Online gambling
Online gambling is any kind of gambling conducted on the internet. This includes virtual poker, casinos, and sports betting. The first online gambling venue opened to the general public was ticketing for the Liechtenstein International Lottery in October 1994. Today, the market is worth around $40 billion globally each year, according to various estimates.
Many countries restrict or ban online gambling. However, it is legal in some states of the United States, some provinces in Canada, most countries in the European Union, and several nations in the Caribbean.
In many legal markets, online gambling service providers are required by law to have some form of license to provide services or advertise to residents there. Examples of such authorities include the United Kingdom Gambling Commission or the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board in the US.
Many online casinos and gambling companies around the world choose to base themselves in tax havens near their main markets. These destinations include Gibraltar, Malta, and Alderney in Europe. In Asia, online gambling is legal in the Philippines with the Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corporation or PAGCOR as the regulator while the Special Administrative Region of Macau was long considered a tax haven and known base for gambling operators in the region. However, in 2018, the EU removed Macau from their list of blacklisted tax havens.
History
In 1994, Antigua and Barbuda passed the Free Trade & Processing Act, allowing licences to be granted to organisations applying to open online casinos. Before online casinos, the first fully functional gambling software was developed by Microgaming, an Isle of Man-based software company. This was secured with software developed by CryptoLogic, an online security software company. Safe transactions became viable; this led to the first online casinos in 1994.1996 saw the establishment of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, which regulated online gaming activity from the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake and issues gaming licences to many of the world's online casinos and poker rooms. This is an attempt to keep the operations of licensed online gambling organisations fair and transparent.
In the late 1990s, online gambling gained popularity; there were only 15 gambling websites in 1996, but that had increased to 200 websites by the following year. A report published by Frost & Sullivan revealed that online gambling revenues had exceeded $830 million in 1998 alone. In the same year, the first online poker rooms were introduced. Soon afterward in 1999, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act was introduced as a bill in the US Senate; it would have meant that a company could not offer any online gambling product to any US citizen. But it did not pass. Multiplayer online gambling was also introduced in 1999.
In 2000, the first Australian federal government passed the Interactive Gambling Moratorium Act, making it illegal for any online casino not licensed and operating before May 2000 to operate. This meant Lasseter's Online became the only online casino able to operate legally in Australia; however, they cannot take bets from Australian citizens.
By 2001, the estimated number of people who had participated in online gambling rose to eight million, and growth continued, despite continuing legal challenges to online gambling.
In 2008, H2 Gambling Capital estimated worldwide online gambling revenue at $21 billion.
In 2016, Statista predicted that the online gambling market would reach $45.86 billion, growing to $56.05 billion by 2018.
In 2022, online streaming platform Twitch banned popular gambling streams from their site. Cryptocurrency casino operators like Stake.com had been sponsoring streamers broadcasts of their live gambling sessions for several years.
Forms
The internet has allowed new types of gambling to be available online. Improvements in technology have changed betting habits just as video lottery terminals, keno, and scratchcards changed the gambling industry in the 20th century.Gambling has become one of the most popular and lucrative businesses on the internet. In 2007 the UK Gambling Commission stated that the gambling industry had achieved a turnover of over £84 billion. This is partly due to the wide range of gambling options available to many different types of people. An article by Darren R. Christensen, Nicki A. Dowling, Alun C. Jackson, and Shane A. Thomas said that a survey recorded in Australia showed that the most common forms of gambling were lotteries, keno, instant scratch tickets, and electronic gaming machines. Online gambling sites also started to hire celebrities as their brand ambassadors, such as Mike Tyson, Cristiano Ronaldo, Conor McGregor, and Peter Crouch.
Poker
Online poker tables commonly offer Texas hold 'em, Omaha hold 'em, seven-card stud, razz, HORSE, and other game types in both tournament and cash game structures. Players play against each other rather than the "house", with the card room making its money through "rake" and through tournament fees.Casinos
There are a large number of online casinos in which people can play casino games such as roulette, blackjack, pachinko, baccarat, and many others. These games are played against the "house" which makes money because the odds are in its favor.Sweepstakes online casinos
Sweepstakes online casinos represent an alternative approach to online gambling, providing a platform for casino-style gaming within jurisdictions where traditional online gambling faces legal constraints. These platforms are characterized by a sweepstakes model, differentiating them from standard online casinos by enabling users to participate in gaming without directly wagering real money.The operation of sweepstakes casinos is facilitated through a dual currency system. This system comprises "Gold Coins" for recreational gaming, which possess no real-world value, and "Sweepstakes Coins," which are employed in contests that offer participants the chance to win actual monetary prizes. Such a model is designed to comply with the sweepstakes laws in the United States, aiming to ensure a legal and secure gaming environment. For example, a sweepstakes casino Stake.us working in the US, adapted online gaming to the sweepstakes framework. Stake.us offers an array of casino-style games, making legal and safe gaming accessible to residents in most U.S. states. The implementation of the dual currency system at Stake.us and similar platforms both meet legal stipulations and respond to the demand for modern online gaming options.
Sports betting
Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. Usually, the wager is in the form of money.Many online sports betting websites offer in-play gambling, which is a feature that allows the user to bet while the event is in progress. A benefit of live in-play gambling is that there are much more markets. For example, in Association football a user could bet on which player will receive the next Yellow card, or which team will be awarded the next corner kick.
Bingo
Online bingo is the game of bingo played on the internet.Lotteries
Most lotteries are run by governments and are heavily protected from competition due to their ability to generate large taxable cash flows. The first online lotteries were run by private individuals or companies and licensed to operate by small countries. Most private online lotteries have stopped trading as governments have passed new laws giving themselves and their own lotteries greater protection. Government-controlled lotteries now offer their games online.UK National Lottery
The National Lottery was started in 1994 and is operated by the Camelot Group. Around 70% of UK adults play the National Lottery regularly, making the average annual sales over £5 billion apart from the year 2000–2001 where sales dropped just below that. In its first 17 years, it has created over 2,800 millionaires.In 2002, Camelot decided to rebrand the National Lottery main draw after falling ticket sales. The name National Lottery was kept as the general name for the organisation and the main draw was renamed Lotto. The advertising campaign for the new Lotto cost £72 million which included ten television advertisements featuring Scottish comedian Billy Connolly and one of the largest ever poster campaigns. The new brand and name had the slogan:
Horse racing betting
betting comprises a significant percentage of online gambling wagers and all major Internet bookmakers, betting exchanges, and sports books offer a wide variety of horse racing betting markets.Horse wagering using online methods across state lines is legal in several states in the United States. In 2006, the NTRA and various religious organizations lobbied in support of an act in Congress meant to limit online gambling. Some critics of the bill argued that the exemption of horse racing wagering was an unfair loophole. In response, the NTRA responded that the exemption was "a recognition of existing federal law", not a new development. Interstate wagering on horse racing was first made legal under the Interstate Horseracing Act written in 1978. The bill was rewritten in the early 2000s to include the Internet in closed-circuit websites, including simulcast racing, as compared to simply phones or other forms of communication.