People who enjoy gambling usually love to do it online. Online gambling is more convenient as you do not even have to leave your house to do it. Moreover, there is a wide variety of casinos and games to choose from, the fact that you do not have to socialize if that isn’t your thing, and even great bonuses you can get on sites such as Spela casino bonus. However, the important factor to take into consideration is the legality of online casinos, which a lot of people do not know a lot about.
Is online gambling legal?
Whether online gambling is legal or not, depends on which country you live in. For example, in most of the US, it is illegal to partake in online gambling, as well as for gambling web sites to operate in the US. Because of this, most online casinos operate from other countries so that they do not violate the law. If online gambling is illegal in your country, it is your responsibility to know the regulations and follow them. The prosecution of players who play from countries where online gambling is not legal is extremely difficult, but if the authorities catch you, you definitely won’t get your winnings.
The United States and Canada
The issue of online gambling is still somewhat unclear in the US. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) from 2006 didn’t exactly forbid online gambling, but it made it illegal for citizens to receive payments from gambling sites. Since then, some American states have made online gambling legal, despite UIGEA, and in others, it is still seen as illegal. However, this doesn’t stop Americans from gambling online – about 70% of all players come from the US. In Canada, this issue remains quite unclear. There are no clear laws that prohibit Canadians from gambling online using sites outside of the country; however individual provinces are able to make their own laws regarding this, so the best thing to do would be to research gambling laws for your specific region.
Europe
In the UK, online gambling is completely legal. You can choose gambling sites that operate within the UK, as well as those outside the region. Since 2014, the only requirement casinos need to follow is to be licensed by the Gambling Commission. Online gambling is mostly legal in the rest of Europe too. Each country has its own regulations, so better check each one specifically, but some of the countries that legalized online gambling include Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Malta, and many others.
Australia and New Zealand
The Interactive Gambling Act of 2001 (IGA) makes only sports betting and lottery legal on the territory of Australia; however, it doesn’t specify the use of overseas gambling sites. On the other hand, New Zealand has a very clear policy regarding online gambling. The Gambling Act of 2003 prohibits most of the online gambling in the region but specifically states that it is completely legal to use overseas sites to gamble.
Asia, South America, and Africa
There are no strict regulations in Asia and South America when it comes to online gambling. There are a few laws that make some sorts of gambling legal – for example, only horse racing and lottery are legalized in Brazil. The issue is similar in Afrika as well, with the exception of a couple of countries including South Africa that have regulated online gambling.
