Gambling is basically the wagering anything of value with the intention of winning something other than what is actually owed, with the aim of winning some other thing of equivalent value. Gambling therefore requires three components for it to exist: risk, consideration, and a payout. If risk is understood in this way, it can be said that a gamble is a chance to win something and the worth of that something to the one gambling is its chance to win. A risk may therefore be defined as the chance of losing something valuable. The idea of risk then is used in the context of gambling.
This means that one can become addicted to gambling as well. One may become addicted to a substance (e.g., alcohol) through repeated use and then be unable to stop using once it becomes an addiction. Then, there are people who become addicted to gambling because they find that gambling gives them a “high”. They find it relaxing, a release from stress, etc. And when they can’t get their “fix” at the casino, they go back to having the same “high”.
So, there are a lot of things that can turn into a dependence, which makes it problematic. On top of this problem, the United States has made gambling against the law. The UN World Intellectual Property Organization has declared that the US is guilty of allowing its citizens to gamble on internet poker rooms, craps, etc. There is a lot of controversy involved in this issue, but for the sake of argument, we’ll just stick with this: the US is guilty of allowing its residents to gamble online. The fact of the matter is, there are a lot of problems with gambling on the internet, and there is a lot of controversy surrounding it.
The first problem is that the United States passed laws that prohibit any sort of gambling activities in the US. This includes online gaming and gambling activities. In other words, if you want to wager on a sports game or want to play a video game, you have to have a license from your local government. If you want to wager real money on the stock market, then you are going to need to get a license from your state as well. If you want to gamble online, then all of these laws are completely meaningless.
The second problem is that the US severely regulates casino gambling. Because the US is such a heavily regulated industry, each state has placed regulations on how casinos can run their operation. Some states heavily regulate everything related to casinos, including gaming, lottery sales, etc. Other states don’t really put restrictions on casinos at all. This means that a person can go to a highly regulated casino in Nevada, get their hands on a card game, get hooked on a virtual card game and be totally fine, while someone in Massachusetts is not able to do this and wind up in jail for a year.
Another reason why online gambling is not as regulated as many other types of gambling is that there is no “floor” in most states where slot machines or poker tables are played. Instead, there are individual bars and restaurants around each location that decide whether or not they will allow customers to be gambling. Since slot machines and poker tables are dependent on people to come in and leave with money, the potential for organized crime is extremely high in this business. That’s why it’s important for online gamblers to make sure that they have a high security system in place in case someone tries to break into their house or car in order to steal their winnings.
