Online gambling is any type of gambling conducted over the internet. This includes casinos, online poker and virtual poker. The first online gambling site opened to the public, was ticket selling for the first ever Liechtenstein International Poker Tournament in 1994.
Online gambling has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception. There are now online casinos that offer all different kinds of gambling including online blackjack betting, video poker and roulette betting among many others. Many gamblers are now choosing to gamble over the internet rather than going to local casinos or even betting in person at their favourite betting site. With more people now turning to gambling online, many countries have now created special taxing areas just for online gamblers. This has made many places worldwide where online gamblers can go to when they want to gamble, rather than having to travel to a traditional gambling hall. Gambling is now very accessible and affordable to almost anyone.
In past years, online gambling has relied mainly on licensed gambling operators from within the country that create and manage licensed online casinos. Recently however, because of the booming online gambling industry, there are now companies out there that operate offshore gambling sites. These companies will set up in a country such as Panama and then set up their own casinos there. They then let local people gamble in those countries where they can access the online casinos through their own computers. This means that anyone with a valid ID card from their home country can place their bets.
Some people worry about this new development. The main concern is whether these companies can be trusted enough not to breach the law and allow people to make illegal online bets. This is actually one of the big concerns for the authorities in many jurisdictions. In the US for example, some jurisdictions have legislation that prohibit online gambling by using computers to make online activity. However, it is actually impossible to restrict online gambling if a company operates offshore. They can do whatever they like and nobody can stop them.
Another worry that people have is that they worry that online gambling might lead to bigger problems such as organised crime or street-based crime. This is a big worry because there is now a lot of evidence that shows that there is indeed a link between online gambling and organised crime. There are more reports coming out of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden and the Netherlands, which all show that organised criminals tend to target people that are involved in online gambling as opposed to traditional gambling. The UK already has certain laws against lottery fraud and internet fraud and this may lead to even more restrictive gambling legislation.
Online gaming is legal in most parts of the world right now, but there are still some areas where it is illegal to use a computer to play these games. It is up to each individual country to decide whether it will apply to online gambling games like poker or blackjack. A good thing to do if you are living in a jurisdiction that makes gambling games like poker illegal, is to get in touch with your local government and let them know that you would like to bring online gambling into your community. If enough players to start playing in your area, it may be possible for the police to put an immediate halt to it.