Advocates and opponents of New Jersey’s quest for legal sports betting squared off in the US Third Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday.

For those who’ve been in a state of suspended animation over the past few years, New Jersey has been doggedly trying to enact a legal sports betting environment but has been stymied at every turn by their opponents at the US Department of Justice, four pro sports leagues and the NCAA.

Having been told that their earlier attempts fell afoul of the federal PASPA sports betting prohibition, New Jersey took the advice of a DOJ attorney who argued that the state had the option of repealing its own anti-betting enforcement “in whole or in part.” The state ran with this ball, passing legislation that would permit – without explicitly authorizing or regulating – sports betting at Atlantic City casinos and state racetracks.

The state’s opponents insisted this was too clever by half, arguing that New Jersey’s options were limited to either an all-out ban or an anything goes, anarchic, bookies moving from the back-of-the-bar to kindergarten playgrounds scenario. In November, a federal judge sided with the state’s opponents, setting up Tuesday’s appeal to the Third Circuit court in Philadelphia.