Author: horse-racing-free-tips

The increasing growth of online gambling industry surpasses all the expectations when compared with land-based casinos and betting places. From the times when Internet Casinos, Inc., the first virtual online casino started operations back in 1995 until nowadays, not only the effects of online wagering on the established land-based industry came up, but also the need of broadening gambling laws and regulations.

Most of the online casino companies are located outside of the United States to avoid government prosecution because the United States Federal Appeals Courts has ruled about the Federal Wire Act prohibiting electronic transmission of information for sports betting across state lines, but there is no a specific law prohibiting gambling of any other kind. In fact, several states rule in favor of land-based gambling but having specific laws against online gambling of any kind.

While the internet has no frontiers, gambling seems to be ruled by physical country delimiters-boundaries. Gambling is legal and regulated in Caribbean Nations and most European countries, such as Malta and the United Kingdom from where wide arrays of online casinos operate.

However, in America, law says that owning an online casino or gambling related business without getting a license first may result as an illegal act, but if any individual would be willing to get one, however there are no states nationwide that are currently granting online gaming licenses, and regulations vary from state to state.

Government of Antigua and Barbuda, which licenses Internet gambling entities, sent a complaint to the World Trade Organization regarding the U.S. government’s actions forbidding online casinos and gambling activities. They won the preliminary ruling but later the Word Trade Organization’s appealed and partially reversed such ruling in April 2005.

The appeals panel decision allows state laws prohibiting gambling in Massachusetts, Louisiana, Utah and South Dakota, but ruled that the United States may be violating global trade rules as well, coming as the result of the American laws regulating horse-racing bets because equitably to foreign and domestic online betting companies is not applied.

With this panorama, online casinos await ruling; decision full of ambiguities as the global gambling online regulations. The Caribbean panel held that several online gambling restrictions imposed under American regulations have been inconsistent related to the trade services agreement with the body’s GATS.

The economics of online casinos are amazing in comparison with land-based casinos costing up to $300 million to build, while online the cost can be as little as $1.5 million, but US Federal Laws insist to say that gambling is “risking anything of value for a profit whose return is to any degree contingent on chance”.

On the other hand, traditional casinos may employ thousands of individuals, while an online casino is easily operated by less than 20 and not necessarily located in the same place, causing an economic impact due to the loss of jobs; so many people believe the regulation benefits the national workforce.

Except for the gambling sponsored by the state, including riverboat gaming, horse racing and lotteries, an online casino is forbidden all over the United States.

Online gambling is quite similar to gambling and betting at a regular land-based casino, with the exception that it is completely done online. All games that can be played at a normal casino can also be played online, including roulette, blackjack, cards, bingo and slots. There are online casino games for everyone. There are games which will suit an advanced gambler and others which suit beginners. There are thousands of online casinos and hence gamblers need to be aware of which one to play at. A few important factors which influence players’ decisions are the casino’s bonuses, number of games, payment options, languages, customer support and payout percentages. A higher number for each of these features is usually better. Player’s will usually look for the highest bonuses, most payment options, highest payout percentages and so on.

Games
Just about any casino game imaginable can be played online. If you can play it in a Las Vegas casino there is a good chance you can play online as well. Each game has its own rules and procedures which are usually detailed on the particular casino site. Be sure to check the rules before playing as sometimes they may vary slightly from the real casino games. Games are usually downloadable to your computer or java games may be available which do not require download. The downloadable games are usually the most fun to play.

Taking Control
Whenever gambling online you must always keep track of your money and how much you are willing to spend. Casino games can be quite addictive and even more so when playing online due to the convenience and speed. Many individuals can become addicted to gambling. Casino games can be very rewarding if played correctly or if the player is lucky. Even the most inexperienced players may win large jackpots and this alone is another great attraction of gambling activity.

Software
Be sure that the software used by the online casino was developed by a reliable software provider. There are many different software companies and some casinos may use those which do not lead to fair gaming. Some of the industry’s most trusted software companies are Boss Media, Cryptologic, Microgaming, Net Entertainment, Playtech, Random Logic and OddsOn. Cryptologic and Microgaming are a couple of favorites.

Legality
Many people think online gambling is illegal. However, every region throughout the world has different laws and these laws may change from time to time. The good news is that no one has ever been in trouble for gambling online. If someone were to be held responsible it would generally be the casino operator and not the gambler. The online casinos will also usually not allow you to open an account if they are unable to accept wagers from you.

License
You should never play at unlicensed casinos. There are quite a few online casinos which operate without a gambling license. You can check to see what software a company uses and this will usually tell you if it is licensed or not. Online casinos can not attain a license unless they display the type of software on their site. Those sites which use software from the major casino software brands always have a license because the software manufacturer won’t sell them the software if they do not have a proper license.

Always be sure to read any terms and conditions, especially those related to bonuses and promotions when using an online casino. Bonuses are often only available under specific conditions. It is also important to understand how you will receive your winnings. Gambling online can be fun, addictive and a very rewarding experience as long as you always play at the most trusted and best online casinos.

Online casinos to avoid are not just those associated with low joining bonuses or those based overseas. Online gaming is great fun. Jackpots at online sites can be much higher than traditional casinos because of the much lower overheads of any online business as opposed to its bricks and mortar equivalent. But which should you trust and which do you run from? Here are some criteria you need to consider when deciding which online casinos to play at. This list is by no means exhaustive.

Avoid bad spelling and grammar on websites. Any online business worth its salt pays attention to detail. That includes things like checking spelling, punctuation and grammar. If a website owner doesn’t bother about those basic things then what is to be expected of their customer care? Worse still, if the bad spelling and grammar is there not because the website owner didn’t care about it, but because the owner wasn’t capable of correcting it – in other words, that was the best he could do – then there is a real problem. Just click away from there as soon as possible.

Avoid any online casinos associated with spam. It is likely that any email spam you get about online casinos will originate from over-zealous affiliates who haven’t learned the rules yet, and not the casinos themselves. However, all reputable online businesses make it quite clear in the terms and conditions of their affiliate programs that spam will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Any online business which is slack on this policy should be given a wide berth, whether it has acted in good faith or not.

There are lists of online casinos to avoid in various rogue casino lists. There are blacklists and other “not recommended” lists which you can access just by typing a query in the search engines. Try typing in “Name of Casino” + “scam” or “blacklist”. It’s true that online casinos are run with properly regulated procedures nowadays, but that wasn’t true even as short a time as five or six years ago. Vigilant online casino watchdogs have a long memory. Even though the casino may have cleaned up its act since being placed on such a list, it won’t do you any harm to avoid them if they have been listed in the past. It also encourages new casinos not to stray from the straight and narrow.

Misappropriation of fair-play seals and logos. This includes accreditation to reputable sounding but fake “authorities” and “ethical commissions”. Look out for accreditation to eCOGRA (eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance) as a sign of genuine probity. That’s not to say that if they’re not on the list they are an online casino to avoid, just that it’s a sign that a casino has reached a certain standard of worthiness.

The online casino should have transparency of auditing of both its accounts and its log files. Look for references to third party auditing in the online casino’s terms and conditions.

Online casinos to avoid also include those which do not respond to enquiries or complaints. Unfortunately there is no way you can tell this from the online casino’s site itself, as they are not going to say bad things about themselves! This is where it’s useful to join online forums where such matters as which online casinos to avoid are regularly aired. Be aware of people who simply have a grudge against individual casinos because they have been unlucky. But also look out for several people saying the same thing about the same casino; consensus usually means there’s something to complain about.

Online casinos to avoid like the plague, along with any other online business, are those where the chief contact email is a hotmail or a yahoo address! Or any free account, for that matter. If the casino is called CasinoName, then the contact email address should be something like support “at” CasinoName or admin “at” CasinoName.