Online Gambling In the US – Interesting Facts about Online Gambling You Probably Didn’t Know
- Category: Pics |
- 25 Apr, 2019 |
- Views: 2313 |
“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” or so goes the (in)famous slogan of Las Vegas, the capital of gambling. It is a fitting one too since gambling is not something folks like to talk about in public.
It is a bit like sex or booze - something that everybody likes to enjoy, but mostly in private. And what place is more private than your own living room, which is just one of the many places that you can turn into a casino thanks to the internet.
Online gambling is one of the fastest growing sectors in the entertainment industry, but good luck finding anything interesting about it anywhere. It is not as if online gambling is a boring subject.
It is actually pretty intriguing, with a lot of interesting insights. Some online gambling takes place on the down-low, due to the many laws banning it all over the world. This is why you need to dig deep to find the good stuff.
If you want to learn a bit more why and how the government pushes back on online gambling, read on. But if you want to learn some quick facts about online gambling, here is a site you should check out – NoDepositExplorer lists them all for you.
When did the government ban online gambling?
As the history of governments shows us, “the Man” doesn’t like people having too much fun. Governments all over the world have been banning stuff left and right, down through the centuries, with little success.
Ever since online gambling started becoming popular with the rise of the internet in the 1990s, governments at the state and federal level have been blowing hot and cold on the issue. While states like Nevada have a long history of supporting gambling, others like Utah have a deeply conservative stance against all things gambling related.
Things are a lot more straightforward at the Federal level. Three laws are important to understand the ban on online gambling:
∙ The Federal Wire Act (1961)
∙ The Professional& Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) (1992)
∙ The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) (2006)
As you can see, the government has had a specific law to control internet gambling since 2006. Before that, they were relying on laws dating back to the days of the telephone and telegraph!
Understanding these laws (without falling asleep)
Let’s cut to the chase and describe in the simplest, quickest way possible how online gambling laws work in the US:
The Wire Act and PASPA are mainly related to sports and sportsbooks. Gambling on sports has had a bad rep in many countries, simply because of the potential of human greed.
America has had a pretty bad time with sports betting, with the most infamous incident being the throwing of the World Series by the Chicago White Sox in 1919.
The Wire Act and PASPA are there to protect the “integrity” of sports leagues like the NBA, NCAA, MLB, and the NFL. The PASPA basically outlawed all forms of sports betting in the US in 1992.
The Wire Act was drafted by President Kennedy’s brother to hit mafia organizations who were using telephone lines to conduct interstate sports gambling operations.
But after the rise of the internet, the Feds chose to use their interpretation of the Wire Act to include online gambling as well, which is pretty sneaky if you ask me.
Think about it, you can’t use phone lines to play slots, blackjack, or roulette. You can only use it to make bets on live matches taking place in far off places. The Wire Act was intended to stop that, not the use of computers for playing fun casino games!
Thankfully, the US Supreme Court knocked some sense into this debate by limiting the use of the Wire Act only to sports betting in 2011.
But that has not stopped the Feds, with the Justice Department returning to their pre-2011 position on the issue in 2018. The Supreme Court, which has already knocked down PASPA, might have to step into the issue in 2019, thanks to a lawsuit by New Hampshire and a clutch of other states angered by the DoJ change of rules.
Why is gambling such a big deal?
Because it makes a ton of money of course! Along with the Chinese, Americans are among the most ardent gamblers on the planet. The entire online gambling market was worth $45 billion in 2017 and is expected to more than double to $94 billion in just 7 years.
All the rules and laws prohibiting or restricting gambling across states have failed miserably in keeping gambling in check. And even worse, these governments are missing out on the taxes they could have earned if only they had allowed regulated gambling in their jurisdiction.
This is the stark reality that many states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire are waking up to, It is also the reason why sports betting is poised to make a comeback in a big way in 2019.
How does it work elsewhere in the world?
Not all countries have such a confusing gambling rule system like the US. For instance, the UK is one of the best examples of a country where all forms of online gambling, including sportsbooks, are completely legal.
Yet the country is working fine, with no problems of foul play in any of its famous sports leagues. The government earns a pile of cash every year and is even able to force gambling companies to make positive changes in preventing evil stuff like underage gambling.
Australia allows offline gambling and has been trying to rein in online gambling with little success. Countries like Germany and Canada allow online gambling subject to heavy restrictions, while Nordic countries like Sweden and Norway are pretty chilled out about it.
One the whole, the US could learn a lot from the rest of the world when it comes to online gambling. And even if the Feds will never learn, it looks as though at least the states are taking steps in the right direction.
It looks as though online gambling in the US is following in the footsteps of medical marijuana!
It is a bit like sex or booze - something that everybody likes to enjoy, but mostly in private. And what place is more private than your own living room, which is just one of the many places that you can turn into a casino thanks to the internet.
Online gambling is one of the fastest growing sectors in the entertainment industry, but good luck finding anything interesting about it anywhere. It is not as if online gambling is a boring subject.
It is actually pretty intriguing, with a lot of interesting insights. Some online gambling takes place on the down-low, due to the many laws banning it all over the world. This is why you need to dig deep to find the good stuff.
If you want to learn a bit more why and how the government pushes back on online gambling, read on. But if you want to learn some quick facts about online gambling, here is a site you should check out – NoDepositExplorer lists them all for you.
When did the government ban online gambling?
As the history of governments shows us, “the Man” doesn’t like people having too much fun. Governments all over the world have been banning stuff left and right, down through the centuries, with little success.
Ever since online gambling started becoming popular with the rise of the internet in the 1990s, governments at the state and federal level have been blowing hot and cold on the issue. While states like Nevada have a long history of supporting gambling, others like Utah have a deeply conservative stance against all things gambling related.
Things are a lot more straightforward at the Federal level. Three laws are important to understand the ban on online gambling:
∙ The Federal Wire Act (1961)
∙ The Professional& Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) (1992)
∙ The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) (2006)
As you can see, the government has had a specific law to control internet gambling since 2006. Before that, they were relying on laws dating back to the days of the telephone and telegraph!
Understanding these laws (without falling asleep)
Let’s cut to the chase and describe in the simplest, quickest way possible how online gambling laws work in the US:
The Wire Act and PASPA are mainly related to sports and sportsbooks. Gambling on sports has had a bad rep in many countries, simply because of the potential of human greed.
America has had a pretty bad time with sports betting, with the most infamous incident being the throwing of the World Series by the Chicago White Sox in 1919.
The Wire Act and PASPA are there to protect the “integrity” of sports leagues like the NBA, NCAA, MLB, and the NFL. The PASPA basically outlawed all forms of sports betting in the US in 1992.
The Wire Act was drafted by President Kennedy’s brother to hit mafia organizations who were using telephone lines to conduct interstate sports gambling operations.
But after the rise of the internet, the Feds chose to use their interpretation of the Wire Act to include online gambling as well, which is pretty sneaky if you ask me.
Think about it, you can’t use phone lines to play slots, blackjack, or roulette. You can only use it to make bets on live matches taking place in far off places. The Wire Act was intended to stop that, not the use of computers for playing fun casino games!
Thankfully, the US Supreme Court knocked some sense into this debate by limiting the use of the Wire Act only to sports betting in 2011.
But that has not stopped the Feds, with the Justice Department returning to their pre-2011 position on the issue in 2018. The Supreme Court, which has already knocked down PASPA, might have to step into the issue in 2019, thanks to a lawsuit by New Hampshire and a clutch of other states angered by the DoJ change of rules.
Why is gambling such a big deal?
Because it makes a ton of money of course! Along with the Chinese, Americans are among the most ardent gamblers on the planet. The entire online gambling market was worth $45 billion in 2017 and is expected to more than double to $94 billion in just 7 years.
All the rules and laws prohibiting or restricting gambling across states have failed miserably in keeping gambling in check. And even worse, these governments are missing out on the taxes they could have earned if only they had allowed regulated gambling in their jurisdiction.
This is the stark reality that many states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire are waking up to, It is also the reason why sports betting is poised to make a comeback in a big way in 2019.
How does it work elsewhere in the world?
Not all countries have such a confusing gambling rule system like the US. For instance, the UK is one of the best examples of a country where all forms of online gambling, including sportsbooks, are completely legal.
Yet the country is working fine, with no problems of foul play in any of its famous sports leagues. The government earns a pile of cash every year and is even able to force gambling companies to make positive changes in preventing evil stuff like underage gambling.
Australia allows offline gambling and has been trying to rein in online gambling with little success. Countries like Germany and Canada allow online gambling subject to heavy restrictions, while Nordic countries like Sweden and Norway are pretty chilled out about it.
One the whole, the US could learn a lot from the rest of the world when it comes to online gambling. And even if the Feds will never learn, it looks as though at least the states are taking steps in the right direction.
It looks as though online gambling in the US is following in the footsteps of medical marijuana!