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Sports Betting and Poker the Perfect Marriage

Jan 6 2009 - 9:02am

The news that Cake Poker has managed to increase its market share by over 52 percent in 2008 should hardly come as little surprise. 

Cake's success is fueled almost exclusively through its relationship with Sportsbook.com, by far the largest online sports betting site in terms of overall customer volume.

The Poker Players Alliance has long proclaimed poker as a "skill game", which is fine I suppose even though the British government has ruled otherwise (and they are among the most online gambling friendly nations in the world).  The problem I have with the PPA is their insistence that sports betting is a more "seedy" form of gambling. 

When it comes to skill, PPA President John Pappas might want to sit down with one of these successful sports handicappers and spend a few hours mulling over stats in an effort to determine which gambling activity incorporates a larger degree of skill.  Following the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act in October 2006, professional sports bettor, Billy Walters, was prepared to walk into a court with decades worth of documentation showing the amount of skill required for sports betting.

But getting back to the sports betting poker relationship, online sportsbooks were among the first to implement poker rooms.  They were essentially crap but the reality is sports bettors typically played in the poker room.

Cake Poker has done little marketing.  Their business model relies almost exclusively on the business derived from Sportsbook.com.  Seriously, how many Cake pros do you know compared to say Team PokerStars or Team Full Tilt Poker?

To further drive home the point that sports betting and poker work well together just like chocolate and peanut butter, one of the largest online poker firms - Everest - just announced they will be entering the sports betting market. 

Everest' parent company, Giga Media, recently announced its plans to partner up with Victor Chandler International Group, one of the world's oldest and best-known online gambling companies, to launch Everest Bets. GigaMedia's Everest Poker is one of the world's most popular poker sites, and Victor's sports betting business already accepts more than 2 million sports betting calls per year in more than 160 countries, providing both companies significant cross-marketing benefits.

And the folks in Vegas - desperate for an injection to boost their ailing economy - are now in talks with various groups to enter the billion dollar online gambling industry.  Their focus is not so much on poker but rather sports betting.  The World Series of Poker helps drive the Vegas economy during July but from a purely betting standpoint, it's the Super Bowl and March Madness where casinos see tangible results.

This has been an editorial piece from Gambling911.com Publisher Christopher Costigan

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Comments

Comparisons are simply incorrect

Again you are comparing apples to oranges. Of course you cannot run an unlicensed gambling house on USA soil. As I said, who cares if poker was being played there, just the fact that it was being run as an unlicensed club makes it illegal. I am sure they were selling booze there illegally as well as who knows what else. You cannot compare an illegal business like that to an offshore poker site that is not located in the USA. It is not my fault there were never any valid federal USA laws created to anticipate the internet and this online poker loophole that was created with it. This is why UIGEA was attempted which ended up being incredibly unclear and a mess. UIGEA has left online poker no worse off. The only Federal law the DOJ had with teeth to fight with online loophole was the Wire Act and they have have successfully pounced on Online Sports Books with it (Bet On Sports and Bodog to name a couple). Secondly, it doesn't matter if Sports Betting is a skill. I actually believe it is. Skill is irrelevant to the Wire Act and my point is that the Federal Wire Act clearly makes Sports Betting illegal whereas it does not for Poker. It is under the Federal Wire act that all these online sports books are being busted. I also do not care if Dikshit paid 300 million in order to say he is guilty under the wire act (though he easily could be saying he is guilty for Party's CASINO operations which were HUGE). There is no distinction in his guilty plea between their casino and poker operations. It was also a private settlement and the only real court ruling on the matter clearly states that ONLY Sports Betting is what the Wire Act was intended for.
Submitted by Guest on Thu, 01/08/2009 - 16:07.

Recent poker room indictment

The idea that poker is good and sports betting bad in the eyes of authority is downright stupid. Three weeks ago in Utah we had an indictment against a poker room operator. This was not a local case. The US Justice Dept is overseeing the matter. If you think for a moment that an internet poker room is immune from charges you're sadly mistaken. The gentleman insisting poker is out of reach of the law is trying to raise good points. He comes across as intelligent. But it's a case of grasping at straws. I'm an avid poker player. I don't think poker is any more skill than sports betting. I bet my Utes based on an hour's worth of skilled handicapping and made out nicely. Here is the story from out of Sandy, Utah. A 61-year-old Sandy man was indicted by a federal grand jury on four counts of money laundering and operating an illegal poker room. The indictment alleges the man operated the poker room between April 2003 and June 2006 and made a series of financial transactions totaling about $400,000 from the illegal games, the U.S. Department of Justice reported. The Salt Lake City Police Department shut down the building were the games were held in 2006. Authorities plan to issue a summons for the man to appear for an arraignment in federal court. If convicted, the man faces five years in prison on the gambling charge and up to 10 years for each of the four counts of money laundering.
Submitted by Guest on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 23:46.

The facts

As stated by an actual USA judge in an actual usa court case. The DOJ never appealed it. http://www.internetlibrary.com/cases/lib_case151.cfm "[P]laintiffs strenuously argue that the Wire Act does not require sporting events or contests to be the object of the gambling. However, a plain reading of the statutory language clearly requires that the object of the gambling be a sporting event or contest. … Since plaintiffs have failed to allege that they engaged in sports gambling, and internet gambling in connection with activities other than sports betting is not illegal under federal law, plaintiffs have no cause of action against the credit card companies or the banks under the Wire Act."
Submitted by Guest on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 18:29.

So much convenient denial

Sounds to me like the Sports Book operators are responding to the comments here. Way to ignore all the facts that were presented by the person whereas nothing was presented on your end EXCEPT the terrible example of comparing offshore online poker to shady underground clubs that exist on USA soil. You CANNOT run an underground club in any USA City even if no gambling was going on in there. Of course these places are being busted. These clubs could easily be taken down for alcohal being sold there without a liquor license. Your comparison is absolutely rediculous. The fact is no COURT has ruled the WIRE ACT pertains to anything outside of Sports Betting. Live with it.
Submitted by Guest on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 10:53.

No court...except the one Anurag walked into.

This argument - that no court has yet ruled on poker violations of the Wire Act - is like someone who doesn't wear seatbelts, "because nothing has ever happened, yet." You didn't hear the Federal judge during Anurag's allocution say, "Hey, stop there Dikshit...online poker doesn't violate the Wire Act. What are you pleading guilty for?" The judge doesn't just sit there as a passive observer as people misapply laws in their court. If there was no underlying crime, the court not only would have rejected the plea, it would have thrown the case out of court. And, again, the DOJ says online poker is a crime. Face it poker players. You are all in the same boat as us dirty sports bettors. Live with that, dude.
Submitted by Guest on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 16:08.

Again, you do not get it

Please go call a lawyer or twenty so they can all give you the same advice. There is a HUGE difference between the courts saying you have violated a law versus someone trying to BUY their freedom by willingly claiming they violated a law in a PRIVATE SETTLEMENT. A JUDGE RULED that violating the wireact in a Mastercard COURT ROOM CASE PERTAINED only to SPORTS BETTING. That is actual PRECEDENCE set by a LEGAL COURT. The fact that DIKSHIT desperately went in and signed whatever doj papers they asked for means nothing. His actions do not setup LEGAL precedence. In a legal courtroom you would find I am correct which is why there have been NO pure poker arrests (A poker site with ZERO attachment to SPORTSBOOKS). If somebody had the guts to fight the DOJ on it they would lose. The DOJ was offered a fortune by DIKSHIT and why wouldn't they take it if nobody is going to fight them on it? Also how about you go and read the actual WIRE ACT. The language is quite clear. Please refer to http://www.internetlibrary.com/cases/lib_case151.cfm for the evidence from me you asked for. THE DOJ NEVER APPEALED THE RULING. They knew they were dead on the matter. Again if you do not believe, go consult a REAL LAWYER. "[P]laintiffs strenuously argue that the Wire Act does not require sporting events or contests to be the object of the gambling. However, a plain reading of the statutory language clearly requires that the object of the gambling be a sporting event or contest. … Since plaintiffs have failed to allege that they engaged in sports gambling, and internet gambling in connection with activities other than sports betting is not illegal under federal law, plaintiffs have no cause of action against the credit card companies or the banks under the Wire Act." ALSO The PPA Chairman, Alfonse D’Amato, said the following: “The Poker Players Alliance is disappointed to learn of Anurag Dikshit’s guilty plea to the Department of Justice under the Wire Act. To be clear, as a private settlement between two parties, this plea does not change existing law in the United States nor does it establish any kind of precedent moving forward.”
Submitted by Guest on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 10:14.

Whoa, calm down dude.

Is it me, or does Mr. You Do Not Get It seem to have missed his meds today? I haven't seen this kind of abuse of all-caps words in a text since the Unabomer's manifesto was printed in the Washington Post and New York Times. The psychological profile of someone who uses all-caps in their writing suggests the author feels they are intellectually superior to the reader, but insecure about whether the reader recognizes it, so they shout out in all capital letters points they feel they need to make perfectly clear to establish that feeling of intellectual superiority. It's OK, Mr. You Do Not Get It, we hear you. Now calm down. It's almost time for JUICE AND COOKIES before NAP TIME.
Submitted by Guest on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 10:45.

Untrue Sir

Costigan has been spreading his propaganda for far too long now. It is obvious who he is in the pocket of if you look at all the sponsors on the site. He clearly has an agenda of misrepresenting facts due to the influence of said sponsors. His rediculous and legally incorrect commentaries have just become frustrating. No caps needed.
Submitted by Guest on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 10:59.

Yeah, but maybe a spell checker

Dude, it's "ridiculous", not "rediculous". And if you guys hate Costigan so much and he's such a tool of the sports sites, why do you visit his site? Maybe it's because you know in your heart of hearts that we're all in it together. Or maybe you're just a bunch of trolls with nothing better to do. Isn't there an online poker room you should be haunting right now, one of the "pure" ones.
Submitted by Guest on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 16:16.

I tend to agree with the author

poker is in no way immune to the same scrutiny as sportsbetting. http://www.pokernews.com/news/2005/07/new-york-poker-players-protest-raid.htm also remember this http://www.justthechips.com/archives/001089.php the argument that sportsbetting somehow taints what you call "pure" poker is without much merit. on the local level you'll find law enforcement going after poker purveyers with the same jubilance as with bookies
Submitted by Guest on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 10:35.

You just do not get it

Do your research on the damn federal wire ACT friend. Skill or no skill, ONLINE SPORTSBETTING violates it. There is TONS of evidence that poker does not. Like it or not SPORTS BETTING online is illegal and anybody who associates with it can clearly be prosecuted for aiding and abetting. Please get out of your dream land. There is a huge legal difference between PURE online poker (no sportsbook connection) and online sportsbooks. Quit trying to preach otherwise.
Submitted by Guest on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 00:42.

"Guilty" just the same

The above comment about the supposed difference between online poker and online sports betting is simply wrong. For more than two years now, poker has tried to go their own way in Washington DC, with the message that 'we're not like the others - casino and sports betting - we're a skill game...we shouldn't even be in this mess!' It has not worked. As far as anyone who is an opponent of internet gambling is concerned, poker is just the same as sports and casino. Protesting to the contrary is a waste of time, burns bridges with the rest of the industry, and frankly makes poker players look like a bunch of kool-aid drinking zealots. As far as the US government and law enforcement are concerned, online poker violates the wire act. Wishing it to be otherwise doesn't make it so. It's even the case offline: in NYC, cops bust up underground poker rooms at a bigger rate than underground bookies. The only one in "dream land" is someone so blinded by their fervor that they cannot see that everyone - poker, casino and sports - are all in the same boat, and they all need to support each other if they want to get somewhere with the government.
Submitted by Guest on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 10:26.

LOL

The co-founder of PartyGaming just plead guilty under that very wire act you just cited. They were not taking sport bets. I would love to know this HUGE LEGAL DIFFERENCE between PURE online poker and online sportsbooks. Please educate us in this regard.
Submitted by C Costigan on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 09:08.

meaning ...............

Loving One Loser LOL n more
Submitted by Guest on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 17:25.

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