Online Casino Gambling and U.S. Policy

Online gambling is extremely popular these days in the United States, despite the opposition of Washington to the online casino phenomenon. Why is it that Americans feel it is okay to gamble even though their government looks at it as a crime? Quite simply, it is because the online casino industry isn’t specifically banned by federal law, though it is targeted somewhat by federal authorities. Online casino gambling is illegal only in the few states that have passed legislation to make it so; even so, many of these laws have loopholes that allow American online casino enthusiasts to gamble to their heart’s content online at any number of online casinos that exist.

Americans quite frankly haven’t been made aware of the fact that their government is against online casino gambling. Without specific federal legislation, to many Americans online casino gambling is as harmless as a trip to Las Vegas or Atlantic City or their local Indian Reservation casino. Really. And online casinos themselves are so brazen in their taking advantage of the various loopholes and ambiguity surrounding online gambling that even if online casinos were banned by federal law specifically, rather than according to the opinion surrounding a law passed way back in 1961, Americans would be forgiven for thinking that online casinos are the fringe, but perfectly legal, phenomena that they claim to be.

And so, Americans will keep gambling online even though the U.S. government doesn’t like the fact that they are doing it. Though the U.S. government doesn’t like it, it could also be that certain elements in the U.S. know the economic benefits in the form of taxes and winners pumping their winnings into their local and state economies, and so might be willing to give online casinos a bit of a free pass of sorts, a wink and a nod, to continue so long as they don’t rock the boat. Hey, it’s a possibility.