Comments on: Sports-ticket options? http://overlawyered.com/2006/01/sports-ticket-options/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sports-ticket-options Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Sat, 26 May 2012 20:55:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Ted http://overlawyered.com/2006/01/sports-ticket-options/comment-page-1/#comment-1896 Ted Thu, 12 Jan 2006 13:54:04 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=2981#comment-1896 I assure you that, for decades, entrepreneurs have engaged in all sorts of financial arrangements to profit from gambling/wagering without "getting any money" other than a transaction fee, and that this has not deterred the Department of Justice from pursuing the arrangements. If, by site-user, you're talking about the person wagering, that person is placing a $27 wager that, if his team wins, he will obtain the right to purchase a ticket (worth much more) at face value. You can see why this would be considered gambling if one were to replace "if his team wins" with "his raffle ticket will be pulled": the DOJ wouldn't allow one to sell interstate raffle tickets over the web, either, even if the prize is merely the option to pay face-value for tickets. I assure you that, for decades, entrepreneurs have engaged in all sorts of financial arrangements to profit from gambling/wagering without “getting any money” other than a transaction fee, and that this has not deterred the Department of Justice from pursuing the arrangements.

If, by site-user, you’re talking about the person wagering, that person is placing a $27 wager that, if his team wins, he will obtain the right to purchase a ticket (worth much more) at face value. You can see why this would be considered gambling if one were to replace “if his team wins” with “his raffle ticket will be pulled”: the DOJ wouldn’t allow one to sell interstate raffle tickets over the web, either, even if the prize is merely the option to pay face-value for tickets.

]]> By: asg http://overlawyered.com/2006/01/sports-ticket-options/comment-page-1/#comment-1895 asg Thu, 12 Jan 2006 13:35:36 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=2981#comment-1895 I don't understand -- how can it be an attempt to dodge the anti-gambling laws, if the site-user never gets any money? (The two outcomes you describe both involve the customer paying up -- $167 or $27 depending on whether WVU makes the final four.) I don’t understand — how can it be an attempt to dodge the anti-gambling laws, if the site-user never gets any money? (The two outcomes you describe both involve the customer paying up — $167 or $27 depending on whether WVU makes the final four.)

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