Gambling Online – Know the Facts About Internet Gambling

Is Internet Gambling legal?

It is surprising to discover that millions of people automatically frown on internet gambling because they’ve always been opposed to gambling as an activity.  The truth is, gambling is an excellent source of revenue for both the public and private sectors.  If that was not the case, then online and land-based gambling entities would have been abolished or made illegal.

A popular myth held by many people is that internet gambling is not legal.  Again, if that were the case, why are online gambling sites flourishing and increasing in number?  Did you know that gambling web sites attract the highest volume of visitors?  If Internet gambling is indeed illegal, why are gambling sites sprouting up like wild mushrooms?

Let’s review the facts:

Fact # 1:  Internet gambling is legal.  Gambling is legal in 48 out of the 50 states.  Individual states own and operate state lotteries, of which there are 41 across the United States.

Fact # 2:  Contrary to what people believe, Internet gambling isn’t any more vulnerable to the practice of money laundering.  Money laundering activities are more likely to occur in physical sites rather than on online sites.  There is very little evidence to associate money laundering with Internet gambling.

Fact # 3:  The federal government is not opposed to gambling.  How can the government be opposed to gambling when it owns gambling facilities in its overseas military installations.  This hardly makes it an enemy of gambling.

Fact # 4:  The Federal Wire Act appears to be a law against Internet gambling.  No.  The Federal Wire Act of 1999 makes it illegal for anyone engaged in an illegal gambling business to make use of the telephone or telecommunications.  Note here that this Act applies only to people who own gambling businesses.  It does not cover individual bettors.  The Act is restricted to gambling relating to sporting events only.

Fact # 5:  Internet gambling does not encourage minors to gamble.  Internet gambling operators can’t see or monitor who is placing bets.  They run a business, not a daycare.  Parents have numerous ways to prevent their minor children from visiting certain web sites.  It is up to them to monitor their children’s usage of the Internet.  The last thing legitimate gambling operators want is to be accused of luring under-age children to gambling.

Fact # 6:  Various countries allow and regulate online gambling – European Union countries and some Caribbean nations.  Australia, for example, passed the IGA – the Interactive Gambling Act of 2001 but it was addressed more to gaming providers instead of to individual gamblers.

When thinking of Internet gambling, it is better to exercise caution about passing judgment or being categorically opposed to it before the facts are known.  Yes, there are stories of addiction, of crime; of money laundering but the media have an uncanny way of sensationalizing the news.  Isolated events related to online gambling and which have fetched criticism by anti-gambling advocates do not make online gambling the evil monster it is painted to be.  There are legitimate online gambling businesses that do business ethically.