Offshore gambling is commonly defined as the voluntary risking of a sum of money called a wager, stake, or bet, on the outcome of a game or other event. Gambling is risking something of value on the outcome of an uncertain event. Gambling is central to almost everything we do as human beings. Gambling is legal in 48 of 50 states. Offshore gambling is very much a leisure activity.
Internet gambling, for the compulsive gambler is defined as follows: Any betting or wagering, for self or others, whether for money or not, no matter how slight or insignificant, where the outcome is uncertain or depends upon chance or skill constitutes gambling. Casino gambling involves betting, whether individually or in pools, in games of chance where the odds of winning or losing are artificially created so that those who win do so (at least in part) at the expense of those who lose. Offshore gambling has been branded the new “opium of the people” in a Church of Scotland report presented to the General Assembly. Internet gambling becomes a problem when it causes a negative impact on any area of the individual’s life. Internet casino gambling can include playing the on-line or video lottery games, playing cards, dice, or dominoes, playing slot machines, betting on sporting events (with or without a bookie), betting on the horses or greyhounds, betting on games of skill (bowling, pool, golf, video or arcade games), and many other activities.
Offshore gambling is the new pre-marital sex. Online gambling can be addictive, but only to persons that have an addictive personality. Online casinos are a choice adults make about how to spend their own money. Internet gambling is a more responsible way of gambling than going to a brick and mortar casino where there is no limit on the amount you loose, where you are encouraged to continue gambling. Blackjack gambling online for example, is growing rapidly over the last 2 years and attracts many companies to invest in this ancient game. Gambling systems can be better monitored to avoid problem gambling than traditional forms of land-based gambling. Online casinos have regulations in nations such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and Antigua ensure that consumers are treated fairly and the games are completely honest. Online poker fans from the States are already comparing this era of prohibition to that of the 1920s. The level of interest in online gambling remained relatively consistent throughout the year and actually increased in July 2001, at the same time as the introduction of the Interactive Gambling Act.
Online casinos as they do present some difficulties for the new player to get accustomed to, have none of the intricacies as land-based casinos do. Gambling is based on the evil desire to get money or goods, which belong to someone else without giving fair value in exchange. Offshore gambling is big business, bringing in huge amounts of cash and tax revenue, and employing thousands of state citizens. Gambling is essentially an expression of a covetous spirit and in my opinion offshore gambling is so appealing because of the opportunity to get something for nothing. Online casinos are successfully regulated in many parts of the world, so it can obviously be regulated in the United States. If you think of gambling as a form of entertainment, that seems to take a lot of the mystique away, and it may be easier to see that gambling is pretty harmless if one looks at it from an economic point of view.
