USA Online Casinos

List of the best online casinos that allow USA players

The U.S. Gambling Regulation: a bit of history
Gambling is not a new thing. People, round the world, have been playing it either as a mean of entertainment or out of a lure to hit the jack pot. The trait has seen an explosion since after the inception of www in 1990s. As most of these online gaming companies were out of USA, the outflow of the currency raised concerns of U S. Congress and it started to exercise control on its proliferation in 1995.

The first online gambling site from US was not there until 1995 and in just two years it was approx $300m industry with 32 online casino sites. In 1997, U. S. Senate passed a Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. This Act meant not to declare online gambling illegal in USA but was aimed at blocking gambling transactions or money drain. The result of this Act was mixed, though. Some of the online casinos and poker rooms had completely stopped accepting online bets and some rose restrictions on players from certain states. But there were some who took no action at all and kept the show going as usual.

Despite all strict regulations the business is thriving very much. Today, there are as many as 2,000 online gambling sites in USA running different types of betting options viz. sports betting, casino games, bingo and online lotteries. In 2005, US was earning $5.9 billion in revenue from internet gambling sites. Total 23 million people had gambled on these sites and 8 million of them were from US only.

Concerned about control over online gambling, and with the intention to prohibit unlawful funding, the US Legislation has enforced UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) on 13th of October 2006. The Rule affected the businesses who were accepting credit cards, electronic fund transfers, checks from betters for unlawful internet gambling. Consequently, many of banks have prohibited the use of their credit and debit cards for gambling purpose like BoA, Fleet, MBNA, Chase Manhatten and City . Many fund transfer services like FirePay, Neteller and Moneybookers have ceased their services for US nationals and accept payment by check and wire transfer only.

There were much apprehensions and confusions regarding gambling operations in US, until April 2007, when government issued a framework for licensed gambling in the Untied States. However, most of these gambling companies are operating from offshore locations now, where they are legal, while most of, as much as 60 percent, of their revenue is coming from Americans only.

However, amidst all this confusion, there are some states in US which allow some gambling and casinos as a legal industry. There are over 500 casinos in 28 states. So far as online casinos are concerned, most of them do not accept US players. But there are some who have kept their doors opened for Americans, too.

If you have doubts about the legality of gambling in your state, refer to the Wikipedia guide -- Gambling in the United States