The Legal Issues Of Online Gambling

Online gambling is any type of gambling conducted online. This includes casinos, poker and sports betting among other things. The very first online gambling site opened to the public, was online ticketing for the world’s first major casino, the Liechtenstein International Poker Festival in October 1994. Since then, online gambling has grown into a multi-billion dollar business with millions of people playing games at an online casino, or a website that allows players to wager real money. Most of these games are poker and blackjack but other genres of gambling have developed as well including bingo and even horse racing.

Gambling is illegal in most US states, and therefore online gambling has to be done offshore. This means that any gambling, including online, is done in a country that does not share the same laws with the one in which you live. For example, gambling in the US is against the law, and as such any action taken against sites involved in online gambling will always be in violation of the law. However, the US government is largely against gaming websites operating outside of the country, claiming that they encourage gambling and even against their own interests when they are unable to take their products due to restrictions by offshore gambling authorities.

In recent years, many US online gambling websites have moved into other countries, either through sales of land based properties or by purchasing them and setting up operations there. These sites then allow for US players to gain access to their games without having to travel to the site physically. Many times, these sites are solely operated from locations outside of the US, which further complicates matters for the user. As such, although the US government has enacted legislation intended to regulate online gambling, it is up to each state to decide whether or not it will enforce its laws against internet casinos in its area.