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I'm not disagreeing. I'm just pointing out that we don't actually know the legality when the laws, which would have taken the steps forward, were never passed.

If he passes those laws last year, then maybe the point is moot. Instead, he's just making declarations backed up by nothing.

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Fair enough, that does give at least SOME hope of it working out. But keep in mind that's Lesniak's interpretation of the Circuit Court's ruling. Even if Christie decides not to veto a renewed effort in the State Legislature, many of the experts are saying it still may not be enough:

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/ ... rts_say.html#incart_river

Which gets back to my original point-- who's going to put up the money to open a sports book when there's still a significant risk of federal felony charges?

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Not true.

The court ruling found a loophole and the state assembly voted on it. It was Christie that killed the bill. If Christie had passed it, then his statements about allowing sports books in casinos and racetracks wouldn't be a flat out lie...

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/ ... _casinos_race_tracks.html

What a load of hot air. This isn't the Colorado/Washington pot vote. Congress specifically passed PASPA to ban situations like this. It's held up to challenges before, and nothing has changed since the Supreme Court refused to hear arguments back in January.

Christie can order betting to be allowed all he wants-- it still costs millions to set up a sports book, which would be shut down immediately by federal agents. And with the power and money of all the organized sports leagues against NJ, you can bet the Justice Department would jump all over it. If Lesniak and Christie want sports gambling so bad, they need to get the votes in congress. Otherwise this is all a colossal waste of time and money.

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I love it! Christie vetoes the bill that would have made sports betting legal and then goes around telling places that they can do it...

"casinos and tracks can start offering betting immediately":

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStor ... r-sports-betting-25352051

Gov. Chris Christie's administration issued a directive Monday allowing the state's casinos and racetracks to offer sports betting without fear of criminal or civil liability.

The governor said he took his cue from previous federal court rulings that found that nothing in New Jersey law prohibits the casinos and horse racing tracks from offering sports betting.

His action, through the state attorney general's office, is likely to be challenged in court by the professional and collegiate sports leagues that fought New Jersey's efforts to overturn a ban on sports betting in all but four states. That effort ended with the U.S. Supreme Court declining to hear the case.

Christie, however, said casinos and tracks can start offering betting immediately.

"Based on the arguments of the sports leagues and the United States Department of Justice, the 3rd Circuit has already ruled that New Jersey can carry out sports wagering as described in today's statewide directive," the governor's office wrote in a statement. "The motion simply would clarify and formalize that authority and give clear guidance to casinos and racetracks waiting to open a sports pool in New Jersey."

The professional football, baseball, basketball and hockey leagues, as well as the National Collegiate Athletic Association, all opposed New Jersey's effort to legalize sports betting, saying it could give the appearance that the integrity of the games has been compromised.

In addition to the directive, Christie also had the state file a motion in federal court asking a judge to clarify or modify a February 2013 ruling that blocks a licensing program New Jersey had passed for sports betting in the state.

The governor says sports betting is legal under previous federal rulings as long as none of the wagers involve a collegiate game played in New Jersey or a New Jersey college team elsewhere in the country.

"Victory at last!" crowed state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, one of the legislature's strongest supporters of sports betting. "People should book their hotel rooms in Atlantic City for the Super Bowl now because there won't be any available in February."

Lesniak said he expects the leagues to challenge the move, but predicted: "They don't have any arguments left to make. This is all over but the shouting."

The move is a turnaround for Christie, who initially seemed resigned to defeat once the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear New Jersey's appeal in June, saying, "You know, that's the way it goes."

A month ago, Christie vetoed a bill that would have pushed New Jersey to circumvent the federal ban on gambling on professional and college sports. Christie said at the time disagreed with the court decision but feels the law is "sacrosanct."

The move came hours before Christie was to convene a closed-door summit on the future of Atlantic City. The seaside resort has already lost three of the 12 casinos with which it began this year, and a fourth one is due to shut its doors next week; about 8,000 casino workers will have lost their jobs since January.

Casino executives did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Christie's action.

Voters in New Jersey overwhelmingly endorsed legal sports betting in a nonbinding referendum in 2011. State lawmakers soon enacted a law to allow for betting at tracks and in casinos. Bets wouldn't have been taken on games involving New Jersey colleges or college games played in the state.

But those actions ran up against the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, enacted by Congress to restrict betting on sports to a few states. Nevada has allowed betting on sports for more than 60 years, and Delaware, Montana and Oregon have at times permitted more limited betting. New Jersey missed a 1991 deadline in the law that would have allowed sports betting in Atlantic City.

And lead us not into temptation.

N.J. sports-betting question easily passes

By Suzette Parmley
Inquirer Staff Writer

A New Jersey ballot question to allow sports betting at Atlantic City casinos and the state's racetracks passed comfortably Tuesday by a 2-1 ratio.

With the question's passage, Republican Gov. Christie is poised to support legislation to make the activity legal in the state, but a federal law must still be overturned.

"With this referendum, we have an opportunity that gives the state more solid footing to challenge the federal ban on sports wagering outside of a few select places," Christie said before he voted in favor of Public Question 1.

Legislation under consideration in Trenton would prohibit wagering on any college team based in the state or on any collegiate game taking place in New Jersey.

Supporters say sports betting can pump at least $225 million annually in new revenue into the Atlantic City casinos and racetracks, and boost tourism, especially on weekends, at the ailing Shore resort - much the same way it fills casinos, hotels, and restaurants in Las Vegas.

Those who treat problem gamblers cautioned that it could generate something else, too.

"It will just make it more accessible for those who are predisposed to gamble, who normally would not call, say, a bookie," said C.P. Mirarchi, a gambling counselor based in Philadelphia who treats clients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. "Some will be pushed over the edge.

"Sports betting is not escape gambling like slots," he said. "It's action gambling . . . and it will create a problem for some."

State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D., Union), the legislature's main proponent of sports wagering, said he planned to introduce legislation Thursday that would authorize the New Jersey Casino Control Commission to begin the process for licensing sports betting at casinos and horse tracks in Mays Landing, Freehold, Monmouth, and the Meadowlands.

"I expect to get it to Gov. Christie for his signature before the end of the year," Lesniak said Tuesday night. "By the start of next year's NFL season, when the Eagles play the Giants, you'd better reserve your room soon in Atlantic City, because it will be packed, just like Las Vegas is now."

Before New Jerseyans can place their first bets on sports, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) must be overturned or repealed. The federal law, enacted in 1992, prohibits wagering on sports in all but four states - Nevada, Oregon, Montana, and Delaware - and of those, only Nevada has a true sports book. Las Vegas has had a monopoly since 1975 on single-game wagering, considered the most lucrative type of sports betting.

After PASPA was enacted, any state that wanted sports betting had 18 months to get it grandfathered in. New Jersey failed to meet the deadline when a bill never made it out of committee.

South Jersey lawmakers say this is New Jersey's second chance.

"With this amendment in place, we can now concentrate on lifting the federal ban so that Atlantic City and the state as a whole can reap the economic benefits of a gaming practice that reportedly generates billions illegally annually," said Assemblyman Matthew W. Milam (D., Cape May).

A national gambling study pegged sports betting as a $380 billion industry, with the bulk of the revenue going to illegal bookmakers.

Lesniak said the question's passage gives the state more clout to take on PASPA. He filed a lawsuit two years ago to overturn the federal law, but a judge ruled that he had no standing and dismissed the case this year.

Lawyer Stephen D. Schrier, head of the gaming practice at Blank Rome L.L.P. in Princeton and a former deputy attorney general at the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, said there were significant challenges ahead.

"Even though voters want it, and racetracks and casinos want it," he said, "there are still legal hurdles that must be overcome."

Among them are groups opposed to expanding sports betting. An NFL spokesman said the league continued to oppose any expansion beyond the four states. The NFL and the courts quashed Delaware's efforts in 2009 to offer more than parlay betting, where at least three bets must be right to win the wager.

"We have a long-held, unwavering opposition to gambling on NFL games," said Brian McCarthy, an NFL spokesman. "We continue to support the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which became law in 1992 and prohibits states from operating a lottery or betting scheme based on pro or college games."

I. Nelson Rose, considered a national authority on gambling law, said the legal battle could take some time.

"First, Sen. Lesniak has to revive, and then win, his federal lawsuit," said Rose, a professor at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, Calif. "Then, there will be an appeal.

"In Delaware, the state could not get the courts to let it begin while its sports-betting case was up on appeal. There should be no questions in dispute [regarding New Jersey], so this all should be resolved relatively quickly. But quickly, when it comes to courts, is still more than a year, more likely two or three."

Atlantic City casinos and the state's racetracks want sports betting badly enough that they say the fight is worth it. New casinos and racetracks with slots, primarily in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, have bled revenue, jobs, and customers from both industries.

"Over the past decade, New Jersey's casino and racing industries have not been able to distinguish themselves from the numerous gaming locations that have opened on our border," said Barbara DeMarco, a lobbyist who has worked with the state's racetracks. "Sports wagering will give New Jersey that distinction once again, setting us apart from those locations and their offerings."

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/s ... 510798.html#ixzz1dEWXtHkV
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