June 3, 2020) On May 28, Senator Bill Dodd and Assemblyman Adam Gray introduced a revised legislative initiative in California to legalize and tax sports betting by tribes and private horse racing operators, authorize craps and roulette for tribes, and to clarify the laws on card games for card rooms. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/ The revised initiative is in response to the State’s fiscal crises, and a tribal initiative which did not…
Are Fantasy Sports Contests Illegal under State Gambling Laws that prohibit Sports Betting? The Illinois Supreme Court says No and adopts a broad test for Skill Games.
The Supreme Court of Illinois has ruled that fantasy sports contests are not illegal sports wagering even though the fantasy sports contests involve picking the outcome of athletic contests. Dew-Becker v. Wu, No. 124472 (Supreme Court of Illinois, April 16, 2020). The court got many things right, but glossed over some important issues. Most states have laws that exempt defined skill contests from gambling laws. Illinois law prohibits wagers on games of skill or chance, but has an exemption for the “actual contestants in any…
What determines if a game is one of Skill or Chance?
Skill games seek to avoid gambling regulation by eliminating or minimizing the element of chance. They form an increasingly large portion of the online gaming market. For example, fantasy sports operators argue that their contests are not illegal sports wagering because they are skill based. The state law legal tests for “chance” can be grouped into three categories: (1) More than 30 states (including California, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania) ask whether skill “predominates” over chance, that is, whether skill provides…
How do State Gambling Laws determine if someone has provided Consideration for the opportunity to win?
One of the elements in determining whether something is gambling is whether a person is providing consideration for the opportunity to win. In the majority of states and under federal law the test for consideration is whether the participant provides something of economic value or money in exchange for participation in the game or contest. In these states, consideration requires some measurable value passing from the participant to the organizer or measurable detriment to the participant, other than a nominal effort to enter the contest.…
What Constitutes Gambling?
Beginning in the nineteenth century every state adopted laws and even constitutions prohibiting most forms of gambling, except for specified exceptions. State laws generally prohibit or regulate lotteries, contests, table or card games, amusement devices, raffles, slot machines, gaming devices, pull-tabs, bingo, racing, sweepstakes, horse racing and sports wagering. Even where state law appears silent, most states have general laws prohibiting gambling except as expressly authorized under state law. See for example PA Stat. §5512(d): “As used in this section the term ‘unlawful’ means not…