When it comes to the legality of gambling, the United States is much more complicated than most other countries. For a long time, only a few states in the US allowed people to gamble legally. Since the establishment of this country, it was common for most of the states to don’t allow people to gamble. The main reason for that was related to the potential influence on the games. The first type of betting that was banned was related to horse racing.
Therefore, the only way where you could place a bet was on the black market held by criminal groups. That is another reason for holding the ban for so long. There were even some issues with games being set up by the influence of illegal bookmakers. The only states where you could gable were Nevada, Montana, and Delaware.
On the other side, things started to change in recent years, especially with the introduction of online gambling. Also, there is a huge demand for people to have the right to bet and play casino games. With the introduction of online platforms, people started to look for alternatives like VPN and other methods to avoid being caught and to bet by using foreign websites.
Furthermore, setting up the matches is much harder today with advanced and developed systems and supervision of referees, players, coaches, and staff in the clubs. In that matter, the chances for any club, especially those in top leagues, to set the results in someone’s favor became very hard.
It became a trend in recent years where many states decided to change the existing regulations and start to accept online gambling. Still, certain limitations can be seen in almost each of the states. For example, if you want to bet in New Jersey, you can choose both public and online bookies. However, you are not allowed to place a bet on college teams from that state. On the other hand, you cannot gamble online in Mississippi, only in public.
Moreover, West Virginia doesn’t have any specific limitations, and you can choose ant method to gamble or place a bet. When it comes to Illinois, you can bet online and in public betting houses. Also, there is a limitation where you cannot place a bet on any lower league or college teams. The main reason is that the chances for setting up these matches would be much easier. Another rule in Illinois is that there are only a couple of websites that are allowed. If you are interested in those options, check out illinoisgambler.com.
It Recently Became Legal
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Illinois was one of the states that prohibited any form of gambling for a long time. However, we already mentioned the increase in the popularity of online gambling in recent years. We can notice that it became especially popular during 2024 because most people had to stay at home due to lockdown measures and the pandemic.
Therefore, the officials in this state decided to make online betting legal in June last year. However, there is a specific regulation where players must visit the land bookies and register there in person. Currently, there are only several betting houses available in this state, such as Points Bel, Draftkings, Betrivers, William Hill, and Bet MGM. On the other hand, a lot of other names are applying to get the approval to operate there, so we can expect a bigger competition in the future.
While it is a great improvement for the industry that people can bet in Illinois, the biggest challenge is that people have to visit the bookkeepers and create an account there. The main advantage of online platforms is that you can bet at home, without the need to visit any place. Therefore, online betting won’t be so popular until they change this regulation.
There is a plan to change it in 2024. It is announced that there will be a wider selection of websites and the ability to register online without the need to visit any place in public. The same is with online casinos. You need to visit a land casino available in the state and fill the form to get access to the online platform.
Positive Effects on the Economy
Source:L freepik
One of the main reasons why more countries should start allowing people to gamble is because this market has a huge potential to continue to grow in the future. The most recent stats are saying that the value of the global online gambling market is worth over $57 billion. The United States takes only a small portion of that with around $1.9 billion. Still, with current trends and new regulations, it is estimated that it will become two or three times more valuable in the next five years.
Also, there are strict laws in the US, where both players and companies have to pay taxes. When it comes to players, in most states, you will have to pay the taxes if you make a profit of over $600. Moreover, the taxation system is the same as for annual income which means that you will have to pay 12% for profit up to $40,000, and it will become higher as the profit raise.
The Bottom Line
Source: freepik
One of the main reasons why more states should consider making online betting legal is that it will prevent people from looking for alternatives. There are various methods that people can use to try to avoid regulations, like with VPN. Also, the rise in popularity is noticeable, and there are many positive effects for the economy to allow people to bet online.
However, there are still many states in the US where you cannot legally place a bet on any event, such as Hawaii, Georgia, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, South Carolina, and more. On the other hand, states like Wyoming, Florida, Arizona, and a couple of others recently announced that they will also make it legal for people to bet online. However, we can expect that the certain regulations will remain active for a long time, especially when it comes to selection of online platforms.
