Hope everyone is enjoying March Madness – it’s been a while since our last post. Here is a quick rundown of today’s most interesting sports betting stories that you may want to check out:

• Mike Herndon from the Alabama Press Register authors an incredibly well thought out editorial on the future of gambling. A small excerpt:

  Caught up in Gov. Bob Riley’s end-of-term crusade against electronic bingo, Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson danced around the subject last week when asked if office pools are legal. The head of Riley’s task force on gambling, Tyson said he could offer no opinion on whether such pools are legal, but warned would-be bracket-fillers to “seek the advice of their lawyer, and do it immediately.”

  Want to hear something even sillier? According to the Mississippi attorney general’s office, office pools could potentially break two laws in the land of the Beau Rivage — a general statute about sports gambling and another provision about gambling outside casinos.

  You can blow a mortgage payment playing Texas Hold ’Em, apparently, but don’t dare drop $10 on an office pool.

  It’s been estimated that between one-fourth and one-half of the working American public enters a March Madness office pool.

  And I dare say just about all of us gamble in one form or another. We buy a lottery ticket when we go to Florida or Louisiana. We wager small favors on the outcomes of petty disagreements, like the couple in the Chase credit card commercial who bet a massage on whether an actual person will answer their customer service call. We settle trivial debates by agreeing that the loser will buy lunch.

• I don’t really understand how this can be legal (it would be great if someone with a legal background could explain) : Entrepreneur Touts Loophole That Allows Online Betting On Sports.

  The Cambridge, Massachusetts, native’s startup, StarStreet Inc., is treating pro sports like a stock market. Gamers place bets with real cash by buying shares in a team or an individual player. If the team or player does well, those share prices may go up, and the gamer wins.

  Levine swears it’s legal. He has the online game in a private beta test at StarStreetSports.com with about 150 users betting cash on teams in this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. He hopes to have the site ready for public unveiling in time for the 2010 professional football season.

  “The real simple reason it’s legal is because it’s a game of skill, not chance, that doesn’t depend on the outcome of any single event,” he said.

• Malaysia to legalize sports betting ahead of the World Cup. Malaysia is a pretty repressive country and even they are allowing their citizens to bet on sports. The United States Congress should take note.

Can this man legalize online gambling?

Let the games begin! Tomorrow morning at 10 a.m EDT, the U.S. House Congressional Services committee will debate the white hot issue of how best to regulate internet gambling. Watch it live and read the prepared testimony here:

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/hr_112409.shtml

Reading through the pre-hearing documents prepared by Harvard Professor Malcolm Sparrow, it looks like the anti-gambling proponents are going to have their hands full defending the status quo. Sparrow lays out the heart of the issue plainly and simply:

At a minimum, legalization and regulation of online gambling would give Americans much more protection than does the current prohibitionist regulatory framework. Although the kind of regulation that would accompany legalization would not be failsafe, it would be a significant improvement over the current regulatory and enforcement structure. We believe that safeguards could be implemented that would, on balance, substantially improve protections against the identified risks. These safeguards would also provide protection equal to or greater than that provided within the U.S.-based bricks-and-mortar gambling industry. We recognize that no set of technical or regulatory controls could ever eliminate these risks entirely. But even if the new fence had a few holes, it would be an improvement over having no fence at all.

The view that online gambling, in contrast to its bricks-and-mortar casino counterpart, is impossible to regulate reflects an old-fashioned perception of cyber jurisdictional authority. Many offshore commercial entities that operate online are subject to U.S. legal jurisdiction under existing long-arm statutes and authority. When coupled with governmental licensing authority, the ability to police online activities is even more powerful. Legalization with regulation would provide U.S. authorities with the power to grant or deny licenses and to impose significant sanctions on noncompliant licensees. Those licenses would be highly valuable to site operators. Compliance with any regulatory requirements and strict licensing conditions that Congress chooses to impose in return for the privilege of the license would therefore become a cost of doing business.

Watch this debate, email your Congressman, and continue to visit iBet.pro to keep up on the latest developments surrounding this fascinating clash between the world’s most powerful players.

Sports betting history was made today as sports bettors in Delaware placed the first legal bets under the new state-sponsored sports betting system. The AP covered this remarkable milestone, outlining some of the contentious history surrounding this issue:

DOVER, Del. — Sports betting in Delaware officially got under way Thursday after surviving a contentious legal battle with professional sports leagues and the NCAA.

Bill Mele, a cemetery supervisor from Dover, was so eager to get started he tried to place his wager a minute or two before the official 10 a.m. kickoff. The computer at the new, high-tech sports book at Dover Downs casino wouldn’t accept his initial bet, so he had to wait a couple of minutes and try again.

“I wanted to get my sports bet in, and when I realized they were having a Thursday night game, I got pretty excited,” said Mele, who celebrated his 57th birthday by becoming the first person to place a sports bet at Dover Downs.

Delaware is now the only state east of the Rocky Mountains to offer legal sports wagering.

The casinos at Delaware Park near Wilmington and at Harrington Raceway and Casino in southern Delaware also began taking bets in advance of Thursday night’s NFL regular season opener between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans.

Under a federal appeals court ruling in a lawsuit brought by professional sports leagues and the NCAA, Delaware’s sports betting is restricted to parlay, or multiple wagers on at least three NFL games. A bettor must pick all the games correctly to win.

Delaware officials were hoping to offer bets on single games and sports other than professional football, but the court said that went beyond what was allowed under the state’s exemption to the 1992 federal ban on sports betting. Delaware was exempted from the ban because it had previously conducted an NFL sports lottery in 1976.

This video above is from the DelawareOnline.tv and it gives you a first-hand look at the front lines of this raging battle.

On a related note, the NFL season starts today. If you are an American customer looking for an online sportsbook, we recommend you check out Canbet.com. They offer $400 free for new customers right now, and they have a rock solid reputation in the industry. Full disclosure: the link provided is part of an affilate program, but the recommendation is 100% genuine and unbiased. Thanks for your continued support and good luck to you in the upcoming NFL season!

An epic battle is brewing. The two opposing sides are readying themselves for the fray; recruiting foot soldiers, forging alliances, stockpiling ammunition. In recent weeks, powerful interests have thrown down the gauntlet, setting the stage for what promises to be one of the most riveting political and economic rumbles of all time. The issue at the heart of the conflict is the legalization of sports betting and the field of battle is the United States of America.

Some of the most interesting recent developments include:

• Bipartisan coalition unites to legalize online gambling – and tax it: Barney Frank picks up some Republican support for his bill to repeal the UIGEA. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) as usual shows himself to be a leading conservative voice for individual rights.
• NJ Gov. Corzine joins the fight to overturn the Federal ban on sports betting: The New Jersey Governor sees the Constitutional problems with permitting only four states to allow sports betting. A gubernatorial candidate from Massachusetts agrees.
• DoJ Tries to Block New Jersey Governor From Sports Betting Suit: The little lawsuit started by a state lawmaker in NJ has picked up steam, causing the Justice Department to desperately look for obscure legal reasons to prevent it from seeing a trial. Amazing in-depth coverage of this story at MajorWager.com
• GOP Senators come out against States rights on sports betting issue: Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) are taking the lead in the fight against sports betting, challenging Delaware and New Jersey’s attempts to regulate and tax sports betting. Many of their questionable arguments are skillfully rebutted by Delaware politician Peter Schwartzkopf here.
• NFL seeks to stop sports betting in Delaware: The No Fun League joins in on the fun, seeking an injunction to prevent the Delaware sports betting program from going into effect. The other major sports leagues and the NCAA also throw their weight behind the effort.

This is merely the first round in what promises to be a heavy weight fight that goes the distance. In the end, let’s hope the Constitution and the liberty of he American people get the unanimous decision.

In related news, as expected Delaware Governor Jack Markell has signed legislation legalizing sports betting in that state. Neighboring state New Jersey’s press and lawmakers were quick to react.

“The expression by the professional leagues of shock at the notion that people would actually bet on games was one of the least persuasive emotional outbursts I have encountered, but we acknowledged the reality of it, no one will be betting on professional sports games.”

- Barney Frank, 5/7/09

By now you’ve heard the bad news: The long-awaited legislation introduced by Rep. Barney Frank to repeal the UIGEA does not include the removal of the online sports betting ban. After fierce lobbying by the National Football League, Frank concluded that he couldn’t realistically expect the bill to pass with sports betting legalization on the agenda. There is an excellent article with some great analysis on the issue by Hartley Henderson out today at Major Wager. The article touches on many of the reasons why this bill is just unacceptable, and Henderson sums up the problems with it quite nicely:

To those in the sports betting industry, however, the bill falls far short, and most would prefer no bill at all to this one. Not only does it throw sports betting under the bus, but it tries to legitimize the leagues’ stance that it is superior to other forms of gambling and hence deserves an exemption. It’s ironic as well that other countries view sports betting as more civil than other forms of gambling because it helps legitimize games and also because it doesn’t take advantage of the bettors like casinos and lotteries do. Good handicappers can win against the house in sports betting, but it is impossible for anyone to win in the long run on slot machines, roulette or lotteries because they are totally random and based on luck with the house edge built in. Australia has recognized this and told its citizens that they are permitted to bet sports online, but it doesn’t want them wasting money on gambling where they can’t win. In America (and Canada) the states would rather citizens only bet on games where they can’t possibly win, hence essentially making the legalized gambling a hidden tax. It’s truly unfortunate, but is also a sign of the times.

There is another good article covering the basics of the issue over at Covers.

Although this is a discouraging turn of events for advocates of legalized sports betting, there is potentially some light on the horizon. The announcement of Frank’s legislation may serve to bring more attention to the issue of online gambling in general. In addition, despite some opposition, the Delaware State Senate just passed their own legislation to legalize sports betting in that state, setting up a possible Constitutional “battle royale” between neighboring state New Jersey and the United States Federal Government. Sports betting advocates may have lost a battle with this latest setback, but the war is far from over.

Happy March Madness everyone, I hope you’re all doing better with your picks than I am! Here is a quick update of the latest news from the sports betting world:

• New Jersey sues Federal Government, claims sports betting ban is unconstitutional – this is huge! If this suit is successful it could legalize sports betting for all U.S. citizens. We’ll continue to monitor this story very closely.
• New Vegas casino offers in game wagering – the new M Resort has immediately become the gold standard for sports betting in Vegas. “All the sports lines will originate here,” M Resorts Chairman Anthony Marnell III said during a recent interview. “It used to be the Stardust set the lines. Now, it’s us.”
• Delaware budget contains legalized sports betting – the budget proposal for Delaware contains provisions for a state sponsored sports betting “lottery”. It looks like the local media is supporting the bill and we may see this landmark legislation pass.
• NCAA kills March Madness wagering in Canadian casinos – another example of U.S. entities using their economic and political power to take away the sports betting freedoms of foreign citizens.
• President Obama smiles on online sports betting – Carter Randel writes, “Barack Obama showed he shares the people’s disregard for online gambling laws by appearing on ESPN to make his own bracket picks.” Randel continues, “The President has acknowledged enjoying playing poker, has shown visionary use of the Internet in his campaign, and now flirts with online sports gambling on natiuonal television.” This could point to a brighter future for online sports betting in the U.S. under the Obama administration. I’m hoping for the best.

A quick post during this busy time of year. Here are some sports betting headlines that should make for a happy new year for sports betting fans:

• Delaware likely to OK sports betting – Delaware Governor-elect Jack Markell is making the legalization of sports betting one of his top priorities as he comes into office in January. Markell will make sports betting in the state legal, but will restrict bettors to parlay wagers. Despite reading several articles on the subject, it’s still unclear to me why this restriction will be imposed. It’s interesting to note that only Delaware, Montana, Nevada and Oregon are eligible to offer legal sports betting to their citizens due to a grandfather clause in a 1992 Federal law that banned sports betting completely for the rest of the country.
• Sweden to Announce End of Gaming Monopoly Today – “Sweden’s Ministry of Finance will unveil its much anticipated proposal for a new lottery law today at a presentation in Stockholm. Jan Nyren, a lawyer for the police authority and the man charged with formulating the proposal, is expected to announce the end of Sweden’s gambling monopoly in favour of a licensing system open to foreign operators, as well as the break up and sell-off of Svenska Spel.” (quote from Gaming Intelligence Group)
• Free Sports Betting Site to be the First to Legally Pay-Out in Cash – A new site seems to have come up with a clever way to get around the U.S. online sports betting ban. Users of the site make bets on sporting events with virtual dollars and each week the most successful bettors win real cash prizes. According to their press release, “Everything is 100 percent free and legal in the US!” I wonder if the banks charged with regulating financial transactions under the UIGEA will agree. Check this new site out at BetAgainstMe.com.

I hope everyone has a safe, happy, and winning holiday season!

The big news item today is the blown call at the end of yesterday’s Chargers Steelers game. While not affecting the outcome of the game, the official’s decision to invalidate Pittsburgh’s last minute touchdown caused San Diego to beat the point spread resulting in a lost wager for those who picked Pittsburgh. To make matters worse, the play was originally ruled a touchdown and then was overturned based on a false understanding of the rules. The NY Times paints an interesting picture of the pandemonium that ensued at the Vegas sportsbooks:

As befuddling as the end of Sunday’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Diego Chargers was for fans — when an apparent Steelers touchdown on the final play was affirmed by the referee and then waved off with little explanation — imagine if your company had bet $1 million on the point spread and more than 1,000 people were loudly demanding you pay it off.

Bob Scucci did not have to imagine. As the head of sports betting for Boyd Gaming in Las Vegas, he lived it for a harrowing 15 minutes Sunday night, when chaos reigned about the final score. Bettors who had picked the Steelers and given 4 to 5 points believed that Troy Polamalu’s final-play touchdown had made the final score 17-10, making them winners. Those who had taken the Chargers and the points insisted that the play was later reversed and the final score reverted to 11-10, making them the winners.

As he watched the mounting mutiny from behind the counter at the Orleans Casino, Scucci said, he knew that “maybe” would be an insufficient response.

“People were trying to cash all sorts of tickets — no one was really sure,” Scucci recalled in a telephone interview Monday. “They demanded an explanation. It got pretty ugly.”

Ted Sevransky, a prominent professional handicapper, said: “It was chaos. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The controversial play took place soon after the Steelers had kicked a field goal with 11 seconds left to make the score 11-10, with the subsequent kickoff and one last Chargers play from scrimmage remaining. Philip Rivers threw to LaDainian Tomlinson, who lateraled to Chris Chambers, whose toss toward Rivers was tipped by Polamalu — who corralled the ball and ran it into the end zone for an apparent touchdown.

Suddenly the Steelers led, 17-10, with 0:00 on the clock. Pittsburgh bettors were delirious and Chargers bettors distraught, but all joined in communal confusion when the referee, Scott Green, announced that the play was being reviewed.

“It was so loud that we couldn’t hear what the ref was saying,” Scucci said.

At one point, Green signaled touchdown again, but it soon became clear that matters were not settled. Viewers on the East Coast saw CBS flash an 11-10 final score for a few seconds before the network switched to its “60 Minutes” interview with Barack and Michelle Obama. Stations in the Pacific time zone stayed with the CBS game feed.

This is one of the reasons I dislike betting on the point spread. Nothing is more frustrating for me than to lose a bet because my interests as a bettor are no longer in sync with the coach who only cares about winning the game. In this particular case the Steelers coach really had no motivation to argue the call as they had won the game regardless, and you often see examples of teams just spiking the ball at the end of the game rather than kicking an easy field goal if they feel they already have the game won.

This news just in from our friends at The Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. It seems the legislation to force the Federal government to take back the burden to define what constitutes illegal gambling has passed a major hurdle. It’s interesting to note how the “sports leagues” came in at the last minute and were able to force changes to the bill exempting sports betting prohibitions from further regulation. Some key quotes related to this:

• “Congressman Frank felt it was inappropriate for the sports leagues to tell other people they can’t do what they want to do.”
• “Rep. Clay asked what was different between wagering on sports via the Internet and wagering on sports in a land-based casino in Las Vegas.”

A bill that would relieve a significant burden on U.S. financial services companies forced to implement a ban on Internet gambling passed a critical hurdle in Congress yesterday. The Payments System Protection Act (H.R. 6870), approved yesterday by the House Committee on Financial Services, would direct the Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve System, in consultation with the Attorney General, to appoint a special Administrative Law Judge to define the types of unlawful online gambling and conduct an economic impact study on the costs for compliance. The enactment of the bill would have the practical impact of delaying implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) regulations through a process designed to ensure that the regulations do not impair the functioning of the U.S. payments system, or inappropriately prevent legal online transactions.

The Committee also approved an amendment to the bill that requires federal regulators to issue regulations to financial institutions within 60 days of enactment to block all Internet gambling wagers on sports, except for those involving horse racing, dog racing and jai-lai. Under the amendment, unlawful sports operators and sites would be specified by the U.S. Treasury on a list that would be consulted by financial institutions to implement the prohibition. The legislation and amendment were introduced by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

“This important vote acknowledges that the previous attempt to prohibit Internet gambling was overly burdensome and unworkable,” said Jeffrey Sandman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. “We hope this vote indicates a willingness of Congress to develop a more sensible approach towards Internet gambling. Rather than prohibit an activity millions of Americans enjoy in the privacy of their homes, just as they can do in a casino, Congress should create a framework to regulate Internet gambling as a way to protect consumers and collect billions in much-needed federal revenue.”

Rep. Frank introduced the Payments System Protection Act in response to concerns raised by the financial services industry that the proposed rules to implement UIGEA forced banks and other payments services to determine for themselves what types of online activity are lawful and what are not, when the federal government itself was unable to specify the distinction between lawful and illegal online gambling activities. Rep. Frank stated that once the bill is passed “at least the banks will know what is and isn’t illegal.”

Rep. Frank listed representatives of the U.S. financial services industry, including the Chamber of Commerce, The Financial Services Roundtable and the Credit Union National Association, as all supporting the bill. Each had previously criticized the proposed regulations implementing UIGEA, describing them as unworkable and burdensome.

Sources present at the Committee mark-up of the bill stated that the language exempting sports prohibitions from the further rule-making and mandating sports-only regulations to go forward within sixty days from enactment appeared to have been developed in consultation with the sports leagues. Accordingly, the last-minute objection made by the leagues to the bill immediately before the committee vote came as a surprise.

According to Sandman, at the mark-up Rep. Frank expressed his disappointment with the sports leagues, stating that he was working to do “everything that they wanted.” Sandman said, “Congressman Frank felt it was inappropriate for the sports leagues to tell other people they can’t do what they want to do.”

During debate on the bill and amendment, Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) stated his view that the position of the sports leagues was disingenuous. Rep. Clay asked what was different between wagering on sports via the Internet and wagering on sports in a land-based casino in Las Vegas.

Let your voice be heard! Sign up now and contact your representative at The Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative.