Laws for Sports Betting in America

“Watching the game” is a worldwide hobby, and while sports betting laws in America sound harsh, they aren’t as tough you think. You can join in the billions of dollars of sports betting action that occurs every year. For reasons unknown, modern politicians use scare tactics and misinformation that keeps you from feeling totally safe while placing bets, but we know that you can do it. It’s fun to place bets online and you’re allowed to make wagers on your favorite NFL or MLB teams legally. For most Americans, it doesn’t appear that the laws are going to change any time soon and they don’t really need to. Who cares about laws that don’t impact you? We’ve outlined the prevalent sports betting laws of the land and at the end of this article if you don’t think that you can use an online sportsbook, you must be gone off that water bottle.

There are three major laws that regulate sports betting in the United States. They aren’t hard to understand and they work in tandem to prevent unauthorized organizations from facilitating sports wagers. Land based operations were severely limited by the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 1992, but a couple of states retained their ability to license sportsbooks. Laws created before the widespread availability of the internet, or even the personal computer, somehow regulate online business in the modern era.

Americans need to be aware of the laws of the land and how they affect the average bettor. In this country, we have a saying, “ignorance is no excuse for the law,” and it is very true. Learning why these laws are your legal defense, not your legal prosecution, is imperative. Police officers don’t care about you until you really break the law. Know your rights and read the betting laws to see why police will never come knocking. Fortunately for you, it doesn’t take passing the bar to understand the laws that regulate sports betting and we’ll be happy to help explain them. Read on below for a great summary of each law and why they will never affect you, and we’re sure that you’ll be ready to place some bets online.

Land-based sports betting took a serious hit from the passing of PASPA. All you need to know, is this law only affects land-based operators, not land-based bettors. The act targets both private and subsidized operations and prevents them from setting up any form of sportsbook. There were a few states that had been accepting bets long enough to retain sportsbook authorizations through this bill. Nevada and Delaware hold an exception to this law and other states in the Union are currently seeking to expand their rights, in order to, offer sports betting to their residents. Online sportsbooks don’t need to go through the hassle of dealing with the federal government and waiting on voting cycles to come around every few years. These sites do business from foreign countries and while they are outside of the jurisdiction of the federal government, they cannot be stopped by it.

The dominant bill that regulates and overseas internet traffic is the Wire Act of 1961. This law prohibits the transmission of wagers or betting information over a “wired communication facility” and stops the collection of bets. When this passed, UC Berkeley researchers were still working with DARPA to develop the internet, but somehow, modern day communications have fallen under the umbrella of this bill. This one still baffles us and we know you’re wondering why this law still is on the books, but it doesn’t appear to be going away. It’s simple to say that this is a pointless law when it comes to internet betting because it only stops the facilitation of the wager. Go online and place your bet, because you have protection built in from the Wire Act. The casual bettor clause gives a valid legal defense tailored just for internet gamblers.

You’ll find that requesting a sportsbook payout from an online sportsbook is not a difficult process. The sports betting sites offer many different methods to process your withdrawal. Because of a law called the UIGEA, these methods must not send money directly to your credit card. This isn’t a problem because these sites offer numerous payout methods that are fast and safe. The unlawful internet gambling enforcement act was passed in 2006 as a response to growing concerns of debt collections and consumer credit. It does not affect you, the average bettor.

Sports betting sites are doing everything possible to keep your identity and financial information safe from all cyber attacks and hackers. Your financial information will be completely safe because these websites are equipped with new technology to protect you. It’s safer to make a deposit at an online sportsbook than ordering your takeout. Their servers have been using modern encryption techniques that safeguard all of your personal information and they’ve never suffered a security breach. Watch out for the lock icon in the address bar because that’s telling that your connection has a higher level of safety and encryption. Browse with certainty of your infallible indemnity.