The impact of the new Internet gambling law might not be limited to casino games and sports betting. So-called skill games, such as online checkers, could also fall under the measure’s wide net.
At least one local company offers such games online.
Douglas County-based Liberty Media owns websites that charge users a fee to play games such as Memory Match, Bejeweled and chess for cash prizes.
“Internet skill games may or may not be legal,” said gambling expert I. Nelson Rose, a law professor at Whittier College in California. “The new law says betting includes games ‘subject to some chance.”‘
Liberty spokesman John Orr and spokeswoman Julie Ballantine didn’t return calls seeking comment.
The Internet gambling bill Congress recently passed prohibits U.S. banks and credit-card companies from processing transactions for gambling websites. President Bush is expected to sign the bill into law.
The new law doesn’t exempt skill games like those offered by Liberty. The only games it specifically exempts are horse racing and lotteries.
Liberty paid $195 million this year for 51 percent of Toronto- based Fun Technologies, which operates a number of sites, including SkillJam.com, that allow users to pay to play games against other players for cash prizes.
Sites like SkillJam claim that they offer games of skill, which makes the games legal. It is the same argument that poker groups have made, but the activity is still generally viewed as gambling.
“Unlike casino games (which are mostly games of chance), your chance of winning one of our games is directly related to your skill level in that particular game,” SkillJam’s website states. “For instance, the more trivia you know, the better your chances are of beating the other players in the Trivia Challenge tournaments. As a result, SkillJam operates within the legal gaming framework of the respective states.”
However, according to SkillJam, some states already prohibit playing games that the site offers for cash. Those states are Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, South Carolina and Vermont.
The new Internet gambling measure says fantasy sports games are legal but only under certain circumstances.
In fantasy games, users compile a roster of real players and score points based on how those players do in the real sporting event.
Under the new law, one requirement for fantasy leagues is that “prizes must be announced in advance, and not based on the fees paid by participants,” according to gaming expert Rose, who recently analyzed the bill.
In SkillJam’s fantasy sports tournaments, users pay fees that usually range from $1 to $10, and “the prizes awarded are directly related to the number of participants in a particular tournament,” according to its site.
Once signed by Bush, the new law gives federal agencies and regulators nine months to decide which websites and activities are illegal.
Staff writer Andy Vuong can be reached at 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com.
