The ever popular question "is online gambling legal," well first things first this is not a yes or no question. See everyone has been focusing on the fast growing gaming industry, but no one has stopped to think, is
online gambling legal. Therefore in this article I would attempt to lay out all the facts and see if we can come to a conclusion on the subject.
First things first let's list the types of gambling you can engage in online. There is the ever popular poker along with other card games, you can place bets on sports or you can play games of chance for instance, roulette, craps, etc. so I have listed them, now in order to answer my question of is online gambling legal, we need to take a deeper look into them. Firstly poker and cards basically it looks like a perfectly fair game to play over the internet, as it is impossible for a computer to deal winning cards to one player as opposed to another, besides cards games are based on mostly strategy and skill with a small element of chance, therefore each player is allowed to control the out of each game they participate in. in the instance of placing bets on sports this is also legitimate as the computer can not control the outcome of a game. However when it comes to games of chances we can all agree that these should be banned although, because these games can be set so the player would win enough money to want to keep playing but the house would always be the one which profits the most.
According to the Wire Wager Act betting on sports is the only form of online wagering that is illegal. Therefore a simplified version of this section in the Wire Wager Act is "it is illegal for companies based in the US to take bets from Americans, to use the internet to accept bets on sports or other contests." However the majority of these companies have moved their businesses offshore thus making it easier for them to operate without being prosecuted by the US government. So we have a small part of the answer to our question of "is online gambling legal" which is as follows, it is illegal to place bets for sports online, according to the Wire Wager Act.
So in closing lets lay out all the points we have listed and see if we have answered our question of "is online gambling legal." Firstly, it is legal to host online casino and card games although the Department of Justice wants this to be changed. However, it is hard to say that online casino and cards games are legal in the US as majority of them operate from offshore. Even though the Government is trying to protect individuals from being scammed, despite this though gambling online should be made legal. However only under the following conditions: the US government should be able to regulate the online casino industry, and they should make it mandatory for all of the details for each company to be presented and a license should only be granted to the companies that meet the necessary requirements. 
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