Online gambling is illegal in the United States because of the Wire Act, 18 U.S.C. ? 1084(b). This law prohibits the transmission of bets in interstate or foreign commerce, with certain exceptions, safe harbours, and limitations.
What the hell is going on in the United States ? You can now gamble in 37 States within the USA,but although the US is currently the biggest market for online casinos and online sports betting, the Government is trying to ban it ! I have to ask myself why ?
Years ago before most of us were even born the US Government introduced prohibition and outlawed the sale of alcohol within America,with the consequences that the distribution of alcohol still continued,but in the hands of some unscrupulous people.What this did was make innocent people criminals and at the mercy of the "mob".Creating all sorts of mayhem and making some people very rich.Eventually the law was rescinded,but not before a lot of damage to society had been caused.
Now however, the American Government want to ban completely the right of it's citizens to gamble online.Without proper consultation they are close to doing so.Why oh why do they want to do this ? No idea,me neither.But instead of banning it, why don't they embrace the technological age and legislate for it but with strict controls on the operators of the casinos/sportsbooks.Regulate the Companies,put in place protection and guidelines to make online gambling safe and secure for the people of America to enjoy in a safe environment.The Government must learn from mistakes in the past,and by banning things completely you are doing an injustice to legitimate businesses and the pleasure of the masses.I would like to see the American Government drop this ban threat and work at ways to make online gambling safe.They have the means to do it if not the will.In the so called land of the free they owe it to the people to protect those who want to bet in which ever way they want.

Well the Gambling Bill in the Uk has finally been passed,all be it in a very much watered down form.We were promised super casinos throughout the land but will end up with just eight.The UK government backed down under intense pressure from politicians,the media and the church.Many of these bodies claimed that the social well being of communities would be greatly affected by the casinos and that the weak and financially vulnerable would fall deeper into debt and the break up of families would occur.RUBBISH,making casinos available to those who want to visit them will not affect the masses,most people that visit casinos can afford to,and gamble wisely and within their limits.So debt within the UK would rise,well well,it's already at record levels (The amount of money owed by consumers has broken through the symbolic £1 trillion barrier for the first time, as reported by the Bank of England in July 2004 ) People are in debt anyway,regardless of the presence of casinos.The Government should have stuck to it's guns and proceeded with the intended liberalisation of the gambling laws in it's original form.

Now I'm all for making gambling available to as many people that want to gamble as possible,but why is anyone playing at Sky Vegas on digital tv and cable tv within the UK ? The games offered on Sky Vegas are nothing more than glorified Keno,and if you know the odds of winning at that game you know it's a waste of time and money.Ok, gambling should be treated as entertainment and this is just another form of gambling, I hear you say.I agree,but when you gamble you should have a realistic chance of winning something.I believe that betting with Sky Vegas is a poor bet.The odds for the returns are greatly stacked against you and playing should be avoided by any player looking for a good return.