I didn't really believe that the mafia was involved in online gambling. I thought that the members of Congress who stated that the mafia ran internet sports books were just crying wolf to get their cause forwarded. That's because I worked for normal, corporate, boring internet gambling companies. When I ran a group of casinos I worked for a normal corporation. To the best of my knowledge there wasn't anything fishy about their books, and I knew they paid the players because I was the one who paid them. The one time we came across an account we suspected of money laundering we shut the player down. It was a company which went public. The only mafia in my office was the MBA one. The 1961 Wire Act explicitly defines sports betting via wire illegal. The US Supreme Court has included all internet sportsbooks included in the definition of wire as mentioned in the Wire Act. This has been common knowledge in the internet gambling industry for years now. Jay Cohen even tested the theory that the internet wasn't included in the Wire Act and ended up in jail for two years for having an internet sportsbook which catered to US based players. That was back in 2000, so anyone who would consider having an online sportsbook today, furthermore anyone with the nerve to have an online sportsbook and actually be based in the United States, is asking – no begging – to have their ass kicked by US federal attorneys. I never thought of the mafia as stupid people, dishonest ok, maybe even not so nice, but never stupid. Well, a group of mafioso's in Queens County New York have had the chutzpa to open an internet sports book. This sports book had an 800 number for US players to call for help and to make a bet, plus they even had runners, yes runners based locally to handle bets. Jay Cohen left the country and moved to Costa Rica to run his illegal sports book. These guys didn't want to inconvenience themselves by having to move in order to make bags of money. Yet they put out so much effort, and for what? They created an off-shore website and hosted it in the US. What made them think that they would never get caught? In case you are wondering what I am going on about, it's the first interesting thing which has happened to the internet gambling industry since Friday, October 13th when the anti-internet gambling legislation was signed. The Queens County New York District Attorneys office has indicted twenty-seven people and three companies in the largest internet gambling bust, well, ever. There's no arguing that laws were broken here. There's no arguing that people were beyond sloppy and arrogant in their callous disregard for US laws. If you are going to be egocentric enough to flagrantly break a US law, don't be so stupid as to live in the country. See Calvin Ayre as an example of what I'm talking about. He's afraid to visit the United States, and for good reason. He has an online sportsbook and casino, so he knows he'll be busted if he steps inside the US. Now the people in this court case are innocent before proven guilty, so I can't say that I know for a fact that they did anything wrong. I just doubt they were completely free and clear of blame or wrong-doing. The funny thing is that had this bust been made before the anti-internet gambling law went into affect the lawmakers would have had a much stronger case. They didn't need it, as the law did pass, but still. Various congressmen (and women) kept repeating that the mafia ran internet casinos and that they should be illegal. The online casinos, poker rooms, and sports books that I know are run by executives who are all looking to go public, make their money, and go on to the next thing. I suppose that is a type of mafia, but not of the criminally minded which was running this sports book. I went to see playwithal.com and found that the site has been taken down. No proper note on a page with a company logo. No information on what players should do to receive their funds. Nothing. Not even sportingbet was so rude to their customers. This is exactly why people should stick with the reputable sites. Unfortunately for US players, it's exactly those reputable sites which have cut them off due to the new law. Posted on: November 16, 2006
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