America casino

In the United States, gambling is subject to a variety of legal restrictions. In , gambling activities generated gross revenues (the difference between the total amounts wagered minus the funds or "winnings" returned to the players) of $ billion in the United States.^[1]

The American Gaming Association, an industry trade group, states that gaming in the U.S. is a $ billion industry, employing million people in 40 states.^[2] In , gaming taxes contributed $ billion in state and local tax revenues.^[3]

Critics of gambling argue it leads to increased political corruption, compulsive gambling, and higher crime rates. Others argue that gambling is a type of regressive tax on the individuals in local economies where gambling venues are located.

History[edit]

Main article: History of gambling in the United States

Authorized types[edit]

Many levels of government have authorized multiple forms of gambling in an effort to raise money for needed services without raising direct taxes. These include everything from bingo games in church basements, to multimillion-dollar poker tournaments. Sometimes states advertise revenues from certain games to be devoted to particular needs, such as education.

When New Hampshire authorized a state lottery in , it represented a major shift in social policy. No state governments had previously directly run gambling operations to raise money. Other states followed suit, and now the majority of the states run some type of lottery to raise funds for state operations. Some states restrict this revenue to specific forms of expenditures, usually oriented toward education, while others allow lottery revenues to be spent on general government. This has brought about morally questionable issues, such as states' using marketing firms to increase their market share, or to develop new programs when old forms of gambling do not raise as much money.

The American Gaming Association breaks gambling down into the following categories:^[1]

Legality[edit]

While gambling is legal under U.S. federal law, there are significant restrictions pertaining to interstate and online gambling, as each state is free to regulate or prohibit the practice within its borders.

The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of effectively outlawed sports betting nationwide, excluding a few states: however, on May 14, , the United States Supreme Court declared the entire law unconstitutional (Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association).

If state-run lotteries are included, then 48 states allow some form of gambling (the exceptions are Hawaii, where gambling was outlawed prior to statehood, and Utah, which has a Latter-day Saint majority population and also bans gambling in the state constitution).

However, casino-style gambling is much less widespread. Federal law provides leeway for Native American Trust Land to be used for games of chance if an agreement is put in place between the state and the tribal government (e.g. a "Compact" or "Agreement") under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of

As of , Louisiana and Nevada are the only states in which casino-style gambling is legal statewide, with both state and local governments imposing licensing and zoning restrictions. All other states that allow casino-style gambling restrict it to small geographic areas (e.g., Atlantic City, New Jersey or Deadwood, South Dakota), or to American Indianreservations, some of which are located in or near large cities.

As domestic dependent nations, American Indian tribes have used legal protection to open casinos, which has been a contentious political issue in California and other states. In some states, casinos are restricted to "riverboats", large multi-story barges that are permanently moored in a body of water.

Online gambling has been more strictly regulated: the Federal Wire Act of outlawed interstate wagering on sports, but did not address other forms of gambling; it has been the subject of court cases. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of (UIGEA) did not specifically prohibit online gambling; instead, it outlawed financial transactions involving online gambling service providers—some offshore gambling providers reacted by shutting down their services for US customers.

Other operators, however, have continued to circumvent UIGEA and have continued to service US customers. For this reason, UIGEA has received criticism from notable figures within the gambling industry.^[4]