I was wondering where I can go to get some info. Of course I may ALREADY be at that place.. LOL I know different states have different laws regarding gambling and I just wanted to know if and how these laws affect online casinos. Are the exising ones mostly based in different countries? I know enough to know I know very little. I also know I don't even know the right questions to ask but I need to start somewhere Thanks, Marco
I'm guessing the issues with online casinos are similar to the adult websites. Not exactly the same but similar. Any thoughts?
I had a client a while back that wanted to do 'casino' stuff and asked me to do some research. The highlights: * get your own servers (very important) * make sure you know where they are (your servers), and you can prove it (more important) * get it outside any normal country (any carribean country will do, or some thing whacky like Sealand) * Make sure the local government has no objections agains gambling * Pay your (local) taxes * Let the entity that gets the revenues reside somewhere else, but with the same restrictions. If you want to host a gambling site in the EU, USA, Asia or any other democratic country: forget it hope this helps
As far as I know they are ALL based in different countries. There are no legal online gaming establishments in the United States. I think using the sites is even illegal. Anyways, I know the big casino operators are dying to get into the online business, but the government has no inclination to let them, at least yet.
I looked into this a while ago, and im afraid to say you probably have no chance... To get a gambling license in most countries where hosting gambling is actually allowed, costs in the region of $120,000. Channel islands, carribbean etc...they might allow gambling sites but it doesnt mean that its free. If you have that much money, i say go for it, but i didnt
Curacao and Gibraltar are very popular locations for online casinos. You can find several companies specializing in setting up offshore businesses for this very purpose.
but as stated it take capital to start in these places. I looked into it long ago. SOftware development was in the neighboorhood of 10k and casino license in these places 100k+
Costa Rica is the place to be. check out www.theprescription.com Read the posts...but dont expect any help from the forum members.
Wow... Thanks everyone. I thought it would need to be out of the US. Which isn't a problem. $120K is kind of a hurdle isn't it? Warrants some more investigation that's for sure. I have no desire to do anything illegal... or REALLY expensive. lol I will search for the companies who deal with offshore companies. I'll also have to check respective gov about gambling licenses and their costs.
Be carefull with chosing the people for your offshore company formation, there are a lot of scam sites out there luring for people like you.
I looked into this, and I came across an interesting law in the state I live in (RI). It basically said that I could go to jail for "leading" people to places where illegal gambling takes place. Now, the law was probably written 20-30 years ago, but I didn't want to take my chances with interpretations. I took this to mean that I couldn't even advertise for online casinos (which are illegal to even play at in the U.S.) without breaking this law. I wish I came across that law before I built http://www.attackjack.com Oh well. That will teach me to do research BEFORE I start my projects!
I cannot imagine anyone can really get into trouble for playing at one the websites. I haven't look into things that far, there may be some obscure laws regarding gambling, but realistically getting into trouble for "Playing" I find hard to believe. Formation of an offshore company... doing business out of Cosa Rica or Curacao... working fairly and above board and not cheating anyone. All sounds reasonable and legal. Am I being naive?
Edz - Thanks for the heads up. I actually know someone personally who does just that kind of work. He has his strange side but so do I... lol
I find it hard to believe that they would prosecute you for playing as well. Then again, nobody thought they would prosecute people for downloading music in Napster's heyday. I know there are MAJOR differences there, but if someone with enough power feels like they're losing money, things get done! Just because cops don't give you a ticket for jaywalking doesn't mean it still doesn't break the law...
Sayyes... You're right, but I'm sure if we looked hard enough we could find some really ridiculous laws still on the books. Lots of gambling sites out there already. Some are likely to be scams but I'll bet (pun intended) that some are legit.
What exactly are you talking about? Do you mean legit by "they pay out"? Or that you cant bet on bear and hen fights Legit is quite a relative term... Anyway, i do agree with you, i bet you could find a country that supports scamming people... cough**nigeria**cough
Do bears REALLY fight hens? lol ...and yes, that's what I mean by legit. Also I'm sure there are a number of other ways the disreputable sites can leach from the people. OK - I may be a little jaded
I dont know though, gambling seems like a scam anyway... I mean who wants to bet against odds anyway???