Unfortunately for players, the legality of online slots is not as clear-cut as it might seem. You see, there are technically no federal laws that regulate or prohibit Internet gambling sites. And so, if you happen to live in one of the 47 U.S. states that doesn’t have an on-the-books ban against online gambling, you may be able to gamble with real money at whichever site you choose. Here are the regulatory landscape for gambling on the Internet and an analysis of the legality of slots gaming.
Federal Laws Regulating Gambling
Despite its de facto legality, the status of online gambling has been a source of some confusion, thanks to the United States’ complicated history with Internet gambling. The first major federal regulation on gambling came when the U.S. Congress passed the Wire Act of 1961, which prohibited any person from transmitting gambling information over telephone lines. The Wire Act was an important step in the creation of what we now call “online” gambling เว็บสล็อตแตกง่าย อันดับ 1, as it helped to create a deterrent for a previously unregulated form of Internet gambling.
Federal law, as it currently (and only) stands, does not regulate online gambling. But there are plenty of states that do have laws that ban or restrict online gambling. In fact, 27 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws that ban Internet gaming in some form; 10 states do not allow Internet games at all.
Online Gambling Regulation – The State-by-State Breakdown
Because of how difficult it can be to find a comprehensive list of state laws, we’ve included a breakdown of the states that have laws against online gambling.
As you can see, there are 47 states that do not consider online gambling to be illegal in any form. On the other hand, there are four states (Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana and South Carolina) that have stated some form of prohibition against online gambling.
Federal Regulatory Agencies
While there are no federal laws that directly target online gambling, there are several federal organizations that are involved in overseeing the industry.
The Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) is a part of the Treasury Department and oversees national banks in the U.S. The OCC has yet to officially weigh in on the issue of online gambling and so some banks have decided to err on the side of caution by refusing gambling transactions. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) provides a similar function for state-chartered banks.
As with the OCC, the FDIC has yet to make an official statement on Internet gambling, and so some banks have decided to err on the side of caution by refusing gambling transactions. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is tasked with regulating fraudulent activities. The FTC supported a bill in 2011 that would have prohibited online gambling operations from targeting minors, but the bill was never signed into law.
