Online Gambling. Internet Community & Entertainment Corp.

operated Betcha.com, an online person-to-person betting platform.

For a small fee, a user who registered and funded an account could offer bets to, and accept bets from, other users.

A user had to agree that bets were “nonbinding”; bettors were not required to pay if they lost. When a user listed a bet, the site deducted a fee from the user’s account. When a bettor accepted the bet, the site deducted a matching fee from the bettor’s account. Wagered funds were placed in escrow until the bet was settled. The Washington State Gambling Commission executed a search warrant against the site’s offi ces and seized its computers. Betcha.com fi led a suit against the state.

Does wagering on Betcha.com meet the defi nition of gambling?

Explain. [Internet Community & Entertainment Corp. v. State, 148 Wash.App. 795, 201 P.3d 1045 (Div. 2 2009)]