WASHINGTON THREE COURT DATE DECIDED (Update)

19 October 2007

Betcha.com trio are back in Seattle


Betcha.com owner Nick Jenkins and colleagues Josie Imlay and Peter Abrahamsen are back in Seattle on bond having surrendered themselves to the Louisiana state authorities (see previous InfoPowa report) earlier this week. A court date for their appearance in Louisiana on "illegal gambling by computer" felony charges has been set for January 3 2008.

Legal representative for the trio, Lee Rousso recalled that last week Washington State governor Christine Gregoire declined to set aside an extradition request from Louisiana for the three, prompting them to travel to Louisiana and give themselves up. They have been allowed to return to Seattle on bond with a court date in the southern state now set.

The case has some similarities with that of the then Sportingbet chairman Peter Dicks who was last year detained on arrival in New York on a sealed warrant from Louisiana after state officials placed 'sting' wagers on the UK website. However, New York governor George Pataki refused to permit the extradition, and the case was eventually resolved through a $400 000 settlement with the Louisiana officials.

In the Betcha.com case there are hints of official collusion between the Washington State Gambling Commission and the Louisiana Special Gaming Enforcement Division after Jenkins took issue with the former over the legality of his new Betcha.com site, which provided an online venue for mainly prop deals between individuals but did not itself offer gambling services.

"Betcha does not 'take' or 'accept' bets - that is, we take no position on either side of a bet," Jenkins has previously argued. "This is a very important point because accepting or taking bets is the essence of what bookmaking is."

Soon after the WSGC clash the site facilitated $35 in bets from a single Louisiana resident, netting the company a total of 70 cents on the transaction. The Louisiana resident was subsequently revealed as an undercover trooper with the Louisiana Special Gaming Enforcement Division (SPGED), taking part in a month-long joint 'investigation' conducted jointly by the SPGED and the Washington State Gambling Commission (WSGC).

"The only customer Betcha.com had in Louisiana was the state trooper, and the transaction that the state trooper did at the obvious instigation of the [WSGC] netted Betcha.com $0.70," Rousso told Interactive Gaming News this week. "These are the facts; these are the undisputable facts. This was a misuse of government resources and government power."

Betcha.com, which was subjected to a raid and confiscation of computer equipment in Seattle, has now closed down.

Rousso added that Jenkins and his colleagues had not yet agreed on how best to proceed.

"We may challenge the statute down there, we many plea bargain or we may defend on the merits," Rousso said. "We just haven't decided which of those three, or which combination thereof, we will be doing."

Jenkins additionally intends to contest the Washington State Gambling Commission opinion on Betcha.com's legality in a civil suit scheduled for November 9 this year.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa