The increasing popularity of online gambling has led the world’s top casinos to continuously boast of improved and excellent facilities. Online casinos offer odds and payback percentages higher than that of land-based casinos to participants.
They give you room to play and wager on casino games such as table games, electronic gaming machines like slot machines, and random number ticket games such as keno through the internet. Although, the virtual nature of online gambling makes it hard for players to confirm the authenticity of the sites they gamble on.
What are some of the setbacks?
The lack of trust in the modes of payment and security is one of the very many reasons why people avoid online gambling. However, Responsible Gaming Features (RGFs), used by online casinos is being used to encourage responsible behavior and reduce harm. It includes limiting the betting amount, deposit amounts as well as self-assessment tests for gambling problems and warning signs of prolonged play or high expenditure.
There are also cases of fraudulent online casino operator behavior and one such common cases are the refusal of online casinos to pay withdrawals to rightful winners. An online casino found guilty of multiple confirmed cases of fraudulent activity is usually referred to as a rogue casino by the community of online casino players.
It is no longer possible to confirm the authenticity of an existing onlinecasinousing free gameplay as most existing online casinos offer free play of their casino games. These online casinos use buffer sites to offer players free gameplay but in reality, some of these sites use different means to deceive and lure participants into signing up to their site using appealing bonus offers and exclusive reward programs as bait.
Legal status
In the United States, the legal status of online gambling is debated and varies among states. It is no wonder that many United States citizens often debate whether or not online gambling is legal in their respective jurisdictions or as the case may be, whether it is even legal in the United States at all.
The first myth of online gambling to be debunked is the notion that online gambling is in anyway prohibited by Federal Law. This myth happens to stem from the misunderstanding of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement act of 2006 (UIGEA) limits banks and payment processors from transacting with internet gambling sites that are unlawful under any federal or state law but the UIGEA does not state the legality or illegality of internet-based gaming sites.
One of the provisions of this act focuses on Wire Transfers and states that no person or entity may knowingly accept funds associated with a person participating in illegal online gambling. The key word is accept – It has no bearing on your ability to send the money.
The UIGEA is in no way authorized to penalize individual players who choose to gamble online or transfer funds for the same reason.
Most often, people commonly assume that all forms of online gambling are prohibited by the Federal Wire Act. However, the U.S Department of Justice does not mention that the Federal Wire Act applies to online casinos, poker, or lottery sites unlike sports betting sites. This means that the legal status of online gambling depends on individual states.
The verdict
So is online gambling tomorrow’s Internet cash cow? As the online gambling industry continues to thrive, the industry is constantly reshaped through improvements in technology but it is still quite impossible to say for sure how things will play out in the future and how technological advancements will have an impact on the future of online gambling.
The blockchain industry also has quite several advantages in the world of online gambling. Leading currencies like the Bitcoin allows online gamblers to make fast, easy and secure transactions. Casino operators will also benefit from these cryptocurrencies since it does not require any third parties and transactions are completely transparent.
It is quite difficult to predict the future of online gambling as advancement in technology does not leave out land-based casinos but a rise in the number of online punters can be expected at the expense of land-based casinos.
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