Slot machines, poker tournaments, sports betting and other casino stuff is more than popular on the web. It’s fun and entertaining, moreover, you can win a good prize. Still, lots of potential users don’t even try to play, cause they don’t know whether it’s lawful or not to gamble in their country. This article will tell you where to find a legal online casino and what restrictions a player might meet.
What are the main features of legal online casino?
There are several criteria the website should meet to be lawful:
- All the activities, offered by a legal online casino, shouldn’t be forbidden by the state law.
- The site has to be licensed by one of industry authorities.
- It should offer it’s users real gaming content (there are fraud sites that look like web casinos).
- It shouldn’t operate in jurisdictions, where gambling is forbidden.
- The site is obliged not to accept players from such countries.
These were general criteria to follow. Now let’s take a close look on legislation and legal online casino rules in such countries as USA, UK, Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand.
Is it possible to find legal online casino for US players?
The first thing to say here is that legislation is very complicated in the US. It’s not even possible to say whether gambling is lawful or not. Still, there are some facts that will make it clearer for you:
- it’s forbidden to operate such sites in the USA
- you can easily play in online legal casino based abroad;
- it’s forbidden to advertise anything on the topic;
- US banks won’t transfer any funds to such websites;
- companies from abroad aren’t allowed to take bets on the phone from US citizens;
- legislation is softer in some sates like California and you can play online legal casino freely.
So, the bottom line is that you can gamble and won’t be a subject to any penalties, but there will be many other restrictions on your way.
Laws in the United Kingdom
Is online casino legal in the UK? The answer is YES, definitely. You can easily find a website to play. The whole industry is a decent part of Great Britain’s economy, so gambling websites may operate freely, in case they’re registered by UK Gambling Commission, pay taxes and treat their users in a lawful way.
Where to play in Canada?
The whole situation is a bit complicated. You can’t operate an online legal casino on Canadian land, still, lot’s of offshore sites are registered in Kahnawake. From the player’s point of view, there are no restrictions to stop you from playing real money games on the web. Also, some activities like lotteries are absolutely legal in several states.
Australian Legislation
Can you play legal online casino games in Australia? The country’s laws state that you won’t have problems with that. Aussies have access to both local and offshore sites. Moreover, the activity itself is very popular in the country.
How to play in India?
India is probably the most fast-growing market, despite the fact that there are strong restrictions for players. Legislation is not absolutely clear, but you’d better not risk to be a subject of financial or civil penalties. The best idea is only to participate in lawful activities that are confirmed to be so by the sate law.
Casinos in New Zealand
It’s forbidden to operate a gambling website in new Zealand. At the same time, you can play in offshore legal online casino freely. Just make sure it has all the licenses and accepts users from NZ. There are no other obstacles.