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2. Virginian Pilot Via YahooWith Sports Betting Legal And Casinos On The Way, Virginia Braces For A Rise In Gambling AddictionOnline Sports Betting Started This Year In Virginia, And The Persistent Advertising Seems To Be Effective. In The Seven Months Since ...2 Days Ago

1. Yes – online gambling is legal in the U.S., but only in states that have passed legislation that expressly permits it. In the absence of wide reaching federal laws, each state is required to pass its own. Since each state is able to individually establish its laws, the rules and regulations are different in each market.
2. Current Status: Yes, online casinos are legal in the USA, and you can use either domestic, regulated options or offshore casinos that serve the American market.This latter option means that players who reside within regions that have not yet legalized state-based online gambling can still legally play at an offshore casino without the fear of breaking any laws.

Online gambling and poker legislation in the U.S. Is changing on a state by state basis. New Jersey, for example, legalized online gambling and poker in November 2013, offering some hope to U.S. Players in other states for online casinos. Read below for a breakdown of other states to see the latest law updates. The legal US online casinos we recommend, even the ones based outside of the United States, provide a high quality and safe online gambling experience for US players. However, if you are uncomfortable with the fact that these sites are regulated by non-USA government jurisdictions, then perhaps waiting for stateside online gambling in your. Legal Issues for Online Gaming Industry The online gambling industry has always been a self-regulated business. The general public has only been made aware of this recently - in November 2008 - when the TV program 60 Minutes aired a special on a major poker scam that took place with an online poker company.

Out of all questions about legal online gambling in the USA, the legality of online casinos are generally ignored. It is hard to say why this is, but as far as we can tell the United States government has never seized an online casino, but there have been some brands of casino software that have pulled out of the American market in order to avoid prosecution or to insulate themselves from potential harm. The fact of the matter is that online casinos enjoy some level of protection for a variety of reasons, including the wide number of these gaming sites and the relatively small player base that these casinos include - player bases that are almost infinitely smaller than the major online poker rooms.

When the UIGEA was passed, several brands of online casino software decide that they would not bother trying to contend with the ethics and complications of federal law. In 2008, casinos that license the Microgaming software stopped accepting new players from the United States. Later, in 2011, Microgaming saw what happened on online poker's 'Black Friday,' and they cut ties with all existing United States gamblers. Similarly, PlayTech had decided to pull from the United States market, but they did so significantly earlier. Playtech ceased operating in the United States as soon as the UIGEA was passed in 2006. Though these two behemoths had pulled from the American market, several types of online casino continued to operate within the United States, including one of the best - the RTG software.

With the complicated nature of the online gambling industry, with both the inherent inability to control the Internet and regulate international businesses, the United States has not been able to effectively ban the online gambling sites. When begging the question over whether these online casinos are legal in the United States, it is somewhat easier just to say that they are not illegal, but they are also unregulated. Since every state that allows some form of gambling heavily regulates the industry, it is difficult to say whether a lack of regulation inherently makes these gambling sites illegal. A few states have banned online gambling in all forms, but this is mostly targeted at starting a gambling site rather than playing at them. In Washington state the games are illegal for the player. Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Montana, Oregon and South Dakota also have their own laws pertaining to the legality of playing with an online casino.

What it boils down to at this point is casino software. Several forms of online casino software are still operating in the United States, including the RTG, Rival, Top Game and Vegas Technology software. There are a few others, but they are hardly worth mention - especially considering the might of the RTG software.Regulation would greatly improve the gambling atmosphere online, but for now the only thing that is illegal, as per the UIGEA, is processing payments for online gambling sites. This only applies to financial businesses, so players do not actually have to worry about being held liable for just enjoying the what online casinos have to offer.

As with any other form of gambling, we implore you to check into your state's online gambling laws, perhaps with an attorney, prior to gambling, especially if you are really concerned with whether or not you can actually get in trouble for something as harmless as online gambling. Above anything else, do not attempt to ever bypass the minimum gambling age that has been instituted in your state, as this is a great way to very quickly lose any money before you even have a chance to win.

Gambling illegal online can leave you with several penalties to pay, and depending how extensive it is, you could be looking at some big trouble with the law. That it why we have pages like this to inform you about the most important aspects about gambling online. There is no greater importance than to ensure that you do so legally and safely. Your state government will have all of that information for you, especially when it comes to the legal gambling ages in your area. Just because you might meet the requirement from the sportsbook, does not mean that you are of age in your state.

For further information about the legality of online casinos as they relate to players in the United States, check out the link below which will move you to our site on everything legal online casinos, as you will gain a sense of some of the top-rated casinos out there for the U.S. player.

See more about legal online casinos here as well as a list of all online casinos that accept USA players.

The online gambling industry has always been a self-regulated business. The general public has only been made aware of this recently — in November 2008 — when the TV program 60 Minutes aired a special on a major poker scam that took place with an online poker company. (Read about it here.)

Many believe that the 60 Minutes broadcast was just enough to get things finally rolling in the direction of regulation. The broadcast proved that, while the industry may have flourished in the self-regulated mode, the player has not been 100 percent safe from scams — and never has been. We have seen scam casinos come and go, companies go public and then leave their primary market, companies confiscate player funds due to disputes where the player has no control, unlicensed and unproven operators open and close websites at their discretion … the list goes on forever.

As 2008 comes to an end and a new president prepares to take office in the United States, there is some renewed momentum now for the new administration to see value in allowing some form of regulation. The obvious note is that the industry is not going anywhere and will continue to adapt to any laws or pressure. The fact that the players are unprotected, but will continue to play, is starting to concern more liberal politicians.

Recently, a major land-based casino stated that they are very interested in being able to provide their services online in order to make up for the revenue drop (see story on land-based casino revenue drop in 2008) from customers unwilling to travel. So, this could be the start of a trend that sees land-based casinos embracing online gambling — instead of regarding it as a threat, which they have historically done (read about that here).

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), passed in 2006 to start the process of criminalizing online gaming, has been considered ineffective because it calls for banks to police gaming transactions and determine which are legal and which are not. The banks have openly declared that this is impossible and unreasonable. The regulations for the UIGEA have never actually been put into place. Depositing has always been tricky. There are many options to funding your account depending upon your geographic location and your gaming needs. Examples of online casino deposit options are displayed by this casino.

Recently there was a major push to get these regulations cleared before the new administration comes in. The 'midnight drop' was met with heavy opposition from the gambling industry, from the banking industry, from numerous lobbyists, and from key members of the new administration.

Ineffective though it may be, the UIGEA still wiped out more than 60 percent of the market share for public companies like PartyGaming.com and Neteller.com, as they were chose to leave the U.S. market rather than face any potential criminal charges. The UIGEA was passed because the online gambling industry had no defense and maintained a 'wait and see' mentality for a decade. The leader of the UIGEA movement was ex-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who at the end of the Senate session in 2006 attached UIGEA to the Safe Port Act and was able to sneak this to the President's desk with zero opposition. Six months later, a letter was found to his supporters — the Religious groups of the south. He was quoted as bragging to them that he was able to wipe billions off of the market value of several major companies. He made it obvious this has efforts were only to please a group of supporters who were against gambling in general.

This was obviously long before the gambling industry had much organization or intention of protecting themselves. This also proves that there really is not any general opposition among the U.S. public when it comes to preventing adults from being able to spend their money how they wish, and wager from their own homes if they choose.

Even before the UIEGA passed, betonsports.com was shut down by the U.S. government. They were able to detain the CEO on U.S. soil and eventually detained the owner of the company. This company was one of several companies on the radar screen of the U.S. government pre-UIGEA. The company focused primarily on sports and was naturally a target because of the 1961 wire act. Betonsports.com used vans and buses to promote their company at major U.S. sporting events. They actually took wagers out of the vehicles at one point. This was widely publicized, and frowned upon by many members of the industry. They felt as if this would be pushing to government too far, and that it would be just enough for an indictment. When the indictment was actually unsealed it was obvious that this was one of the key reasons for their investigation. They were also a public company at the time.

Bodog.com, another sportsbook, is privately held. Many industry experts blamed the size and aggressive advertising of Calvin Ayre — the owner of Bodog.com — for the passage of the UIGEA. Several months before the UIEGA passed, Ayre was seen on the cover of Forbes listed as one of the newest billionaires, and boasting about his ability to pull billions of dollars out of the U.S. economy and into his gambling website, completely protected from any laws or U.S. prosecution. Notice the publish date of this article — six months before the passage of the UIEGA. (Read the article here.) To this day, Bodog.com remains in service and Ayre is a free man. They recently had some issues with a credit card processing company and had funds confiscated. They were also subject to patient trolls who were able to confiscate their primary domain name. This was unrelated to gambling law and likely due to the fact that they are such a large target to everyone now.

Sportsbooks have been the primary target of the DOJ. To the best of my knowledge, the DOJ has never had an open case against any online casino or poker websites. This is likely because the NFL and NCAA are major lobbyists against sports betting, and because there is the Wire Act from 1961 that loosely defines the laws against interstate sports betting — aimed at slowing down organized crime. Another major black cloud over the online gambling industry has been credit sports betting. This is where an individual is issued a line of credit to wager with an online website. There have been numerous organized crime-related arrests. The media has repeatedly generalized this issue as an 'Online Gambling' problem when in reality street bookmakers has been using the internet as a tool. This has very much hurt the efforts of those trying to regulate the industry or repeal the UIEGA.

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Regulation of the industry will completely open media outlets to online gambling sponsorships once again. Currently, these outlets are officially preventing themselves from taking advertising funds from gambling websites. The DOJ handed down numerous 'aiding and abetting' letters to multiple marketing companies years ago and were very effective in getting them to block gambling sites without any convictions, just by fear. This i
s something that will likely loosen up in the next year as regulation gets closer. The overturning of the UIEGA must take place in order for any of this to occur. Fortunately, it is only a matter of time before this takes place.

Virginian Pilot Via YahooWith Sports Betting Legal And Casinos On The Way, Virginia Braces For A Rise In Gambling AddictionOnline Sports Betting Started This Year In Virginia, And The Persistent Advertising Seems To Be Effective. In The Seven Months Since ...2 Days Ago

To this date, there is no law in place that prosecutes the player or prevents the player from wagering online. The poker industry has been making a huge push for regulation. Combined with the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) — with more than 1 million members — the daily broadcasts of television exposure, the popularity of the game in general, and the fact that it is considered a game of skill and not a game of chance, online poker may well be legalized and regulated sometime soon. Experts feel that online sports betting will never have a chance. Online casinos, even though they represent a game of chance versus a game of skill, are being considered in the same territory as online poker. Unlike sports betting, online casinos have no major opposition. Most online poker sites offer some form of casino gambling for their customers as well.
Lee Sheilder is a online gambling writer for www.RomeCasino.com.