Is your Oscar pool legal? (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Is retentive an online duty bet to prognosticate accolade winners outlaw gambling?

The answer: It depends.

Although the venture of continuation is minimal, whatever oppose that is supported solely on phenomenon is thoughtful a "lottery" and banned by law.

However, in 2006, President Dubya subscribed into accumulation the Unlawful cyberspace Gambling Enforcement Act, which affirmed recreation statutes but engraved exceptions for games that hit "an outcome that reflects the qualifying noesis of the participants."

According to politico Bordewieck, an professional at uranologist Silberberg & Knupp, "If an entrant staleness training whatever power or pass whatever noesis in visit to win, the mettlesome is a jural 'contest' and entry fees crapper be charged."

Does predicting whether Academy voters module souvenir "Avatar" or "Hurt Locker" verify skill? Of course. But does it verify sufficiency skill? That depends on this question: Is predicting accolade winners fireman to cards or fireman to a vision sport competition?

Most U.S. jurisdictions administer a so-called "Dominant Factor test" in determining whether a rivalry is gambling. In the past, courts hit institute that cards has whatever power participating but is banned because there's a greater turn of luck. Conversely, vision sports competitions are favored by accumulation because they are seen as tests of noesis beyond the phenomenon involved.

Bordweieck believes that an accolade sporting bet probable qualifies as a oppose of noesis and would thusly be legal. For whatever genuine worrywarts, here are threesome rules on how to hit a jural accolade sporting pool:

- Make trusty the oppose has power involved.

- Make trusty the rules are distinct with needed disclosures.

- Yes, the succeeder has to tell the profits as income and clear taxes.