Also, your assumption that online gambling is already illegal is partly true and partly false. The Department of Justice has been fueling a campaign of misinformation over the last few years. Sports betting is in fact illegal, that is true. It was covered by the 1961 wire act. Blackjack, poker, slots, bingo, etc. are a different story. A federal court ruled in 2002 that when the wire act was created there is no way that it could have been intended to cover the internet. They felt that no one in 1961 could have conceived the notion of playing blackjack either over a phone line or some other wire device. They did believe that the law did cover the use of phone lines for sports wagering though, as that was common practice at the time.

The online gambling sites will most likely find some way around any attempt to cut off their banking options. There have been attempts to curtail the use of credit cards in the past and the industry has adapted.

As for taxes, all online betters with wins should report those wins on their taxes. While I do not know of any case of player going to prison for tax evasion, that does not change the fact that the USA demands that citizens pay taxes on their entire worldwide income.

It’s a competitive marketplace and the casinos will do everything they can to get you onboard and then keep you onboard. You can be assured that they know exactly how much the average player is worth to them.

Here’s a cool piece of software you might find interesting…

You can use it play perfect blackjack and clear out those bonuses

This is not a fail-proof plan for the casinos. It is an overall good promotion for them because it does bring in a lot of business. However, there are people they call bonus abusers or bonus hunters who seek out good bonuses, deposit and clear the bonus using perfect strategy BJ for example, and then withdraw the profits.

The online casinos have to do this because of the amount of competition there is online. Land-based casinos have the advantage of geography to limit competition. Land-based casinos can also offer comps like rooms and meals. The only thing an online casino can offer is money.

your chance is less than zero!!!

sorry just hate to see you lose so much money -

You may also wish to look into the stances being taken by McCain and Obama over the issue in the lead up to the election – Obama in particular has express desire to look into regulating the practice, rather than banning it (check out as this page has some articles on both candidates, as well as the ongoing struggle between Antingua and the US over online gambling, which may be of interest). Also look into a man named Barney Frank, who is one of the industry’s biggest proponents in congress (http://www.barneyfrank.net/) and continues to fight for legalised online gambling.

More information on international laws in general can be found at – that site has some good info on the industry in general.

Good luck finding out what you need, hope that helped a little!

ETA: I just found this, it’s the original text of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that I mentioned – this should be really helpful when talking about the legal side!

M.