Online Gambling

As reported in yesterday’s The Wall Street Journal, the House Financial Services Committee voted 41-22 to approve legislation that would regulate many forms of online gambling, including poker and bingo, while specifically banning betting on major US sports leagues like the MLB, NFL, NBA, and others.

Other news articles point out that the legislation also would deny licenses to any online site that has allowed, or currently does allow, US players to gamble online. Looking ahead, this would appear to effect PokerStars, FullTilt, and other online poker rooms that have continued to serve US players despite the UIGEA of 2006.

Other key elements of the legislation include player loss limits, rigorous age verification systems and frequent testing thereof, and allowing states to opt out of this legislation and ban its citizens from online gambling.

And the legislation that was passed does not cover how the industry is to be taxed — that’s covered in a separate bill that hasn’t made it out of the House Ways and Means Committee.

It is unlikely that this legislation will be voted on before the current Congressional Session expires in September. The scheduling is simply too tight. If it is not voted on, the process will need to start again next session. Perhaps it will be attached to some other legislation, as was the UIGEA of 2006. Even so, if the legislation is approved, it still would need to be signed by Obama.

We are still years away from any comprehensive online gambling policy in the United States. Need proof? The UIGEA of 2006 took nearly 4 years before it actually went into effect this past June 1 — and there are still plenty of loopholes in that legislation that allow US players to fund and withdraw money from their online gambling accounts… or so I’ve heard.

I like to bet on MLB totals — the total number of runs scored in a game by both teams. I have various resources that I use to determine which games to bet, including a custom-made spreadsheet and two web pages (one of which is mine that compiles statistics on MLB umpire’s tendencies when calling balls and strikes). About a week or so ago, I was doing my normal research and decided that I liked the UNDER 10.5 @ -115 in the Angels v Rangers game, and found the best odds for the game were at BetUS Sportsbook, an online sportsbook that accepts real-money wagers from US players.

Take a look at the card below, a screen capture of some of the day’s bets.

Note that the game immediately above the Angles v Rangers game — Indians v Rays — was also UNDER 10.5 @ -115. Well, I mistakenly bet the Indians v Rays game. I noticed immediately after I confirmed the bet by entering my password and clicking the Confirm button on the BetUS website.

I immediately called the BetUS toll-free customer service line ( 1-800-588-5586 ) and was quickly connected to a representative. I explained what I had done and asked to have the bet cancelled. The rep explained that it was against their policy to cancel bets once they were confirmed, but I asked that he take a look at the card and see how such a mistake could have been made. The rep put me on hold, conferred with his supervisor, and allowed me to switch the bet that I had made on the Indians v Rays with my intended bet on the Angels v Rangers.

Now that’s great customer service!

(For those that are curious, both of the games went OVER. )

If you like to bet totals in MLB baseball, be sure to bookmark my page about MLB umpires and their impact on totals betting. The referenced page provides a current analysis of the umpires that show a bias toward calling games that are under/over more often than not.