The dubiousness of legality when it concerns online gambling may be debatable and often shifts with governmental meanderings. The example of Washington State (US) shows that they consider online gaming a Class C felony. Violations such as these usually convey a maximum punishment of a ten-thousand-dollar fine and/or five years in prison! Inside the European Community, numerous countries have tried to legislate, govern, assess and establish securer surroundings for online players.

For the United States of America, the severe regulations preventing online gambling can be retraced back to the time prior to when the World Wide Web as we experience it began to exist. Congress, as the insistence of then-Attorney Genereal Robert Kennedy, instituted the Interstate Wire Act of 1961. This law was put into place to catch sports punters and horse race bettors from booking illegal bets via the telephone. Many authorities, including the United States Justice Department, have made the idea that any form whatsoever of electronic communicating (land-based phones, mobile phone, cyberspace, etc.) employed to book any wager is inherently outlawed. Though the United States 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decreed in February 2001, that the Wire Act exclusively enforces laws against sports betting (), the Supreme Court of the United States has as yet to decide on the suit.

A different obstacle that US-based players must hurdle when it comes to online gaming is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (). This law, appended to a port security law on midnight the day prior to the United States Congress adjourning, forbids financial institutions (e.g. depository banks and charge card lenders) from transferring funds to online gaming sites. In a swift reaction to this new legislation, many online gambling sites shut down the accounts of all US-based clients and rejected new customers from US-based locations.

In severe counterpoint to the stern measures of U.S. law stand the more liberal ideas of the countries of the European Community. Most of these nations take a more moderate approach in governing and supervising online gaming businesses instead of driving them to the margins of society. Though most web sites that take on US-based clients lay claim to some manner of supervision from aboriginal Canadian tribes or offshore island authorities, European Community member countries have exacting certifying standards for online gaming sites and operate at a more substantial level of enforcement. Subsequent to the pressured detachment from US-based customers, numerous online gaming sites have prospered with the increase in customers from Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom, Scandinavia and Asia.

In the minds of most players, the human action of laying a wager on an online slot machine or playing a couple of hands of pot-limit Omaha poker isn't deemed a criminal activity. Many police agencies have sounded off about the built-in logistical troubles of implementing such legislation. The weight of enforcement derives from the “supply” end of the transaction (the online gaming sites) rather than the “demand” end (the players).

“Is internet gambling legal?” That answer can change from city to city, state to state and nation to nation.

“Do I run the risk of being arrested or doing jail time by playing online?” In almost all cases, that answer is a definitive, “No”.