Gambling in the United States

Gambling, often referred to as "gaming", had 2005 gross revenues of $84.65 billion, and thrives in the United States despite being restricted.

Proponents of gambling in the United States say it provides valuable tax revenue and job opportunities. Commercial casinos provided over 354,000 jobs, and yearly state and local tax revenue of $5.2 billion as of 2006. Some community groups oppose gambling because they say it leads to corruption, compulsive gambling, and higher crime rates.

Authorized forms

Many levels of government have authorized multiple forms of gambling: everything from bingo games in church basements, to multi-million dollar poker tournaments. The American Gaming Association breaks gambling down into the following categories:

• Card Rooms, both public and private
• Commercial Casinos
• Charitable Games and Bingo
• Indian Casinos
• Legal Bookmaking
• Lotteries
• Pari-mutuel Wagering

Legality

Gambling is legal under US federal law, but the states are free to regulate or prohibit it. If state-run lotteries are included, almost every state can be said to allow some form of gambling. However, casino-style gambling is much less widespread.

Nevada is the only state where casino-style gambling is legal statewide, although the state and local governments both impose 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 Tunica, Mississippi) or to Native American reservations (some of which are conveniently located in or near large cities). As sovereign nations, Native American 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 multistory barges that more often than not are permanently moored in a body of water.

One notable exception to US policy is in the area of online gambling. The Federal Wire Act of 1961 outlawed interstate wagering on sports but did not address other forms of gambling and has been the subject of court challenges. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (part of the SAFE Port Act) did not specifically prohibit online gambling; instead, it outlawed financial transactions involving online gambling service providers. Offshore gambling providers reacted by shutting down their services for US customers.