EBay-style site for gamblers may test law
By Ric Alm
Knight Ridder Newspapers
August 3, 2003
People joke about being able to bet on just about anything in Las Vegas. For online gamblers, that has come true.
UBetWhat.com, a gambling site launched last week, lets you wager on just about anything that's legal -- as long as you can find someone else to take the bet.
The site was conceived by a Wall Street bond trader who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center attack.
For a monthly membership fee of $20, UBet grants access to a betting grid in which players propose and arrange wagers among themselves and settle up privately. In essence, it matches gamblers the way eBay matches buyers and sellers.
Other betting sites, such as the William Hill Organization sports book, sets odds, handles cash and pays winners.
UBet players, in contrast, conceive their own bets, post their own odds and await takers. Betters can risk cash or noncash valuables, or they play for amusement using only the site's play money.
"Members can bet on almost anything as far as their imagination reaches," according to the site. The only limitation on bets is on "obscene or illicit activities" or on wagers involving the death of anyone, said UBet co-founder Frank J. Aquilino.
Aquilino said, "We provide a venue for people to gamble among themselves, which is not illegal as long there's no bookie or house involved." That, however, remains to be seen. Justice Department officials did not return calls inquiring about UBet.
UBet officials liken the site to eBay's model in which participants are rated by their peers for integrity. The site is licensed and regulated by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, an agency of the Kahnawake Mohawk tribe near Montreal.
Frank Catania, a tribal consultant and former director of enforcement for the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, said the tribe invested $5 million in its state-of-the-art computer infrastructure that carries several dozen cybercasinos and other e-commerce ventures.
"The legal thing is not clear-cut," Catania said. "This is not wholly betting for money. It's just getting people together. You pay to get on the site.
The Atlantic City law firm Sterns & Weinroth last year issued a legal opinion to Aquilino. It concluded that players were unlikely to be prosecuted, but that authorities might take a harder line with the company. "The proposed activities do not clearly fit within statutory prohibitions," Nicholas Casiello Jr., a member of the law firm, said in the opinion.
The sticking point is that the UBet doesn't handles bets or take a cut from each wager. "There is no 'house,' " Casiello said. "Arguably, the proposed activity does not violate federal or state law because UBet is not directly participating in the gaming activity."
By Ric Alm
Knight Ridder Newspapers
August 3, 2003
People joke about being able to bet on just about anything in Las Vegas. For online gamblers, that has come true.
UBetWhat.com, a gambling site launched last week, lets you wager on just about anything that's legal -- as long as you can find someone else to take the bet.
The site was conceived by a Wall Street bond trader who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center attack.
For a monthly membership fee of $20, UBet grants access to a betting grid in which players propose and arrange wagers among themselves and settle up privately. In essence, it matches gamblers the way eBay matches buyers and sellers.
Other betting sites, such as the William Hill Organization sports book, sets odds, handles cash and pays winners.
UBet players, in contrast, conceive their own bets, post their own odds and await takers. Betters can risk cash or noncash valuables, or they play for amusement using only the site's play money.
"Members can bet on almost anything as far as their imagination reaches," according to the site. The only limitation on bets is on "obscene or illicit activities" or on wagers involving the death of anyone, said UBet co-founder Frank J. Aquilino.
Aquilino said, "We provide a venue for people to gamble among themselves, which is not illegal as long there's no bookie or house involved." That, however, remains to be seen. Justice Department officials did not return calls inquiring about UBet.
UBet officials liken the site to eBay's model in which participants are rated by their peers for integrity. The site is licensed and regulated by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, an agency of the Kahnawake Mohawk tribe near Montreal.
Frank Catania, a tribal consultant and former director of enforcement for the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, said the tribe invested $5 million in its state-of-the-art computer infrastructure that carries several dozen cybercasinos and other e-commerce ventures.
"The legal thing is not clear-cut," Catania said. "This is not wholly betting for money. It's just getting people together. You pay to get on the site.
The Atlantic City law firm Sterns & Weinroth last year issued a legal opinion to Aquilino. It concluded that players were unlikely to be prosecuted, but that authorities might take a harder line with the company. "The proposed activities do not clearly fit within statutory prohibitions," Nicholas Casiello Jr., a member of the law firm, said in the opinion.
The sticking point is that the UBet doesn't handles bets or take a cut from each wager. "There is no 'house,' " Casiello said. "Arguably, the proposed activity does not violate federal or state law because UBet is not directly participating in the gaming activity."
