The burning question lately for many online gamblers is “is gambling online illegal?” The online gambling industry has grown drastically over the years and internet casinos as well as sports books have become more popular. Therefore in short you can have access to Las Vegas style casinos at the click of your fingers from the comfort of your home without all the added distractions that you might have there like smokers, drunks or even simply other patron’s chatter to break your concentration. However, with this advantage though the question still lingers, “is gambling online illegal?”
This is quite a complicated answer as it is both ‘yes’ and ‘not really.’ At present the law in most states in the US has decided that gambling online is illegal, on the other hand it is legal to operate an online betting or casino business. A good idea though would be to visit a local legal website online which would give information on the question “is gambling online illegal” for the area in which you reside before actually participating in an online gambling game. There are several different types of online gambling games and I can assure you that you would be able to find just about any casino that you desire.
In reference to my question of “is gambling online illegal?” let’s look at betting on sports. This is viewed like a perfectly legitimate form of online betting because of the fact that the computer has no control over who wins the games that the individuals are betting on. However in the games of chance the computer would have more control over the outcome as opposed to the player therefore this game is viewed as illegal and it should be banned. So of these two activities which one is illegal and which one isn’t. Well according to the Wire Wager Act, betting on sports online is the only form of online wagering that is illegal.
This simply means that it is therefore illegal for an American based internet company to accept bets or provide other online games. However, the majority of these internet-based companies which operate online are located offshore which makes it impossible for the US government to stop them from operating. Therefore the second question would be “is gambling online illegal even if the online casino is located offshore.” Well technically it is illegal but because it is being operated from an area which considers it legal, it would be very difficult to enforce the Wire Wager Act. In closing it is this player’s belief that while the government simply wants to protect its citizens by prohibiting online gambling they are doing us all a disservice by leaving us open to the temptation of playing at unregulated casinos that might in fact be swindling honest gamblers of their money. Instead they should legalize it but put strict regulations in place to prevent the negative aspects, like the computer program that runs the games being skewed in the house’s favor, from taking place.










