USA Live Casinos!DISCLOSURE

A question like “is online gambling legal in the US?” seems simple enough, but the answer is fairly complicated. Decades of legal conundrums left their mark, and when you also consider that states also have a say in the matter it becomes clear just how much of a mess it all is.

On a federal level, online gambling is perfectly legal, just like offline gambling. There were a few attempts to change this, but none of them went anywhere. However, there are two pieces of legislation you need to be aware of.

The first is the Federal Wire Act of 1961. This law prohibits any sort of gambling that takes place across state lines. So, for instance, if you’re based in Pennsylvania, you can’t simply register with a casino site in New Jersey. The casino would have to have a subsidiary in Pennsylvania for the whole thing to be legal.

Secondly, there’s the infamous Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. This law does not expressly prohibit internet gambling in the USA either. However, it prohibits transactions between banks and online gambling sites. As you might imagine, this puts online casinos in a difficult position.

It’s also why so many online gamblers in the US are turning to cryptocurrency betting. Cryptos do not rely on banks or central institutions. They’re also not easily traceable, so country restrictions don’t apply. In other words, if you use cryptos, you can play any game on any live casino on the planet.

Key points about live online casinos in the US

• Despite being one of the largest markets for casino gaming on the globe, the online casino scene in America is still relatively small. There’s a very clear reason for this – most states currently outright prohibit online gambling in most forms.
• To be specific, gambling itself is not illegal in the US. However, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 prohibits transactions from banks and similar institutions to online gambling sites in the US. As you might imagine, it’s hard to gamble online for real money without being able to make transactions.
• Since 2006, several attempts have been made to change or rectify the UIGEIA. So far, none have passed through Congress.
• However, several states managed to enforce their legislation, finally allowing residents to safely play live games online. For instance, online gambling is expressly allowed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
• For most other US-based players, cryptocurrency betting such as with BitCoin remains the best option. Bitcoin Casinos in the US are perfectly legal because the 2006 law only covers fiat currency transactions. However, cryptocurrencies come with their own set of advantages and disadvantages.
• All that aside, the US is still the home of Vegas, Atlantic City – not to mention blackjack and Texas Hold ‘em. Moreover, regulations are being updated regularly.
• That said, a lot of the world’s best online casinos are software providers and not accessible to American customers. Instead, a number of specifically American live dealer casinos specialize in the US corner of the market. The same largely applies to live casino software providers and studios.