An anti-gambling law drafted to crack down on organized crime was appropriately used to prosecute a man who ran a twice-weekly poker club from the back room of his Staten Island bicycle shop, a federal appeals court held yesterday in reinstating a conviction under the Illegal Gambling Business Act.
Eastern District Judge Jack Weinstein (See Profile) had reversed the trial conviction of Lawrence DiCristina, finding it was unclear whether Congress intended to include poker within the Illegal Gambling Business Act (IGBA). Weinstein also said poker is predominantly a game of skill, not chance, and doesn't constitute gambling under federal law even though it is unquestionably gambling under New York Penal Law §225.00 (NYLJ, Aug. 22, 2012).
