IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG. NICK JENKINS’ BETCHA.COM GETS BUSTED THREE WEEKS AFTER LAUNCH.

Via the vigilant Daniel Horowitz, Seattle Pi:

Washington State Gambling Commission investigators seized computers from a new Seattle-based Internet-betting site Monday, claiming the business violated the state’s 2006 online gambling ban — a contention the site’s founder strongly disputes. [...] “This is ridiculous,” Jenkins said. “I’m going to fight it. I don’t like the heavy-handed state coming down on entrepreneurs.” [...] “This is an honor-based betting platform,” he said. “How can you be gambling under a legal definition if you don’t have to pay when you lose?” [...] After assembling a team of investors and putting his own money on the line, he did a soft launch of the site three weeks ago, “to work on the bugs.” Soon after, he was contacted by the state. Two weeks ago, he explained his legal rationale to commission attorneys. On Friday, the Gambling Commission summoned Jenkins to Lacey to talk about his Web site. The meeting was quick. “They said shut it down or else,” Jenkins said. “I told them the law doesn’t apply to us. They said the law is a matter of interpretation.” The same day, Jenkins filed his lawsuit seeking to stop the state from applying the Internet gambling law to Betcha.com. The search warrant came three days after Jenkins and the state failed to reach agreement on the site’s legal status. He said the commission has lost perspective on which laws it should enforce and upon whom. “When you are a hammer, I guess everything looks like a nail,” he said.

Below is Nick Jenkins’ only recent blog post I spotted on the topic of betting regulations, where Nick does not mention the busting.

Washington Lawyer Seeks to Have State Internet Gambling Law Declared Unconstitutional
By Nicholas Jenkins
Posted on July 09, 2007 @ 21:24:00 ET

Good news out of the Pacific Northwest. Renton lawyer and card player Lee Rousso has filed suit Off Site Link: /northwest/story/125303.html against the State of Washington to have our much-maligned Internet gambling law declared unconstitutional. The gist of his argument: the state’s law is protectionist, and as such violates the Commerce Clause.
I met with Lee yesterday. The guy knows his stuff, and we’ll be watching his case closely. Of course, I’ve long maintained that the gambling laws don’t apply to us because betting on Betcha isn’t gambling. The libertarian in me, however, wants to see this invasive law tossed once and for all. Besides, it’s nice to see someone other than me stand up to the leviathan.

And here’s a prior Nick Jenkins interview on YouTube. WATCH THIS VIDEO, FOLKS. VERY INFORMATIVE.

I wish the best to Nick Jenkins.

Previous Midas Oracle blog posts about Betcha.com.

Law professor Tom W. Bell on Betcha.com.

UPDATE: REPORTS OF THE BETCHA.COM DEMISE HAVE BEEN GREATLY EXAGGERATED.