Licensed to pill
Philly sues Elon Musk over ‘illegal’ $1m daily lottery scheme
Tesla and X boss in the firing line over America PAC ‘lottery’ scheme.
In +More: West Flagler ends action, Aristocrat gains UAE license.
France’s government reverses course on iCasino.
Brazil: delays to Senate betting inquiry.
Cali tribes and Sports Betting Alliance bury the hatchet over sweeps.
Rebel rebel, your face is a mess.
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‘Indisputably illegal’
Breaking the law: The Philadelphia district attorney is suing Elon Musk and his controversial America PAC over its $1m registered voter sweepstakes calling it an “illegal lottery scheme.”
Gulled: Philly DA Larry Krasner, a Democrat, accused Musk and his America PAC of “lulling Philadelphia citizens – and others in the Commonwealth (and other swing states in the upcoming election),” into an illegal sweepstakes.
In the lawsuit, Krasner argued that Musk’s daily $1m giveaway to chosen voters who share their contact information with his PAC and promise to sign a petition is in effect a lottery.
“And it is indisputably an unlawful lottery,” he added.
Fed X: Krasner said his case concerns Pennsylvania’s lottery and consumer protection laws, and is not about state and federal laws that prohibit vote-buying. “The Philadelphia district attorney is charged with protecting the public from public nuisances and unfair trade practices, including illegal lotteries,” he added.
“The DA is also charged with protecting the public from interference with the integrity of elections.”
Trouble every day: The US Justice Department is also probing Musk’s super PAC over a potential violation of federal laws that forbid the offer of cash for voter registration.
Last week, officials from the Election Crimes Branch of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section sent a letter to Musk warning him the giveaway may violate federal law.
Prize fighter: Nine winners have so far been announced, with Musk doubling down on his promise to continue offering the money in the swing states despite the threat of legal action.
Clear violation: “I've gone back and forth on it," Richard Briffault, a professor of legislation at Columbia University Law School, told ABC News. “It clearly violates the spirit of the statute, but it’s not 100% clear to me that it violates the letter of the law.”
“Essentially this is a lottery open only to registered voters,” said UCLA law professor Rick Hasen. “It’s either an inducement to get someone to register to vote who’s not registered or it’s a reward. And federal law says you can’t do that.”
“The actions that we are seeing violate federal law pretty clearly. I don’t think it’s a particularly close call,” added Adav Noti, executive director of the Campaign Legal Center.
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+More
Aristocrat in the UAE: The supplier has received the first supplier license to be issued by the UAE’s General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority. The company can now supply and distribute slots, online games and technology solutions to licensed operators in the country.
If you can’t beat ’em: West Flagler has abandoned its legal suit against the Seminoles in Florida and has instead opted to partner with the tribe via the promotion of Jai Alai on the Hard Rock app.
Dutch gambling regulators have fined NetX Betting $729k for offering online gaming without a license on two platforms. Kansspelautoriteit said Dutch players could illegally access offerings via Pferdewetten and BetBird.
The general counsel of SkyCity Entertainment, who played a central role in the troubled operator’s negotiations with regulators over significant anti-money laundering failures, has resigned. Jo Wong will leave the role in January, the firm announced.
Get out of here: The lawsuit against former Resorts World Las Vegas president Scott Sibella brought by gambler Robert Cipriani was thrown out by a US District Court on Wednesday, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Cipriani had claimed both Sibella and other Resorts World executives allowed illegal bookmakers to gamble at the casino.
The suit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning Cipriani cannot refile it.
The court found he did not demonstrate how Resorts World and Sibella were responsible for the actions of the other gambler.
Fixing a hole: Meanwhile, the appeal for the class action lawsuit alleging price-fixing among Las Vegas casinos has received the support of the US DoJ, which has filed an amicus brief in support of the suit, again according to the LVRJ.
A Nevada court dismissed the claim earlier this year suggesting the allegations failed to move from “conceivable to plausible.”
In her decision, Judge Miranda Du noted that hotels are not required to, and often don’t, accept the pricing recommendations from the software.
The DoJ said in its filing, however, an agreement among competitors to use certain pricing algorithms to generate default or starting-point prices is per se illegal even if there is no further agreement on final prices.
The Malta Gaming Authority and UK Gambling Commission have reached agreement on data and information-sharing, which they claim will improve regulatory efforts for both regulators and will focus on protecting players.
PrizePicks has been awarded daily fantasy sports licenses in Delaware and Missouri. The company said it will launch Arena, its peer-to-peer fantasy sports contest, in both states.
L’okey cokey
As you were: Just last week, Michel Barnier’s new government in France seemed open to the potential of opening up the country to iCasino fully 14 years after OSB was first legalized.
Now such hopes appear to lay in tatters after some intense lobbying on the part of the B&M casino sector seemingly caused a change of heart.
Slammed, dunked: To recap, last week it emerged that Barnier’s government was eyeing the potential tax haul from regulating iCasino at a rate of over 55%, in line with what the lottery contributes to the state coffers.
J’accuse: The move was quickly opposed by the casino sector trade body, which claimed such a move would result in job losses among the land-based gaming sector and cost ~€450m in lost taxes.
Apparently swayed by such arguments, budget minister Laurent Saint-Martin took the opportunity of a radio appearance on Sunday to suggest that reports of the imminent introduction of iCasino were premature.
“I believe we need to work on this internally first,” he was reported as saying by the Les Echos newspaper.
“I am very cautious about this issue. We must avoid mistakes and ensure it doesn’t penalize certain stakeholders, particularly physical casinos.”
Relieved: The B&M casinos, as represented by Grégory Rabuel, president of the Casinos de France trade body, were certainly pleased with developments. “We are relieved that the government has heard our concerns,” he said in a statement.
“We will remain vigilant to ensure that the commitment made by the budget minister is upheld,” he added.
“Any potential future legislative or regulatory changes must be part of a framework of consultation and constructive dialog.”
Le Figaro reported that over 100 mayors signed an open letter asking for the government to reverse its stance, suggesting a legalized iCasino sector could cost 15,000 jobs in its first year and the closure of 25% of France's casinos.
No props
A simple prop to occupy my time: Illinois has suspended wagering on a number of “objectional bets” across NFL markets. The list of prop-style bets includes injuries, replay decisions, player conduct and negative outcome predetermined events in any game.
The Illinois Gaming Board made the decision following a request from the league last week, after officials considered the wagers to be at risk of manipulation.
A potential permanent removal of the bets will be discussed at the regulator’s December 12 meeting.
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Only in California
How the turntables: At war less than two years ago, California’s tribes and OSB lobbyists have buried the hatchet in the back of “unlicensed, untaxed, unregulated” sweepstakes operators.
“We’ve been going after each other, when the real problem is right over there,” said Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) president Jeremy Kudon on the The New Normal podcast, hosted by the Indian Gaming Association conference chair Victor Rocha.
“This is a moment for all the regulated companies and the tribes to root it out. It’s like a pandemic right now.”
The pains of being pure of heart: Kudon said it was “incredibly troubling” that SBA members such as FanDuel and DraftKings had put six years, $500m and “a lot of pain” into a failed legislative bid only to see sweepstakes enter the market and offer gaming with no restrictions.
“Our intentions were pure but what we learned was to let the tribes lead,” he said.
The enemy of my enemy: Kudon namechecked Fliff, a “social sportsbook,” which also offers free-to-play games for its users. He claimed the real-cash option amounts to unregulated sports betting.
“It was hiding in plain sight” in many states, Kudon said, but now attorneys general are becoming aware of the issues as “more light is shined.”
Who’s house? A long-time thorn in the side of sports-betting operators targeting the Golden State, Rocha said the influential California tribes were “shocked” at the prevalence of sweepstakes operators “and the arrogance of these guys to… think we wouldn’t act.”
“I missed the magnitude of this thing, but our eyes are opened,” he added.
He went on to claim that $500m-$1bn annually had been “siphoned off” from California revenue by some of the bigger sweepstakes operators.
“The tribes will decide what happens in California,” Rocha said. “Stay on the sidelines, we’ll let you know when you can come in.”
Brazilian machinations
Cold feet: Reports suggest the Brazilian Senate’s Commission of Inquiry into the soon-to-open regulated betting regime has been partially delayed as it is still yet to decide which senators will serve on the inquiry.
The inquiry was launched following the findings of the central bank that revealed recipients of the Bolsa Familia low income state support were spending BR3bn ($525m) on gambling.
The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, previously warned the industry he “won’t hesitate” to shut it down if there is a marked increase in problem gambling.
Suspicious minds: The inquiry has now been extended until February 2025 to give senators more time to investigate allegations and suspicions of match-fixing in Brazilian football, involving players, managers and betting companies.
Analysts at Jefferies noted that members of the Senate have introduced measures that would seek to ban OSB in the country but retail sports betting would remain legal.
“Online gaming in Brazil has been highly anticipated and setbacks may have an impact on operators seeking to capitalize on one of the largest markets outside the US,” the team wrote.
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