The following papers are published as the outstanding submissions for the IAGA Shannon Bybee Scholarship Award.  The awards honor the memory of Shannon Bybee, one of IAGA's founders, who had a distinguished career as a gaming attorney, Nevada State gaming regulator, gaming industry executive and pioneer in the field of education in casino operations and gaming law.

Annual submissions are solicited from law students on a global basis and judged by a Committee of IAGA member attorneys practicing in the field of gaming law on the following criteria:

  • quality of presentation
  • quality of footnoting
  • depth of research
  • novelty or importance of subject matter
  • value to gaming law practitioners or gaming control officials
  • value to the study of gaming law


Chosen for monetary awards for 2012 are:

"The Curious Case of Convenience Casinos: How Internet sweepstakes cafes survive in a gray area between unlawful gambling and legitimate business promotions."
Submitted by Steve Silver of Temple University Beasley School of Law.


"Cyber Thieves in Online Casinos:  Applying Real-World Laws to Virtual Acts."
Submitted by Jeffrey Brown of the University of Mississippi School of Law.


Chosen as Honorable mention for 2012 is:

"Creating the Law".
Submitted by Jaime E. Serrano Jr. of the William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

IAGA congratulates the three authors, and thanks all those who submitted papers for their efforts and contributions.