Be Aware of Online Gambling Myths
Online gambling is any type of gambling conducted online. This includes casinos, virtual poker and online sports betting among many others. The first online gambling site open to the public, was ticketing in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1994. In 1996 the Seamless Gaming Commission of the United States of America approved online gambling for real money and thereafter it gained popularity. The online gambling industry in the United States has grown phenomenally in the last decade and a half. Gambling sites are constantly being added to the hundreds now spread across the US, Canada and European countries.
The best part about online gambling in the US and Canada is the fact that the governments in these jurisdictions lay down very less restrictions on online gambling and therefore the business can freely conduct business as usual. The law enforcing agencies in the US and Canadian jurisdictions are not that stringent in terms of monitoring online gambling sites. This is quite opposite to what happens in many other jurisdictions. The European Commission for example tightly monitors online gambling and issues strict regulations not only to licensed online gambling operators, but to anyone who handles money through online means including payment processors. Most importantly of all the EU regulation on online gambling does not extend to Internet gambling sites hosted outside the member states. Allowing US and Canadian online gambling sites to take part in World Wide Web wagering activities would mean a serious blow to the image of the gaming industry in these jurisdictions.
As with any business there will always be some online myths floating around that need dispelled. One such myth is that online gambling and online casinos is only for those with money and a lot of it who would prefer to gamble online than go to the land based casinos. This is not true at all. Many studies have shown that many individuals, especially women, are now taking part in online gaming as a form of fitness training. It is also very important to remember that there are some countries where online gambling is illegal. So while visiting a particular site one should make sure to check what laws the site has in place and whether one is breaking any of them.