The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with North America and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(May 2016) |
Gaming law is the set of rules and regulations that apply to the gaming or gambling industry. Gaming law is not a branch of law in the traditional sense but rather is a collection of several areas of law that include criminal law, regulatory law, constitutional law, administrative law, company law, contract law, and in some jurisdictions, competition law. At common law, gambling requires consideration, chance and prize, legal terms that must be analyzed by gaming lawyers within the context of any gaming operation. [1]
Gaming law is enormously complex. In the United States, it involves federal and state law considerations. [2] [3] In Canada, it involves federal and provincial law considerations, in a variety of legal disciplines. [4]
In the United States, each state has its own laws regarding the regulation or prohibition of gambling. [3] States that permit such gaming usually have a gaming control board established to oversee the regulation of the industry, such as licensing of those employed in the gaming industry. States that permit casinos and similar forms of gaming often have strict zoning regulations to keep such establishments away from schools and residential areas.
Parliament outlawed gambling in 2009, after a May 2009 fire in a gambling hall in Dnipropetrovsk that killed nine people. The Ukrainian parliament passed the law "On Prohibition of Gambling Business in Ukraine" (Gambling Ban Law) banning gambling business and any participation in gambling in Ukraine on May 15. The President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko signed the law on June 23 and on June 25 it came into force. The Law On Prohibition of Gambling Business in Ukraine also applied to internet casinos, it did not apply to lotteries. The Parliament legalised gambling again on 14 July 2020, albeit with regulations and age restrictions (minimum age of 22). [5]
Gaming (including kinds of lottery) is highly restricted in Japan. Penal Code of Japan 185 - 187 regulates Gamings and lottery and the regulation includes casual gaming within peoples. Because of this, there have been no legal casino or some kinds of that. Additionally, illegal gaming is one of the sources of income of the Yakuza. However, there are some exception such as official gaming (for example, horse racing), Takarakuji lottery and Pachinko.
In 2014, Ghana's ambassador to Japan Edmond Kofi Agbenutse Deh was recalled after a casino was raided in a property belonging to the Ghana Embassy. A contract was discovered that detailed the casino's payments of ¥500,000 per month to the Embassy, which had Edmond's name on it. The casino manager, Hiroyuki Yamanoi, was arrested along with nine employees and two customers. [6]
A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays out bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds.
Online casinos, also known as virtual casinos or Internet casinos, are online versions of traditional casinos. Online casinos enable gamblers to play and wager on casino games through the Internet. It is a prolific form of online gambling.
The Interstate Wire Act of 1961, often called the Federal Wire Act, is a United States federal law prohibiting the operation of certain types of betting businesses in the United States. It begins with the text:
Whoever being engaged in the business of betting or wagering knowingly uses a wire communication facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets or wagers or information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest, or for the transmission of a wire communication which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or wagers, or for information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
Online gambling is any kind of gambling conducted on the internet. This includes virtual poker, casinos, and sports betting. The first online gambling venue opened to the general public was ticketing for the Liechtenstein International Lottery in October 1994. Today, the market is worth around $40 billion globally each year, according to various estimates.
In the United States, gambling is subject to a variety of legal restrictions. In 2008, gambling activities generated gross revenues of $92.27 billion in the United States.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) is United States legislation regulating online gambling. It was added as Title VIII to the SAFE Port Act which otherwise regulated port security. The UIGEA prohibits gambling businesses from "knowingly accepting payments in connection with the participation of another person in a bet or wager that involves the use of the Internet and that is unlawful under any federal or state law." The act specifically excludes fantasy sports that meet certain requirements, skill games, and legal intrastate and intertribal gaming. The law does not expressly mention state lotteries, nor does it clarify whether interstate wagering on horse racing is legal.
Gambling in India varies by state; states in India are entitled to formulate their own laws for gambling activities. Some states like Goa have legalised casinos. Common gambling activities like organized betting are restricted except for selective categories including lottery and horse racing.
Gambling in Russia is legal in four regional subject areas, and in 2009 was made illegal in all other areas of Russia.
Gambling in Pennsylvania includes casino gambling, the Pennsylvania Lottery, horse racing, bingo, and small games of chance conducted by nonprofit organizations and taverns under limited circumstances. Although casino gaming has been legal for less than two decades, Pennsylvania is second only to Nevada in commercial casino revenues.
Gambling in Ukraine was illegal between 2009 and 2020.
Gambling in New Jersey includes casino gambling in Atlantic City, the New Jersey Lottery, horse racing, off-track betting, charity gambling, amusement games, and social gambling. New Jersey's gambling laws are among the least restrictive in the United States. In 2013, the state began to allow in-state online gambling. Five years later, the state won a lawsuit that dismantled Nevada's monopoly on legal sports betting.
I. Nelson Rose is an internationally known author and public speaker, and is recognized as one of the world's leading experts on gambling and gaming law. He is currently a Professor Emeritus at Whittier College and a Visiting Professor at the University of Macau. Rose is best known for his internationally syndicated column and 1986 book, Gambling and the Law. To further educate and inform on the subject, he also maintains a comprehensive website, "Gambling and the Law," which can be found at www.gamblingandthelaw.com.
Gambling in Estonia is relatively young. While Estonia was a part of the USSR, all types of gambling activities were banned. Despite the prohibition, illegal casinos still functioned, but the real history of gambling started in 1994-1995 when the first Lottery Act of 1994 and the first Gambling Act of 1995 came into power. As the capitol, Tallinn has more casinos than any other Estonian town. As of September 2010, there were 33 casinos in Tallinn. That's 3 times less than in 2008, when 91 gambling venues operated in this city. According to experts, the main reasons for such decrease were the consequences of the crisis and the adoption of the new gambling law in 2008. The legal age for playing at casinos is 21.
Legal forms of gambling in the U.S. state of North Carolina include the North Carolina Education Lottery, three Indian casinos, charitable bingo and raffles, and low-stakes "beach bingo". North Carolina has long resisted expansion of gambling, owing to its conservative Bible Belt culture.
Legal forms of gambling in the U.S. state of Texas include the Texas Lottery; parimutuel wagering on horse and greyhound racing; limited charitable bingo, limited charitable raffles, and three Native American casinos. Other forms of gambling are illegal in Texas.
The gambling age is the minimum age at which one can legally gamble in a certain jurisdiction. In some countries, gambling is illegal regardless of age, while some countries have different age limits for different types of gambling, and some countries have no explicit minimum gambling age.
Gambling in Cambodia is officially illegal under the 1996 Law on Suppression of Gambling, which outlawed all unauthorized forms of gambling and provided for penalties ranging from monetary fines to short prison sentences, although the Cambodian government's General Department of Prisons does not list gambling as one of the 28 offenses punishable by imprisonment.
Gambling in Nigeria is not well regulated. Although there is a gambling law in place, many illegal casinos operate in the country. The legal land-based casinos are located in the two largest cities. The biggest casino is The Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos. Nigerian law focuses on activities to reduce money laundering and illegal gambling.
Edmond Kofi Agbenutse Deh is a Ghanaian diplomat and civil servant.
Gambling in Singapore is controlled by several statutes, being the Casino Control Act, Gambling Control Act and the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore Act. The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore (GRA) was formed on 1 August 2022, by reconstituting the Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore (CRA), to regulate gambling in Singapore. It is a statutory board under the Ministry of Home Affairs of Singapore.