Sports betting or gambling has become more and more popular over the years. Its popularity has been further intensified by the growth of online sports betting, also known as Internet gambling. However, online sports betting has long been the subject of many controversies. And, one controversy in particular is its legality.

Usually, when it comes to talking about online sports betting, it is quite common for people to wonder whether they're breaking a local or state law. As you may know, sports betting has been deemed illegal in many countries in the world, and one particular region that strongly upholds anti-sports betting law is North America. In this area, most states and even the federal government have passed legislations about whether or how it is allowed or not to gamble online, and offline.

Only recently, decisions regulating online sport betting were left entirely to the discretion of the individual provincial or state governments in North America. To some degree, the advent of online sports betting has created levels of confusion about the jurisdiction. Lawmakers are still posed with the question, "Who runs the laws in the virtual world?" You may be aware that some of the current gambling laws were created and enacted prior to the onset of the Internet. This is why is can be so difficult to apply established laws to new and unique interpretations.

Other than the basic concerns surrounding online sport betting laws, another question was raised by the concerned public. If sport betting is illegal in the United States, is it still illegal if it's run online from an offshore site? If so, are American clients breaking the law? The U.S. government holds that foreign online betting is not legal.

Therefore, it is assumed that online sport betting is considered to be illegal by the U.S. government. Then again, maybe not. Numerous reports have revealed that no bills have been passed that can actually prevent online sport betting from occurring. To make matters worse, several attempts to pass bills in order to thwart the enduring popularity of online sport betting failed dramatically.

One particular reason that caused the failure of those anti-sport gambling bills is that the federal government placed much of the jurisdiction for gambling into the hands of individual states. Some of those states have approved the practice of online sport gambling and several states, including North Dakota, actually held a legalization vote.

In contrast, there are other states like Illinois which have added certain legislations that strictly prohibit the promotion of online casinos within the state. Thus far, only three states in the United States have strongly prohibited their people from gambling beyond the state borders: California, Louisiana, and Nevada.

Today, since some states have enforced anti-gambling laws, although loosely, several sports books online have opted to stay offshore in foreign countries. And, to avoid breaching the laws, they instead set up their computer servers offshore as well.

Further, even though anti-gambling laws have been passed, no citizen has been arrested for taking part in online sport betting. Of course, things can change very quickly in the industry and the legal arena, so keep your eyes on the law, and stay in the game.

About the Author

Columnist Bud Sayce is an essayist for numerous web magazines, on leisure activity and leisure time issues.