Online Casino Rules in 5 Locations Around the World

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The rules about online gambling around the world are complex. While gambling is banned outright in some countries or regions, other countries allow online gambling, either with or without licenses. Here’s a closer look at the online casino rules in five locations around the world.

Online casinos have increased the overall popularity of gambling across the globe, as the internet makes it more accessible to people. The online gambling market is worth more than $70 billion globally each year.

The complexities of online gambling come from the various laws, rules, and regulations different countries have in place. While a country may have specific rules about gambling, individuals can access online casino websites from around the world. So how do people know what they are and aren’t allowed to do when it comes to accessing and playing online casinos?

In general, an individual should follow the online gambling rules of the country they are either a resident in, or currently in when they play an online casino game. In theory, individuals should only be able to access online gambling websites that they can legally play on from the country they are in. This is because unlicensed or illegal gambling websites can be blocked if they should not be played according to a specific country’s rules. Sometimes it is not possible for the authorities to block certain online casinos, which is why individuals should also have an understanding of the online gambling rules in their country.

Here are the rules and regulations in relation to online casinos in five locations of the world.

1. United Kingdom

All online casinos in the United Kingdom are regulated by the Gambling Commission, which was created in response to the Gambling Act 2005. As online gambling is legal in the United Kingdom, anyone in that country can play on an online casino, as long as it has a license. This means that British or foreign online casino companies can provide online casino services to people in the UK, as long as they have the relevant license.

The Gambling Commission website allows prospective online casino players to search for companies that have a gambling business license. This means that customers in the UK can be sure they are playing on an online casino that is legitimately allowed to operate across the four countries of the UK.

2. Sweden

In Sweden, state-owned gambling operators controlled gambling for many years. This all changed with the Gambling Act in 2019, which allowed any online casino to apply for a license in order to operate in Sweden. Although online gambling became legal in Sweden in 2002, online gamblers could not take advantage of the many global websites available for online casino games. Since the new Gambling Act came into play, it is now possible for people in Sweden to access any licensed foreign casino (utländska casino) operating in the country.

3. Canada

The rules of gambling in North America generally are quite complex. For example, gambling is still totally banned in some states of the United States. Each state essentially creates its own rules for gambling and online gambling. In Canada, the rules are a little easier to understand, although there are still some differences in gambling rules between the 10 Canadian provinces.

In Canada, online gambling is only allowed if a company is either owned or licensed by one of these provincial governments. This means you have to know what companies are licensed in the province you are actually in when you want to play an online casino game. Each provincial government has awarded different companies with a license.

4. Australia

Gambling rules are quite tough in Australia in general, and the Interactive Gambling Act (2001) makes the rules around online casinos quite clear. The rules simply state that it is illegal for companies to provide online casino services to someone who is in Australia. Essentially, any game of chance played over the internet is prohibited to anyone physically located in the country.

The rules go further to state that Australian based companies cannot provide interactive gambling services to customers in other specific countries.

5. China

All gambling in China has been illegal since 1949, and this includes all online gambling. The only official gambling that takes place in China itself are two state-run lotteries. In 2018, the government in China also banned all online poker games that could previously be accessed through apps on smartphones.

Although gambling remains illegal in mainland China, neighboring Hong Kong and Macau have legalized gambling operations. In fact, Macau is known as the world’s largest gambling hub, generating US$27.9 billion in gambling revenue each year. Despite this, online or interactive gambling is considered to be a separate entity from in-person gambling in Macau’s casinos. Under these rules, this means that online gambling is actually against the law in Macau too.

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