Law Commons^™

New Jersey Goes “All In” For Sports Gambling: Examining The Constitutionality Of The Professional And Amateur Sports Protection Act, Tyler W. Mullen

Tyler W Mullen

Despite being illegal in all but a handful of U.S. jurisdictions, sports gambling has developed into a multi-million dollar industry. Eager to capitalize on the potential revenues, New Jersey recently challenged the constitutionality of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”), the federal sports gambling law. PASPA effectively prohibits the vast majority of states from operating or sanctioning sports gambling schemes. However, the particular methods that PASPA uses to achieve this objective raise serious federalism concerns. While the Third Circuit recently rejected New Jersey’s constitutional challenges to PASPA, this Comment argues that the court reached the wrong conclusions on …

The Technological And Business Evolution Of Machine Based Gambling In America, Darren Prum, Carlin Mccrory

Darren A. Prum

Machine Based Gambling has become a major source of revenue to many states across the country that need the money but face obstacles to raising taxes within their jurisdiction. The figures are startling with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s cut at over $1.456 Billion in 2011, which exceed the next closest state by $500 million. In addition, there are more than twice as many slot machines available to the public than ATMs. The benefits of machine based gaming has allowed many governments to revitalized tourism locations, make some Native Americans economically self-sufficient, and save horse and dog race tracks from closing …

Gambling On Our Financial Future: How The Federal Government Fiddles While State Common Law Is A Safer Bet To Prevent Another Financial Collapse, Brian M. Mccall

Brian M McCall

Testimony On "Internet Gambling: Is There A Safe Bet?", Kurt Eggert

Kurt Eggert

This Congressional testimony discusses the possible legalization of Internet gambling in the United States, and the need for adequate consumer protection if online gambling were legalized. The testimony begins by discussing the importance of consumer protection in the gambling industry and the relative lack thereof in current casino regulation. A basic element of consumer protection for slot machine play would be mandating that slot machines display the hold percentage for that slot machine, with an interactive display that would change as the hold percentage changes. The testimony discusses how consumer protection, which focuses on giving recreational gamblers the tools they …

Government Prediction Markets: Why, Who, And How, Tom W. Bell

Tom W. Bell

This paper describes how prediction markets can make governments smarter, cheaper, and more responsive to changing conditions. A prediction market resembles a stock exchange where traders buy and sell not shares of companies, but claims about future events. Academic and commercial use of prediction markets suggests that they offer a useful tool for encouraging, collecting, and quantifying widely scattered expertise. Government administrators have begun experimenting with prediction markets, too. Many questions remain, however, about the proper way to implement government prediction markets. This paper opens with a brief survey of the costs and benefits of government prediction markets. It then …

Lottery Tickets Sold After The Featured Prize Is Claimed: Will The Courts Force The Practice To Be Stopped?, Darren Prum

Darren A. Prum

No abstract provided.

Ace In The Hole: Why Ohio Bluffs While Others Bite On Lucrative Casino Issues And How To Induce Buckeye Voters To Go All-In, Mike Rasor

Mike Rasor

Casino gambling is one of Ohio’s hottest political topics. It has been for the past quarter century. Despite the economic hardships in many Rust Belt cities, opponents of casino gambling have stood strong against initiatives to bring casinos into their state. Proponents of casino gambling, on the other hand, have consistently consisted of a few wealthy entrepreneurs who stood to directly benefit from casinos. In the middle stood millions of economically concerned Ohioans who are neither morally opposed nor especially eager to allow casinos in the state.

Capturing the support of the moderate voters is the focus of “Ace in …

Flight Check: Are Air Carriers Any Closer To Providing Gambling On International Flights That Land Or Depart From The United States?, Darren Prum

Darren A. Prum

No abstract provided.

Betting On Sports Events, Marios Papaloukas

Marios Papaloukas

European Union case law affects many areas of the economic sector. One of them is betting on sports events. In recent years betting on sports events has increased significantly. However, betting on sports events is subject to restrictive regulation in most Member States of the European Union. It comes as no surprise that sports betting enterprises have challenged these restrictive laws before the European Court of Justice. The Court therefore is faced with a dilemma. On one hand we have the rights of businesses providing the service of betting on sports events and on the other the rights of Member …

Private Prediction Markets And The Law, Tom Bell

Tom W. Bell

This paper analyses the legality of private prediction markets under U.S. law, describing both the legal risks they raise and how to manage those risks. As the label "private" suggests, such markets offer trading not to the public but rather only to members of a particular firm. The use of private prediction markets has grown in recent years because they can efficiently collect and quantify information that firms find useful in making management decisions. Along with that considerable benefit, however, comes a particularly worrisome cost: the risk that running a private prediction market might violate U.S. state or federal laws. …

Prediction Markets And The First Amendment, Miriam A. Cherry

Miriam A. Cherry

What would happen if new laws banning on-line gambling were used to target prediction markets? The answer is a clash with the First Amendment. The continuing development of prediction markets is important because of their success at foretelling the future. Unfortunately, overly restrictive gambling laws could jeopardize the progress of prediction markets. In this Article, we identify the expressive elements inherent in prediction markets and explore how legislation such as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 might harm such predictive speech. This Article is the first to explore First Amendment protections for prediction markets, and in so doing, …

Truth In Gaming: Toward Consumer Protection In The Gambling Industry, Kurt Eggert

Kurt Eggert

This article proposes a new regulatory regime, Truth in Gaming, designed to aid both recreational and problem gamblers alike, and based on the clear, accurate, and timely disclosure of the true costs of gambling. This proposal is based on research that indicates that pathological gamblers often engage in defective gambling strategies, misjudging their inability to control random events and evaluate their losses. The provision of accurate information about the true costs of gambling and the likelihood of losing may aid pathological and problem gamblers in their efforts to gain control over their gambling habits. Such information is crucial to providing …

Enforcement Of Gaming Debt, Darren Prum

Darren A. Prum

No abstract provided.

Indian Gambling In Ohio: What Are The Odds?, Blake A. Watson

Blake A Watson

This article explores the options available under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to Indian groups and tribes seeking to establish gambing establishments in Ohio. Although the focus is on Ohio, the analysis would apply to any effort to establish "off-resevation" gaming facilities under the IGRA.

Lashed To The Mast And Crying For Help, Kurt Eggert

Kurt Eggert

This article is an attempt to solve one of the central conundrums of consumer protection and the protection of elders: how to provide protection to those consumers and elderly who need it without unduly restricting the rights and freedom of those who do not need or want the limitations of autonomy that added protection might bring. The article starts by analyzing autonomy itself and how philosophers and others have defined and described autonomy. Autonomy does not consist of mere lack of restraints or in a multiplicity of options. Instead, a crucial element of autonomy is the ability to make considered …

Gambling For The Good, Trading For The Future: The Legality Of Markets In Science Claims, Tom Bell

Tom W. Bell

Good ideas do not always lead to legal acts. Setting up a prediction market in science claims, for instance, certainly sounds like a good idea. Such a market could effectively open a shortcut to the future, answering crucial questions more quickly, accurately, and cheaply than extant institutions. Notwithstanding those salient benefits, however, U.S. law does not clearly permit markets in claims about science. Such a market would not fit neatly into any common law, statutory, or regulatory category, and courts have yet to clarify the matter. This paper aims to dispel some of the legal uncertainty surrounding prediction markets in …

Equity And Criminal Law, Howard W. Brill

Howard W Brill

Internet Gambling: Popular, Inexorable, And (Eventually) Legal, Tom Bell

Tom W. Bell

This paper describes the powerful demand for Internet gambling, analyzes the forces arrayed against it, and argues against its prohibition. Attempts to outlaw Internet gambling will inevitably fail. The very architecture of the Internet will frustrate prohibitionists, while consumer demand for Internet gambling and the states' demand for tax revenue will create enormous political pressures for legalization.