Advice and representation in gambling law

What are the most popular games in the UK?

Online Gambling – The British call this “remote gambling,” but it’s the same thing. If anything, “remote gambling” is a better name for it, because that name includes mobile and social betting apps as well as desktop gaming sites. As discussed above, these games are popular because they’re well-regulated, totally legal, and available in a huge variety. Since gambling income isn’t taxed, why wouldn’t you play a few rounds of poker or craps online?

Fruit Machines – This is what the British call “slot machines.” This is the most popular game in all of the United Kingdom, which is another way that the American and British markets are similar.

Bingo / Housie – Bingo (sometimes called Housie in the United Kingdom) has been legal and accessible for Britons since 1960. In fact, housie was the first game to be explicitly legalized during the legislative changes of the 1960s. Giant bingo halls were built all over the place, and while they started as private clubs (as is so often in England), they’ve since become traditional commercial venues no different from bingo games in Australia or America.

Sports Betting – The biggest game in the British Empire is soccer, or “football.” Bets on soccer rival any popular sport around the world in volume and frequency. The British also love wagering on horse and greyhound races, which has about as long a cultural history in the country as stoicism and a stiff upper lip. Off-track betting (sometimes called off-course betting in England and Scotland) is so common a sight as to be ubiquitous. You can even place simple sports wagers in most pubs, particularly in urban areas.

Private Games – Unlike most countries around the world, the government of the UK has just one restriction on so-called “social” or “pub” bets. As long as all players are competing with an equal advantage, the game is legal. Britons are only breaking the law if they choose to rake the game or create any other advantage – this includes requiring participants to buy tickets, drinks, food, or other trinkets in order to play.

Online casinos in the UK are really popular in no small part because they’re fully-legal under most conditions. Since the government recognizes (and even licenses) online gaming venues as legitimate businesses, UK-based casinos and betting sites are more likely to be secure and reliable than sites aimed at a less-open market, such as the USA.

Online Bingo in the UK has become increasingly popular since it launched in 1996 with a game called “Bingo Zone” with new sites opening every month. The 1928 Royal Commission Report on Gambling states, “Bingo is a lottery played as a game” and so requires a separate license to casino games.

People in the UK are traditionally fond of placing a big variety of different wagers, from horse and dog races to formal casino table contests. Modern Web-based casinos offer just about every form of traditional game that the people of the UK love, so it’s no surprise that Internet casinos are big business in England, Scotland, and Wales.

Washington

5 states close to legalizing online casinos

There are a number of states thinking about legalizing online casino gambling. These days, more than half of states have some kind of legal casino gambling already. Plus, many have recently legalized sports betting, as well. Here’s a look at the five states most likely to be the next ones to pass online casino legislation.

SD legal casinos

In 1989, the first legal commercial casinos in South Dakota opened in Deadwood. There are currently more than 20, all in Deadwood. In 1993, the state signed a number of tribal compacts. Several Native American tribes have since opened casinos. There are still close to a dozen in operation across the state. There are no online casinos, but there is online sports betting restricted to the Deadwood casinos.

Do I need to download any software?

Online casinos in general are primarily accessed through your own web browser and do not require any downloads. However, some of them go the extra mile and provide mobile friendly versions for smartphones and tablets. In this case, casino players can get the ultimate gambling experience on the move.

Bitcoin Welcome Bonus

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100% Poker Match

If you make your first-ever Ignition deposit using Bitcoin, you’ll also receive an additional 100% poker match. This part of the promotion allows you to grab up to $1,000 for the poker room. Combined with the $2,000 maximum, this adds up to as much as $3,000 in bonus money.

Georgia players can enjoy excellent bonuses and other promotions at this legit gambling site while playing over 200 slot games, 28 table games, 17 video poker variants, and five live dealer games.

Because we ranked Ignition as the best poker site in Georgia, we invite you to read our full Ignition casino review to learn everything about its top-notch poker room.

Currently, Ignition allows as many as nine banking methods that Georgia players can use for deposits and withdrawals. We’d love to see some e-wallet options that would make the Ignition experience more convenient for Skrill and Neteller account holders.

Montana

2. Play only on licensed and regulated sites

Hundreds of sites claim to offer lucrative winnings from online casino games and sports betting, even in the IPL. However, not every site is legit. Therefore, the first step to guaranteeing earnings is to set up an account only on a trustworthy site that will not defraud your stake.

To verify that a site is licensed and regulated:

• Check for proof of licensing within the website. Often, legit platforms will indicate that they are regulated according to the Indian government regulations. Many off-shore online casinos have the Curacao license as it is one of the most affordable in the market.
• Check their authentication process. For example, a legitimate site will have an age requirement to ensure that all players are within the legal gambling age.
• Check online reviews from other users. These will especially indicate the ease of depositing and withdrawing money.

United Kingdom

United Kingdom is not an EU member but it is worthy to checktheir law.  Both online and land based gambling is 100% legalas long as the provider is licensed by the United Kingdom GamblingCommission as per the provisions of the Gambling Act of 2005. TheUnited Kingdom Gambling Commission isone of the strictest gambling bodies across the world.  Thereare many games that fall under the jurisdiction of the Commission,namely poker, bingo, sports betting, and other popular casinogames.

Ultimately, the Commission functions to ensure that threespecific provisions of the Gambling Act of 2005 are met:

1. Preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder,being associated with crime, disorder, or as an accessory tocrime.
2. Ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair fashion.
3. Protecting children and other vulnerable persons from beingharmed or exploited by gambling.

In general the Commission is responsible for issuing operatinglicenses as well as imposing fines to the bodies that do not complywith the relevant regulations.  In simple terms they make surethat innocent customers and gamblers receive fair treatment and arenot subjected to any shady dealings as well as working with casinosto ensure a safe and fair gambling environment, having the latterhave various tools to help players control their spending on theplatform.

NJ legal casinos

New Jersey has had casinos in Atlantic City since 1978, with nine current casino resorts in the New Jersey shore city. Plus, in November 2013, New Jersey became the first state in the nation to launch a large-scale online casino industry. It added online sports betting to the mix in 2018.

West Virginia

• Market Launch: July 2020

West Virginia OK’d online casinos in March 2019, with Governor Jim Justice, the owner of an in-state casino himself, allowing the bill to become law. Like in Pennsylvania, it wasn’t exactly an expedited rollout. Online casino-goers had to wait until July 2020 for DraftKings Casino to officially open the market. A month later, BetMGM, in conjunction with The Greenbrier (Gov. Justice’s property), joined the fray.

Each of the five brick-and-mortar casinos in the state of West Virginia is eligible to hold an online casino license and can host up to three skins a piece. This leaves space for up to fifteen iCasinos in the Mountain State. It may take some time for each slot to fill, but rest assured, WV gamblers will have options.

Germany

The gambling law in Germany is considered part of the law of public and regulated at the state level by each of the 16 federal states. Land based casinos are supervised and licensed by the respective Ministries of the Interior while slots gambling enjoyed at local halls are controlled by municipal offices. The Ministry of the Interior in Schleswig-Holstein supervises the licensing of online sports betting and gambling issued under the Gambling Act of Schleswig-Holstein. The approval of Federal States was considered safe at the start of 2017, although after the elections the Federal State of Schleswig-Holstein announced that no new laws would be passed and Rhineland Palatinate, Hesse, and North Rhine Westphalia considers joining the Schleswig-Holstein approach.

Delivery

Frequently Asked Questions

The area of online gambling has been a bit grey throughout the years, and despite the strict legal rights and obligations, people are still unaware of some aspects. This frequently asked section should pinpoint the main issues you might encounter on any legal online casino.

Online roulette

Another staple of the industry, roulette is amongst the most popular games in casinos around the world, and its arguable even better online. While brick-and-mortar casinos in the U.S. will typically only offer the standard American version, online sites often have multiple choices available including both European Roulette and French Roulette. While the American game comes standard with both a 0 and 00 slot on the wheel, the French and Euro variants have just a single 0 – massively reducing the house edge. Plus, you don’t have to wait at all between spins.

3. BetOnline

BetOnline has VPNs mentioned specifically under their “Tools not related to Poker” section, which states: “The use of Virtual Machines and/or any software that specializes in screen-sharing and remote-access is prohibited. The use of a VPN is considered in all game play reviews and if it’s deemed to be used to circumvent our policies, appropriate action as listed in the Fair Play Policy will be taken.”

Poland

Like several other European Union member states land-based and online gambling have historically been legal in Poland but controlled by strict government monopoly and gambling with offshore operators technically permitted but unregulated. The 2009 Act on Gambling has seen several amendments to bring it into line with European Union principles.

New regulations for online gambling were enacted on 1 April 2017, requiring international operators to apply for sports betting licences. All other online gambling and casino games are legally provided by the country’s designated gambling monopoly only.

These 8 countries all have strict anti-gambling policies in place and it advisable that locals and visitors do not challenge them in any way.

Sources:

https://simonsblogpark.com/onlinegambling/simons-guide-gambling-north-korea-casino/

https://simonsblogpark.com/onlinegambling/simons-gambling-online-casino-guide-cyprus/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambling_in_Cambodia

https://simonsblogpark.com/onlinegambling/simons-guide-gambling-in-poland/

https://simonsblogpark.com/onlinegambling/simons-guide-to-gambling-in-the-united-arab-emirates/

https://signon.thomsonreuters.com/v2?culture=en-GB&productid=PLCUK&returnto=https%3A%2F%2Fuk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com%2FCosi%2FSignOn%3FredirectTo%3D%252f4-636-0616%253ftransitionType%253dDefault%2526contextData%253d%28sc.Default%29%2526firstPage%253dtrue&tracetoken=0201182308410yQsL6UW33wIpc0XvPl4iIM9tHJaVZT-OoMGnbgV-4veczz-3kbSv7_yyPWcwQ2FPBo0VtAhWUGdmOGgjix0vY68rYL6JoS8G9RrpkabswrV_Sw8-2OzUk31UNqPeb133DQmNN5r21V8s6gU_-TWf_OYZ9tbdX1qmBjEHizzaPPYtuJnLgHNleDTqJAIlp6luT0gmtj1oRDHU6dT1shtcYj5I58yzAfxpjeWjuUcnijlGID8lKgicpWgw2wpg4uycmteWZo9a3-Tkk4zOzWXSWQ6vMnM9PTT-N3uLvygURJrL0lReh5GuLeeXbZxLB-hK7Vw55cAjaAcxgHbs3W3twA&lr=0

https://www.forbes.com/sites/outofasia/2017/10/03/the-odds-and-perils-of-gambling-successfully-on-japans-new-casinos/#3d93d9747a69

https://www.gambling.com/laws

http://www.casinonewsdaily.com/2017/06/12/poland-purges-online-gambling-market-illegal-operations-growing-blacklist/

https://www.gamblingsites.com/online-gambling-jurisdictions/japan/

https://www.gamblingsites.com/online-gambling-jurisdictions/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_gambling#Legal_status

Apply to the Gambling Commission for a personal gambling licence or a gambling operating licence if you run or manage a gambling business.

The Gambling Commission regulates arcades, betting, bingo, casinos, gaming machine providers, gambling software providers, lottery operators, external lottery managers and remote gambling (online and by phone) that use British-based equipment.

Gambling Commission is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.

Solicitors.guru, in cooperation with CasinoValley online casino experts, analysed some of the critical UK Gambling Laws, as well as the best legal UK online casinos list.

With so many generous bonuses and promotions on offer to choose from, including no deposit options, how can you be sure that you have picked the right one? Most importantly, you should choose a legal and fully licensed UK online casino.

The requirements of the UK Gambling Commission were also taken into consideration in this analysis. As a result, we present you the list that should answer the million-dollar question – what are the best online casinos in the UK?

TX legal casinos

Texas has just one tribal casino, the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino Hotel, which has been owned and operated by the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas since 1996. Others have come and gone, and at least one other is involved in a current court case. There are no online casinos or sportsbooks in Texas.

Online gambling legal complexity

Many online players often worry about the legal status of online gambling in their country. To be more precise, we often worry whether we can get into any trouble for playing online or not.

Truth is, except for a few countries in the world (marked with red on the map, less than 5%), players gambling online have little to to worry about. But in these countries online gambling is illegal and players who place bets online can be prosecuted (typically a small fine, but in some of them even incarceration is possible, see the table below).

As a thumb rule, governments mostly penalize illegally operating gambling firms and rogue online gambling websites and not the players.

Rhode Island

MO legal casinos

Missouri has had casinos since 1994 when the state's first riverboat casinos launched. The state relaxed some of the riverboat restrictions in 1998, and it has around 10 casinos currently. However, there are no legal and regulated online casinos or sportsbooks in Missouri.

France

France has a strict licensing process and permits offshore operators to accept French players, meeting the necessary criteria. France is often classified as a gambling-friendly nation, although excessive regulations and high taxes make it challenging for gaming sites to operate and almost fifty percent of gaming sites licensed in 2010 have left the market. The biggest change happened in 2010 when the government passed the 2010-476 Gambling Act, disbanding the government monopoly and opening the market to competition and thirty-five operators applied and became the first non-governmental entities to offer horse racing, sports, and online poker betting. Excessive taxes on sports and poker betting is 8.5% while the industry average is 4 to 5% combined with the government not permitting player pools to be shared. French players were cut from the international poker scene, leading many players to join offshore sites.