One of the questions I hear most often concerns my thoughts on the status of online gambling in the United States. I wish I had the answers and could predict the future, but the future is still up in the air where online gambling is concerned. Currently, online gambling is regulated by each state, but in 48 states regulation of current laws is mainly overlooked. However, in the U.S. it may soon become a more problematic issue for gamblers as New York and California make attempts at passing online anti-gambling laws.
In 2002 a California bill posed a great threat to the average U.S. resident gambling online. It not only regulated the online casinos, it also recommended imposing fines for citizens. Casinos would have been fined up to $1,000 for allowing California residents to gamble at their sites. Site operators would also have been subject to up to 90 days in jail. Gamblers would initially be warned, but would eventually incur a $100 fine. I am not surprised by the introduction of this law since California is well known for leading the way for the rest of the states, but poker and other forms of gambling are already legal in parts of that state. I would think California would be pushing to increase revenue by legalizing online gambling portals, but that is not the case. This bill, while worrisome in its content, was quickly eliminated from legislative council consideration and has not been resubmitted.
New York is currently attacking the online gambling industry from another angle. The state is cracking down on the ability to deposit funds into the gambling sites themselves. Credit card companies, which mainly operate out of New York, have already felt the pressure and have made it nearly impossible to deposit money to gambling sites. Other internet banking companies, such as Pay Pal, no longer allow the monetary transfers to gambling sites. So far this has caused more of an inconvenience than anything else, as gamblers have simply switched to companies such as Neteller. However, future regulation could change how simple these deposits are to make.
Current thinking in the United States government leans more towards regulation than on a ban of online gambling. Specific bans are still the responsibility of each state, but are not currently being prosecuted to any extent. I personally do not think you will ever be able to stamp out online gambling. People will find a way, even if it means opening a bank account in a foreign country. If you look at the problem from an international perspective it is impossible for the United States to truly regulate the industry. The government simply has not control over foreign policies. All of the effort being put into regulations and bans will eventually either pass or fail, but ultimately will have no real impact on online gambling itself.
