Online Casino and Sports Betting in the USA
Online casinos and poker were huge in the United States of America back in the day, but because it has always been a grey area, many casino operators focused their marketing elsewhere. Casinos like Mummys Gold, with Microgaming as the software provider, stopped all operation in the USA in 2008 and have put all their efforts into other countries where online gambling is legal. There was another aspect of online gambling though – that of sports betting. Online casinos decided to stay away from sports betting due to the fact that it didn’t offer the high profit margin of other casino games like slot machines, roulette, blackjack and craps, but this has changed over the years.
The only states in America where sports betting is legal is Nevada, Montana, Oregon and Delaware – the other states all follow the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which has banned sports betting since 1992. The Fairleigh Dickinson University recently released the PublicMind poll which showed that a majority of states are actually in favour of legalising sports betting. There was also a telephonic poll which surveyed 1 019 adults across the United States which showed that 48% wanted sports betting legalised, while 39% were against it completely. Most of those taking part in the survey also believed that Americans are involved in illegal sports betting and, by legalising it, it would bring in more revenue, while those who were not in favour said that it could cause gambling addiction and organised crime to increase.
A sports betting poll done by the Fairleigh-Dickinson University, a private and coeducational university founded in 1942, has shown that 68% of adults do not want more casinos to be opened in the States, while 16% wanted the number of casinos to be less and only 11% wanted more casinos.
So where does this leave the question about online gambling and online sports betting? Many polls have been taken, however it doesn’t always reflect the views of government. It all depends on each country’s law and how they would want to change it. Be that as it may, it seems as if online gaming could well become legal in the United States, or at least that is what most operators are hoping for.
Will online casinos, like Mummys Gold, be able to market to the USA again in future? Who knows – the fact is that online casinos are extremely popular as it allows players to enjoy their favourite games from home. We may very well soon see a casino like Mummys Gold accepting players from the USA, but if not, there’s always sports betting – and chances are that sports betting might still become legal before we know it, and definitely before online casinos do.
