Online Gambling
Online casinos
Online casinos offer a wide range of games at the casino, including Craps, Blackjack, Roulette and Blackjack. These games are against the house, which earns cash because the odds are somewhat towards their side. Some websites offer games that are more mathematically fair than they seem.
Poker online
Many online poker rooms offer several Poker games, including Texas hold'em and Omaha. Poker players compete against one another and the "house" making its money by paying the "rake".
Online sports betting
Fixed-odds bets are offered by major bookmakers over the internet. fun games bet on sports events.
An internet-based innovation that is relatively new is the bet exchange, which allows individuals to make bets against one another (with the "house" paying an enticing commission).
Transfers of funds
Usually, gamblers transfer funds to an online gambling company, place bets, or play the games it offers, and then take the winnings. European gamblers usually have the option to fund their gambling accounts with the use of a credit or debit card and then cash out any winnings back onto their account.
Because of the doubtful legality of online gambling within the United States, however, U.S. credit cards frequently fail to be accepted. However there are some intermediary companies such as Moneybookers, Neteller and Firepay which allow online gambling to be funded. These alternative payment options are usually offered by online poker rooms as well as casino operators.
The payment method of cheque or wire transfer are also popular.
General legal issues
Gambling online is legal and controlled in a variety of nations that include the United Kingdom, and many countries around the Caribbean Sea.
The United States Federal Appeals Courts ruled that electronic transmissions of information to bet on sports that crosses states is not permitted under the Federal Wire Act. There is no law prohibiting gambling of any type.
The online gambling industry is banned in certain states. check my site gaming operations that are not licensed would be illegal. Currently there is no state that grants gaming licenses online.
The island state of Antigua and Barbuda that regulates Internet gambling organizations, submitted a complaint to the World Trade Organization about the U.S. government's actions to impede the online gambling.
The Caribbean country was the first to win the preliminary ruling but WTO's appeals committee partially overturned that favorable ruling in April, 2005. In effect, the appeals decision permitted gambling to be prohibited in Louisiana, Massachusetts and South Dakota. The appeals panel also ruled that the United States may be violating international trade laws because its laws regulating horse-racing bets were not applied equitably to foreign and domestic betting businesses on the internet. A panel found that the restrictions on online gambling imposed in US federal law were incompatible with GATS's services agreements.
John G. Malcolm, deputy Assistant Attorney General testified before Senate Banking Committee in March 2003 regarding the particular challenges that online gambling presents. Money laundering online is a major issue for the United States Department of Justice. The anonymity of the Internet and the use of encryption make it difficult to track online transactions for money laundering.
Google and Yahoo! announced in April 2004 that they would eliminate online gambling advertising from all their websites. The announcement was made in response to an United States Department of Justice announcement. Some believe this is a contradiction to the Appeals Court ruling. The Wire Act relating telephone betting is applicable to all types of Internet gaming and any advertising associated with such gaming could be considered as aiding or abetting. Critics claim that the Justice Department's decision violates the law and shouldn't be used to force business es to stop advertising. The First Amendment protects the advertisements. In April 2005, Yahoo! has offered advertising for "play money" online gaming.
In February 2005 the North Dakota House of Representatives approved a bill that would legally regulate and legalize online poker and online poker cardroom operators within the State. While testifying before the State Senate, the CEO of one online casino, Paradise Poker, pledged to move to the state if the bill became law. The State Senate defeated the bill in March 2005. Jim Kasper, the Representative who sponsored the bill, plans a 2006 ballot initiative regarding the issue.
Problem gambling
Since the internet allows gambling directly into the home of a gambler, there is concern that online gambling can raise the risk of gambling addiction. In the United States, the link between availability and problem gambling was examined in 1999 by the National Gambling Impact Study, which found that "the presence of a casino within 50 miles is roughly equivalent to double the amount of problem and pathological gamblers". This finding suggests that problem gambling can also be exacerbated because of the accessibility to online gambling.
The report also stated that the "high-speed instant gratification provided by Internet games, as well as the security they offer can lead to problems and even pathological gambling." Bernie Horn of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling testified before Congress that online gambling "magnifies" the addictive potential of the addiction.
