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The biggest event in
the world of Internet poker took place not online, but in a casino
in downtown Las Vegas.
As most
poker players already know, on May 23, 2003, Chris Moneymaker won
the World Series of Poker, and its $2.5 million top prize, at Binion's
Horseshoe Hotel & Casino. You could not write a script like
this. Well, you could, but no one would believe it.
Start with the
winner's name. It really is Chris Moneymaker. To get the money to
travel from his home in Tennessee, he sold a 20% stake to his father
for $2,000. But in the movies heroes need not just a loving dad,
but also a buddy. Let's see... Moneymaker... I know, have him sell
a second 20% share to his friend named... David Gamble.
So Moneymaker
Senior and Mr. Gamble get $500,000 each. That leaves $1.5 million
for Chris. Sounds good. But now let's make this totally fantastic.
It costs $10,000
to enter the WSOP. Some players pay cash. But let's have Chris put
up only $40 and win his entry fee through satellite tournaments.
The final kicker
is Chris never before played in a live poker tournament, where you
can see the other players' faces. Chris, like dozens of others at
the WSOP, won his entry fee through poker games played entirely
online.
This naturally
raises the question of whether Chris was breaking the law. I get
more email asking me whether it is legal to bet online than on any
other subject.
The answer is,
it depends.
It depends mostly
on where you live. It depends also on how the game is being run.
And, in the real world, it depends on whether anyone is going to
do anything about it.
Federal law
is clear. The federal government's interest in gambling is pretty
much limited to organized crime. Federal statutes are written with
phrases like, "Whoever being engaged in the business of betting
or wagering..." or "Whoever conducts, finances, manages,
supervises, directs, or owns all or part of an illegal gambling
business..."
A regular player
cannot get into trouble with the federal government even if the
gambling operation is blatantly illegal, unless he does something
to help the business. Prosecutors have charged players with being
part of the gambling business when they helped operators collect
debts from other players. But the very few times the federal Department
of Justice has gone after regular players, judges have thrown the
cases out.
What about state
laws? Here the question is more difficult, because many states long
ago passed anti-gambling laws, which are still on the books. There
was a time when state governments wanted to protect not only the
health, safety and welfare of their citizens, but their souls as
well.
All states make
it a crime to conduct some forms of unauthorized gambling. But about
half the states also make it a crime to make a bet under some circumstances,
even though nobody is ever charged any more.
There are obvious
exception to the anti-gambling laws. It would not make sense for
a state to run a State Lottery and make it a misdemeanor to buy
a ticket.
Many states
also make exceptions for social gambling. For example, the Oregon
Legislature passed a statute expressly exempting players in social
games, like poker, from the prohibition on gambling, so long as
the players do not help set up the game and the only money they
make is from winning. But a player at a commercial poker website
is not so clearly protected.
The only way
to know for sure is to check the laws of your state. I do not know
of any state that has passed a law stating that players can play
poker online. The best you can hope to find is that the state simply
has never made this form of gambling illegal.
California,
for example, makes it a crime to play 11 named games, including
"21," and any "banking or percentage game. The California
Penal Code also makes it a misdemeanor to make sports bets. But
other wagers are not forbidden. It is not a crime to buy a lottery
ticket, even in an illegal numbers games.
So, at least
in California, it seems it is not a crime to play poker online for
money.
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