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What is Offshore Online Gambling |
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Saturday, 02 June 2007 |
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Offshore online gambling has become a very popular pass time. These internet casinos and poker sites are able to evade the government with a modern-business strategy called offshoring. They are set up in places like the UK or Gibraltar where they are regulated, pay small tax bills and rake in the profits from the wave of poker popularity. Over one and two million players (over 70% of them from the US) take their chances at internet poker.
Online poker brings in billions of dollars a year and the amount is increasing every day. These online gambling sites are technically illegal, but many participate and few, if any, have seen adverse affects in the way of law enforcement. When the World Series of Poker is held in Las Vegas, over two thirds of the participating players qualify for the position at an online site. Online poker sites advertise offline as well as online, using magazines, and TV as a platform. In 2003, the Justice Department asked the media companies to stop accepting ads from offshore online gambling sites. These sites have figured a way around this, they advertise the sites as educational where players use an imaginary bankroll. Once at the offshore online gambling site, a player can choose to use real money to play the featured games. Full Tilt Poker and Ultimate Bet, have sponsored shows on Fox Sports.Washington is not impressed by the popularity of online poker. The federal government says internet gambling violates three federal antigambling laws. Although offshore internet gambling is against U.S. law, the government is too busy fighting drugs and terrorism to do much about internet gambling. Big business has gotten into this lucrative moneymaker by investing in the offshore online gambling sites. The return on investment is through the roof, as the poker industry is growing every day. |
