Although online gambling was only established in the 1990s it quickly grew into a multi-million-dollar business. 1994, Antigua Barbuda, an archipelago nation, passed a law that allowed online casinos to be operated from their country.
Many people saw this opportunity and formed Cryptologic, a company to create software that allows the safe handling of funds in online gambling. Microgaming was also founded in 1994.
Microgaming and Cryptologic were the top two companies in gaming technology. Cryptologic was the first company to create a fully functional gaming platform that allowed for electronic money account management. InterCasino, one of the first online casinos, was operational by 1996. Online casinos quickly became a multi-million-dollar industry. It grew quickly to become a multi-billion-dollar industry.
Microgaming’s first online progressive slot game, Cash Splash, was released in 1997. Players from the United States were a significant portion of online gambling. Senator John Kyl (Republican from Arizona) began drafting legislative bills to ban online gambling. However, the Internet Online Gambling Prohibition Act was not passed, and Americans continued to love online gambling.
Betting.
Other players worldwide joined the internet casino train in the late 1990s, including Argentina and the UK territories Gibraltar, Isle of Man and Isle of Man. These countries launched online sports betting websites. In addition, the British Channel Islands had legalized online betting by 2001. Later that year, there was a push for the legalization of internet gambling in the UK.
The 2005 UK Gambling Act was passed. It was a huge boon to the online casino industry. To oversee the enforcement of regulations for online gambling sites, including licensing them and precluding underage gambling, ensuring fairness accreditation of software, and reporting on monthly payout percentages, the UK Gambling Commission was established. It is also responsible for investigating and prosecuting illegal gambling. The UK’s oversight of internet gambling is considered a model for other countries looking to regulate online gambling.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was a bill that attempted to ban Americans from betting online. US legislators passed it in October 2006. Bill Frist, the then-Senate Majority Leader (Republican from Tennessee), attached the bill as a “must-pass” bill on Port Security. This bill aimed to fight global terrorism and claimed that offshore companies used online gambling proceeds to finance terrorism. Before the act was to be enforced, new legislation was created that allowed US citizens to play online gambling. Although it passed the committee, it is unclear when the House or Senate will adopt it. This means that US online gamblers are currently in a grey area of the law. However, public sentiment is growing in favor of legalizing online gambling in the US.
