How To Find Them Where You Live
Any time you mix online and mobile gambling with the question of legality, you run the risk of opening one of the biggest cans of worms in the world.
The legal landscape for gambling sites seems to be in a constant state of flux and laws aren’t always uniform even with in the same country.
Here’s an example:
In the United States you can find states where online poker is legal, states where online casinos are legal, states where online gambling is illegal, and states where no one seems to know if online gaming is legal or not. Most US players just play and don’t worry about it because the law hasn’t seemed interested in doing anything to players up to this point.
I don’t offer legal advice and I’m not a lawyer, so I focus on the best ways to find out about legal gambling sites where you live. You can always find a lawyer or attorney who specializes in gambling law or a local attorney. Be aware that most local attorneys don’t know anything about online gambling law so you may end up paying them a bunch of money for their assistants to dig up the same things you can access yourself.
How to Find Legal Sites
In some parts of the world online gambling is licensed and regulated and players can clearly play legally. The UK is an example of clear laws and legal gambling sites. They have online gambling sites that have met the requirements and are legal for residents.
Check the government web sites in your country for specific rules, law, and regulations concerning legal gambling sites. If your country has legal gambling you should be able to find a list of licensed sites.
Most countries don’t have specific laws concerning online gambling. If your country or region doesn’t have specific laws against online gambling most players feel it’s acceptable to play as long as online casinos, sports books, and poker rooms offer games to them.
This seems to be working well in most parts of the world, but be careful. Just because no one has been charged with a crime for gambling online in the past doesn’t mean it will be safe in the future.
The best option is to keep an eye on news stories and new laws that are put into place where you live that concern gambling issues.
Poker, Casino, and Sports Betting Is Not the Same
You also need to be aware that just because one type of online gambling site is legal it doesn’t mean other types are also legal.
Using the United States as an example again, at this time you can play poker legally in Nevada and New Jersey, you can play at online casinos in New Jersey, but you can’t bet on sports online legally in either state, maybe. I had to add maybe at the end because finding a concrete answer is impossible.
Sports betting seems to have the muddiest legal view in many areas, but it also seems to have the widest reach of online gambling sites. You can easily place bets on sporting events online from almost anywhere in the world if you have Internet access, whether it’s legal or not where you live.
You can find people who claim sports betting online is illegal in the US and others who state it’s legal. You won’t find a clear cut answer in most states. Sadly, many countries seem to operate the same way, so players are in limbo around the world.
How Legality Changes Deposit Options
Though some countries don’t have laws specifically making gambling sites legal, they still try to restrict the flow of money into and out of online gambling businesses.
In some countries you can use Neteller, a popular e-wallet account like Paypal, to move money into and out of online gambling sites. Other countries can’t use Neteller or other online e-wallet accounts.
If you can’t use Neteller where you live you’ll have to use a credit card, bank wire, or other funding method. Just because you can’t use one method doesn’t mean gambling is illegal. Ask the support team of the gambling site where you want to play what options you have for deposits and withdrawals.
The laws concerning legal gambling sites aren’t the same as the laws dealing with online banking.
Most financial institutions are concerned with processing transactions used to fund terrorism or money laundering, so they have tight requirements dealing with online gambling because it’s fairly easy to move money online using some gambling sites.
For example, two players can play heads up poker and transfer a large amount of money between them for a small fee.
Banks tend to land on the side of caution because they depend on the government where they’re located for support and protection. If the financial institution goes against the countries laws they stand the chance of monetary consequences or worse.
Conclusion
Finding legal gambling sites is a challenge for many players around the world. It’s tough to know who to believe and keep up with all of the changing laws and regulations.
Try to stay up to date on the gambling laws in your area or seek the help of a qualified lawyer or attorney.
Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean it’s legal, but it does give you a good indication that no one seems to be enforcing any laws that may exist. The fact is that many jurisdictions don’t have any laws dealing with online gambling.