Whether it will have any authority to do so remains unclear however, following a federal judge's ruling deciding the Wire Act will only apply to sports betting.

The decision to delay DoJ implementation comes in the wake of that ruling, with the agency "evaluating its options in response to this opinion."

The DoJ may well appeal, extending the saga as the matter could end up in the hands of the Supreme Court.

As such, the DoJ’s latest memo makes reference to a date of 31 December 2019 for implementation, or "60 days after entry of the final judgment of the New Hampshire litigation, whichever is later."

New Hampshire’s lawsuit against the agency related to the 2018 November opinion which ruled the Wire Act applies to all forms of gaming beyond sports wagering; a 2011 DoJ interpretation had concluded the exact opposite – based on the exact same text.

Read Gambling Insider’s Wire Act reinterpretation feature for further analysis on the topic.