Is online gambling legal?
Gambling is a high risk activity, in which people can lose a lot of money, so it’s no wonder that countries are trying to protect its residents by regulating it by law. Gambling is also a billion dollar industry, which means that governments simply LOVE it because it brings-in millions of dollars in tax money each year. However, high risks and big money are a perfect opportunity for shady business and illegal gambling, which means that governments have good reasons to impose strict regulations upon the entire gambling industry.
Sometimes, this can be challenging to achieve even with the land based gambling, let alone with the online gambling. Online gambling is much harder to control because the server hosting the gambling website can be located anywhere in the world, while its service is mostly available worldwide. Governments first addressed this issue by banning these websites, but recently they’ve started issuing licenses to gambling websites, because they’ve realized that it’s smarter to collect taxes from this lucrative niche.
The legality of online gambling largely depends on the country. Some countries are more conservative and strict, while others see online gambling as a business or tax collecting opportunity, so they even support it. So, let’s take a quick gambling safari around the world to learn which countries have made online gambling legal, illegal or partially legal.
Online gambling, is it legal?
United States
There is no U.S federal law that prohibits online gambling to the residents of the United States. However, gambling is completely prohibited in Oklahoma, while Nevada, Louisiana, Montana, Oregon, Illinois, South Dakota and Washington have specific anti-online-gambling laws.
Australia
Australian residents are allowed to gamble online without any legal consequences. However, the providers of interactive gambling services are not allowed to provide gambling services to customers physically present in Australia.
Germany
With the exception of Schleswig-Holstein region, online gambling in Germany is not allowed (except wagers on horse racing).
France
Up to 2025, online gambling websites were mostly banned in France. However, the French are planning a massive licensing operation, because they have realized that it’s better to collect taxes than to ban these websites completely. Nevertheless, betting exchanges will remain illegal in the country.
UK
Online gambling for residents of the UK is freely allowed, while the providers of online gambling services must acquire a remote gambling license.
