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US – New Hampshire judge makes ruling on Wire Act interpretation

By - 6 June 2019

A New Hampshire federal judge has ruled in a 63-page document that the Wire Act should only be applied to sports betting, kicking into touch the 2018 DoJ opinion that claimed the 1961 federal gambling law should cover all interstate online gambling.

US District Court Judge Paul Barbadoro said: “I hereby declare that [the Wire Act] applies only to transmissions related to bets or wagers on a sporting event or contest. I have no reason to believe that the Government will fail to respect my ruling that the Wire Act is limited to sports gambling.”

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu said: “Today’s ruling is a historic victory for the State of New Hampshire, and we are proud to have led this effort. New Hampshire stood up, took action and won – all to protect public education in our state. I would like to thank the Attorney General’s Office and the Lottery Commission for their work on this critical case.”

The ruling was described by lawyers as a victory for operators of state lotteries and online poker.

Gaming law & sportsbetting attorney and co founder of Wallach Legal Daniel Wallach said: “Judge Barbadoro just gave a golden gift to other state lotteries: they can now bring their own declaratory judgment lawsuits against the DoJ in other circuits fortified by the judge’s ruling on both standing and the underlying merits. This is now the leading case on both issues.”

Marc Edelman, a Law Professor at Zicklin School of Business, added: “More than anything else, I expect today’s New Hampshire Wire Act opinion will pave the way for new interstate compacts for online poker. If I am an online poker operator, I am feeling very bullish. The decision clearly supports the legality of interstate poker compacts, paving the way for online poker’s further growth on a national or semi-national basis. While Monday’s court decision seems to bless the legality of interstate poker compacts, it does nothing to support the legality of interstate sports gambling compacts. For daily fantasy sports, Monday’s decision remains ambiguous, but it’s definitely not harmful.”

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