The modern age brings moderns solutions and modern ways of entertainment, and today, one of the most popular is certainly online casinos. It is one of not only most competitive businesses in the world but also the industry that is gathering more popularity every day. By the latest information, there are more than 2.500 online casinos and betting sites at the moment, and with that in mind, choosing the right one can come as a challenge.
Gambling is one of the oldest vices. The desire for quick earnings, dreams about wealth, or excitement have always generated new players for bookmakers and casinos. With the advent of the Internet, everything has gained global proportions, and betting has become way too easy. Online casinos have sprouted like mushrooms after the rain without any legislation and in countries with not good enough laws. Since then, some things have changed, and more and more countries have laws that regulate online gambling, but still, some questions remain unanswered.
As for the laws, as already mentioned, different countries around the world have regulated legal gambling online differently. For example, in the most remote country in the world, New Zealand, this type of entertainment is allowed to New Zealanders only if the site they use is not from the territory of New Zealand.
All New Zealand sites are directly regulated by the New Zealand government and are for foreign users only. Some of the great opportunities for easy earnings are also some of the most popular games among New Zealanders, such as horse racing, lottery, slot machines, and sports betting.
Singapore is working to change the rules for working in casinos to prevent access to groups of people with low incomes and those unemployed to gamble. After weeks of consultations, the government submitted a Bill on Casino Control (Amendment) that would give authorities the right to prevent “financially vulnerable” individuals from gambling.
That is why everyone should do their homework and be well informed on what casinos and betting sites are verified and secure.
But even when everything seems in order, there could be some legal issues as every state and country has its own rules and laws, and that is why we will take a closer look at some of the most common legal issues.
1. The USA and online gambling
Unfortunately for the player, the honesty of the casino owner is only seen when you win at one of the games. Due to the strict gambling laws in America, most of these companies have offices and servers in Antigua and the surrounding offshore islands. Popular destinations for the headquarters of such companies in Europe are Luxembourg and Cyprus, in the United States the Caribbean and the Antilles, and in the Pacific basin Tahiti and the surrounding area. In America itself, except in the state of Nevada, gambling is not allowed, so American citizens commit an offense by placing a bet or gambling. That is why the US Department of Justice accused about twenty owners of the largest online casinos a few months ago. An additional reason could be the figure of ten billion dollars that is turned over annually through these companies. Due to the simplicity of the whole operation (Html code usually weighs a few megabytes), the servers change quickly, while the addresses remain the same.
2. Legality check
For an online casino to operate legally, it must have a regulatory Government body that will ensure that the player can safely enjoy their game, as well as be protected from any form of fraud in the online casino world.
There are only a few reputable regulators in the world in charge of taxing and regulating the betting of their citizens, and the two most well-known regulatory bodies that regulate the business of the most important online casinos are the Malta Gaming Authority and the UK Gambling Commission. In addition to these most reputable, we should mention the licenses issued by the states of Curacao and Gibraltar, which also enjoy a solid reputation with a large number of players.
To find out which license your online casino operates with, all you have to do is scroll to the bottom of the casino’s main page, and you will see the name of the license and the regulatory body that regulates it. If there is no such information, contact customer support again and find out about the existence and type of license that the online casino has.
3. Different regions or countries
One of the main problems with online casinos is not receiving your earned money. That is why it is highly important to play on those sites that accept players from your region or country.
4. Protection of minor
It is a highly important task and one that solely depends on gambling operators. They must make sure that everything follows procedures and policies and that responsible gambling is promoted, as well as the protection of minors. Every online casino or betting site must clearly state that under a certain age (in most countries 18+ or 21+), gambling is prohibited. Also, operators must make sure that underage players are not using those sites. Since everything is online, it is a difficult task, but one that surely needs to be better in the future.
5. Taxes
This issue is something that everyone who wants to participate in any online game of luck should know. Tax rates vary from country to country, but if one can be sure of something is that although some of them do not have sufficient enough laws about online gambling, they sure have and insist on you to pay your taxes. Operators sure have to pair their taxes, but in most countries, even you, as a player, must pay them, and it is also something you should look up more carefully.
Conclusion
As stated, although this is an industry that is developing so fast, there are still some law problems and legal issues that can occur.
Also, that growing expansion of the online casino industry leads to an increasing number of specialized sites like TopSlots New Zealand that check the validity and quality of these casinos instead of you. The main goal of these sites is to present the online casino world to players in their true light, but also, it is a place where one can find out more about promotions, bonuses, and free spins that these online gambling sites have for their players.
