Gambling Website Owner May be Extradited for 70 Cent Bet

Seattle man Nick Jenkins, owner of Betcha.com, will have to wait another week to find out if the governor of his state will extradite him to Louisiana because of a $0.70 bet a state trooper placed on his website. Jenkins and his legal team asked the governor, Chris Gregoire, to decline the request by the Gulf Coast state.

"Jenkins' case is one the whole industry will be watching, especially since the UIGEA regs were released earlier in the week," said Gordon Price, Casino Gambling's analyst.

Price was referring to the fact that the regs for the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) did not clarify what is and isn't illegal gambling according to federal laws. Jenkins claims his site was not an illegal online gambling website because he, nor the site, ever accepted any wagers.

Betcha.com made money by charging fees, much the same way eBay does. Users could sign up to Betcha.com and make bets with other users of the site. Bets could be on everything and anything, such as who would win the Super Bowl or who would win the Dancing With the Stars TV show.

Even though casino gambling is fully legal in the state of Louisiana and Gulf Coast casinos are now currently thriving, the state has laws against Internet gambling.

"The outcome of the case could shed some light on what is and isn't illegal Internet gambling," Price said.

"Obviously, we think this is unfair, and we're hopeful we can get this resolved," said Jenkins. "We think our case is a good one."

Speaking about the current delay of a week because the governor declined to immediately sign the paperwork for Jenkins' extradition, Jenkins' lawyer, Lee Rousso, said, "Hopefully, this will give us a chance to work something out."



2007-10-04