Foreword｜Money88
People can gamble online from anywhere at sites that accept users from their area. Of course, each country has laws governing what forms of gambling are allowed within its borders, but few mention residents using offshore sites. Even those territories that ban the activity outright rarely seek to prosecute individuals who choose to play/bet on platforms outside their territory.
For those who don’t know the law, it’s important to note that laws apply to physical spaces, not citizens. In the United States, New Jersey allows almost all types of internet betting. In general, most gaming activities are banned in Utah. Only in the Garden State can Utahs gamble on sites licensed and overseen by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. When they found themselves in New Jersey, the state’s laws applied equally to them and local residents, allowing them to enjoy gambling apps licensed by the state.
Despite the fact that millions of Americans in areas without commercial gaming establishments know they can go to Indian reservations for casino-style entertainment because federal and state gambling laws do not apply to such reservations. However, in the digital realm, gamblers are often confused about where they can play/bet. This is where the game review hub comes into play.
Below is a brief explanation of how casino and sports betting sites are regulated, and whether it is possible to circumvent geographic restrictions.
Regions with International Regulators｜Money88
As noted above, Antigua and Barbuda initiated online regulation in 1994 through its Gaming Department, which is part of the country’s Financial Services Regulatory Commission. Two years later, Curacao began creating its master licensee, and in 1998 the Panama Gaming Control Commission was established.
International Internet gaming licensors include the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission and the Malta Gaming Authority. These agencies have their licensees accept players from countless regions around the globe.
Gambling with a VPN｜Money88
A virtual private network, or VPN for short, is a service that allows users to mask the IP address given to them by their Internet service provider by transferring data through a dedicated server. The technology allows VPN users to present themselves as someone accessing the World Wide Web from a location different from their actual location. Many people use this as a security measure because when someone is using a VPN, their internet service provider cannot see what they are accessing, keeping everything from prying eyes.
Due to the ability to spoof an IP address provided by VPN technology, accounts using it are banned from most gambling sites as it can be used for bypassing geo-restrictions and abusive bonus purposes. Those who implement it to improve online gambling security must remember to constantly use exact spoofed locations, as accessing someone’s account from multiple locations in a short period of time raises red flags.
Countries where online gambling is legal｜Money88
The online gambling industry debuted in 1994 when Antigua and Barbuda, a sovereign state in the West Indies, decided to legalize the activity through its Free Trade and Processing Act. In the industry’s first few years, only smaller countries seeking foreign investment followed in the Caribbean nation’s footsteps.
In the US, US states were free to legalize online casinos in 2011 following a then-novel interpretation of the 1961 interstate wire transfer law by the Department of Justice. New Jersey was the first to do so in 2013, and since then, only five other districts have done so. These are Pennsylvania, Delaware, Michigan, Connecticut and West Virginia. As for sports betting, more than 30 US states have allowed their residents to take up this pastime after 2018, and many states have allowed safe sports betting via the internet to operate in those areas.
Likewise, despite state regulations, many Americans still choose to use offshore gambling sites, and they do so without any legal consequences, even in states where it is prohibited, because the authorities have better things to spend their tax dollars on.
Gambling remains a taboo subject in Asia. Games of chance are only legal in certain Indian states and are illegal in China and Japan. Given that nearly 41% of Africans are Muslim, it’s no surprise that many countries on the world’s second largest continent have banned gambling. Some only allow tourists into the gaming establishment.
Europe is another matter. The Old Continent has several highly regulated and developed markets, the UK, Sweden and Denmark being three examples. Recently, Germany and the Netherlands amended their laws to allow online gaming, while introducing nationwide self-exclusion systems. Many more are looking to do the same.
