internet gambling

A look at the history of gambling in the United States shows that it has evolved in waves, with public sentiment shifting back and forth from embracing gambling to prohibiting it.Gambling was largely practiced in the early U.S., primarily in the form of lotteries, until it was completely banned in the 1890’s.However, gambling started making a comeback in the 1920’s and was fully legalized in Nevada in 1931, providing American gamblers with an outlet through which to place their bets. Las Vegas remained the primary location for legal gambling until the 1970’s, when more forms of casinos began to be legalized, including riverboat and Indian reservation casinos. In fact, gambling has now evolved to the point that at least some form of gambling is legal in all but two states and revenues from gambling eclipse the revenues from theme parks, video games, movie tickets, and music recordings combined.
With the expansive growth of the gambling industry and the evolution of technology, it is no surprise that the new wave in gambling is occurring on the world wide web. Though internet gambling is a relatively recent phenomenon, it has exploded in a way that few industries ever do. The first online casino began operation in 1995 with an offering of eighteen online games, and since then the industry has boomed at such a rate that an estimated 30 million gamblers visited internet gambling sites in July of 2005 alone. While data about revenues is varied, even conservative estimates have the industry growing from $1 billion in profits in 1997 to a staggering $10.9 billion in 2006. This phenomena has truly revolutionized gambling, allowing gamblers to place wagers on all sorts of games and events from the comfort of their home. However, the new industry also raises a variety of concerns over how the law ought to properly deal with internet gambling