As it stands today, individual states are free to prohibit or practice gambling within their borders while significant regulations and limits are placed on interstate and this activity. In recent years, online gaming has seen harsher regulations. With the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIEGA), it was not explicitly banned but rather it was online financial transactions that were outlawed. This meant that all online financial transactions https://tridewibonanza.com/ from gambling service providers were now illegal which resulted in many offshore gambling operators excluding US customers from their services.
Existing in this legal grey area, it is no longer a question of if online gambling will enter the us market but when and perhaps how. As recently as this month, three states have legalized online gambling and plan to begin offering bets by the end of this year. Naturally, a gaming firm in Las vegas known as Ultimate Gaming was the first to offer online poker but for now restricting it to only players in Nevada. New jersey and Delaware have also legalized online gambling and so far ten other states are considering legalizing it in some form or another.
Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association has said that “Unless there is a federal bill passed, we are going to have the greatest expansion of legalized gambling in the united states. I don’t think that’s what anyone intended, but it is what we’re seeing. ” This poses a lot of questions and of course concerns for many existing commercial casinos as well as American policy makers. Will legal online gambling mean fewer people in brick and mortar casinos? Will this create a new source of revenue at the state and national level? What about taxes and regulations? An increase in gamblers?
Many people including Arnie Wexler, former chairman of New Jersey’s Council On Compulsive Gambling has voiced concern that with all the good this could do to generate income and revenue for individual states there could be problems with an increase in compulsive gambling. There is particular concern regarding social media in the us as some places like Zynga have already begun taking real-money bets. In the united states, gambling statistics show that live and online gambling has generated as much as $91 billion per year (as of 2006). The industry is responsible for billions more in related tourist income as well as the economic benefit of hundreds of thousands of jobs. In some states, gambling through lotteries is even used to raise money for college scholarships or much-needed infrastructure projects.
When it comes to the gambling statistics related to what kinds of games Americans are playing, there might be some surprises. While commercial casinos still take in the largest share of legal gambling revenue (43% in 2000), and lotteries take second place (28% in 2000), online gambling is estimated to bring in an amount that is roughly equal to what is spent in Indian casinos each year. As the internet reaches more homes, so does online gambling. And unfortunately, so do some of the possible negative side effects. People who oppose gambling in general believe that it brings higher crime rates to an area. Of course, this isn’t eligible for online gambling, unless you consider the possibility of your financial information being misused or hacked. But this risk isn’t any greater with online gambling than with online shopping or bill paying.
What is a concern is compulsive gambling. Some statistics on online gambling have shown that about ½ of 1% of the population may have a problem with compulsive gambling. True compulsive gambling means that the person cannot control their impulse to make the next bet, even when they are risking their job, home, health, or relationships. And United states gambling statistics show that people are twice as likely to become addicted to gambling when a casino is located within 50 miles of their home. With the advent of online casinos, there is no longer any true distance at all between a gambler and a casino, meaning more people have the potential to become addicted to their favorite online gambling game at a higher rate than to live gambling or playing the lottery.
This has lead opponents of online gaming to call it the ‘crack cocaine’ of the gambling world. Plus, some opponents fear that there is a great deal of opportunity for money laundering and organized crime via online casinos. Since the US doesn’t allow any of them to be located in the country, companies have set up shop in foreign countries with questionable, if any, regulations. Some fear that US online gamblers may be unknowingly contributing to criminal activity.
However, for the majority of us, compulsive gambling statistics don’t apply. Online gambling is just another way to enjoy the internet, and perhaps to even earn some extra spending money! If you are able to set a limit on the amount you spend and stick to it, and if you don’t endanger yours or your family’s financial well being with the limit you set, then chances are you will not become one of the negative gambling statistics. But if you do ever find that your online gambling affects your work, your family, your health, your finances, or your social life, then you may need to seek some professional help.