Online gambling is any form of gambling conducted online. This includes casinos, poker and sports betting among others. The very first online gambling site opened for the public, was ticketing to the World Poker Tour in 1994.
Online gambling has evolved into a multi-billion dollar business with millions of people enjoying their favorite games on a daily basis. In Las Vegas, one can find the most elegant and extravagant casinos anywhere in the world. But there are also many places in other states that also allow online gambling. One of the first states to do so was Oregon in 1997.
The rationale for Oregon’s action was to protect its residents from the online gambling known as “lottery tickets.” Lotteries have traditionally been referred to as “ballot money” or “tickets,” and are not viewed as a form of online gambling. According to Oregon law, anyone who owns, rents, or possesses the property involved in the lottery, including the lottery tickets themselves, is guilty of lottery fraud. While this may seem like an over broad application, it is important to recognize that gambling and ticket sales are both illegal activity in several states, including the United States Virgin Islands, Delaware, Nevada, and California.
There are a number of problems that may arise from the use of Cryptocurrency in online gambling. For instance, it is entirely possible for a winner of a game to transfer his winnings from one currency to another, thus creating two winners, and one creditor. This creates a huge problem with the IRS, and could potentially face criminal prosecution. Another problem arises when the winner of a game does not live in the same country as the owner of the Cryptocurrency. This issue is especially problematic in sports such as “gambling” on sports events where the actual sports event occurs someplace else, but the virtual gaming occurs in the USA, and therefore can be considered legal and valid, even where the event occurs overseas.
In addition to legal and financial considerations, there are also practical concerns with online betting. In sports gambling, particularly in poker, where the outcome is highly subjective and difficult to predict, many individuals will simply rather play their favorite sport, than risk the chance of losing that same money by placing their bets on a sport that they don’t care about. With Cryptocurrency, this problem is much more serious, because no matter how much money someone wins, he or she can lose it back immediately, regardless of how much he or she plays. Therefore, in many cases, people have begun to use Cryptocurrencies instead of cash to bet on various online gambling games.
However, the most fundamental problem with online gambling and its associated legislation regulating is that it is nearly impossible to regulate them as effectively as traditional forms of gambling. For instance, there are now requests from the European Commission for online casinos in Europe to provide information regarding their tax status. It is not known whether these requests will be accepted or ignored, as no one knows what the future legal landscape of Cryptocurrency regulation will look like. However, in light of the overwhelming problems inherent in the current legislation surrounding online gambling, including the lack of effective statutory regulation, it is no wonder why the European Commission is now calling for greater transparency in the online gambling industry.