Online gambling in the US

View PDF | Print View
by: david field
Total views: 5
Word Count: 334

Online gambling is legal in the UK, although there are certain legal issues surrounding the topic. However, in the US there are much tighter rules, with the decision to legalise gambling being the responsibility of each individual state, and because online gambling can span the country, it is much more of a "grey area" than in the UK.

Technically, actual players have little to fear, as it is not illegal to gamble online, but the companies and websites that offer such services have to be more careful. It is not a federal crime to place a wager online, even if it may run afoul of certain state laws, even this being a rarity. Some publishers who place adverts for online gambling sites such as an online casino need to be a little more careful, as some penalties were imposed on Google, Yahoo and Microsoft for placing ads for online gambling websites, although these fines were a small fraction of their daily takings.

Any companies that offer online gambling opportunities need to be very careful in their operations. It is illegal to take bets on a server located within the US, and this is probably the most risky action one can take, as is taking bets on an off-shore server then visiting the US. However, hosting a gambling website on an off-shore server and remaining off-shore is a relatively risk-free action, with the only piece of legislation relating to this only encompassed "sporting events and contests" and not gambling in general.

The major media publishers have to be very careful when considering accepting adverts from online gambling sites because in December 2007, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft were all landed with fines for publishing adverts for gambling sites. A work-around of the law that some sites have taken advantage of is by advertising a .net version of their website, which will be a play-for-free section, in the hope that gamblers will then click through to the .com site and start gambling with money.

About the Author

You can play online casino games at Littlewoods Casino and also try out their free casino rooms so that you can practice your skills before gambling with money in the high-stake games.

Comments

Add Comment