Anyone who enjoys gambling has asked the question: is online gambling legal in the United States? The simple answer: internet gambling laws in the United States continue to be very unclear. The latest on gambling laws is that there is no federal law in the United States that prevents private citizens online gambling, related activities or receiving online gambling payouts.

Professionals have noted that internet gambling is completely legal in the United States because there is no federal statute or regulation that prohibits it. This sentiment is reinforced by the fact that estimates have shown over seventy percent of all online wages come from U.S. based accounts and that United States citizens make up over eighty percent of online poker players and take part in over fifty-five percent of other online gaming activities.

Unfortunately, internet gambling laws aren't this simple and straightforward. There are individual state laws that make gambling online illegal and can affect those who want to play online. Therefore, we are back to the question: is internet gambling legal in the United States? The answer now becomes a matter of which state you live in and what states allow internet gambling.

The most notable recent internet gambling laws is the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (H.R. 4411). This act was put into effect to prohibit online gambling at a federal level. At one time online gambling wasn't a problem in the U.S. legislation. Until this act is enforced, the legality of online gambling largely depends on the state in which you live. Nevada, Louisiana, Michigan and Illinois all have laws making gambling online illegal and many other states are in the process of introducing their own legislation. California, Massachusetts, South Dakota and Utah have certain legislation that outlaw only certain types of online gambling.

Often states will put outlaw online gambling in order to protect brick-and-mortar casinos. The thinking behind this concept is the fact that online casinos don't have to be based in the United States so there is no way for the state and federal government to tax them. This happened recently when the Commonwealth of Kentucky seized 141 gambling site URLs and would not allow residents of Kentucky to use them. The focus of these efforts is to keep U.S. money in the U.S. to keep the industry lucrative and taxable.

Why is there so much focus on online gambling payouts? Online gambling is one of the few industries booming during these economically uncertain times. Now that everyone is becoming financially unstable, everyone wants a piece of the money coming in from online gambling. It is the same concept behind the closure of Indian casinos in places like Florida where they can't be taxed. Other states like Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Colorado are starting to legalize and tax non-tribal casinos in an effort to get a part of the money associated with these casinos.

For a listing of online casinos currently accepting US players be sure to click here for a full listing. Note though that these online casinos are not regulated by the US goverment but are currently the most trusted and reputable online casinos that accept US players!