The Growing Popularity of Online Gambling

Online gambling has grown in popularity over the years. At first, the popularity of online casinos looked like an end run around government regulation. Since online gambling operators could set up shop in an offshore jurisdiction, anyone with a computer and a credit card could access these websites and place wagers. However, as the legality of online gambling became more debated, the Department of Justice and Congress began looking into regulations to protect the consumers. Now, there are several options for Internet users.

Most countries prohibit online gambling, but some have legalized the activity in some forms. States in the United States, some provinces in Canada, most of the European Union, and some nations in the Caribbean have passed laws making it legal for online gaming. The United Kingdom’s Gambling Commission is one such licensing authority. Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and the Pennsylvania Gaming Commission are two such regulatory bodies. Some countries have more stringent laws than others. Therefore, there are stricter restrictions on the use of certain sites and software.

Some states have legalized online gambling. However, Hawaii and Utah have laws restricting the practice because of their Mormon population. Additionally, Hawaii and Idaho have very little interest in legalizing online gambling. As a result, these states are unlikely to legalize it anytime soon. The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act of 1999 was introduced in the United States Senate, but was later dropped. Despite this, multiplayer online gambling continued to grow in popularity.