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Brief History of Internet Gambling

If we are to look at the history of gambling in the United States of America, we notice several ups and downs in its advancement. The public has known to have shifted its sentiments from accepting it wholeheartedly to prohibiting it equally vociferously.

Gambling was practiced in the early years in the U.S., mainly in the form of lotteries, until it was completely prohibited in the 1890’s. About four decades late, however, gambling surged a comeback and was fully legalized in Nevada in 1931. It provided the native gamblers with an opportunity to place their bets.

Las Vegas remained the primary location for legal gambling until the 1970’s. In the meantime, varied forms of casinos such as the riverboat and Indian reservation casinos began to be legalized. Today, gambling has evolved to the point that at least some form of gambling is legal in all but two states. Most importantly, though revenues from gambling are higher then the revenues from theme parks, video games, movie tickets, and music recordings combined.

With the advent of the Internet and the introduction of high-tech technology, it was hardly surprising to see the surge of online gambling in the World Wide Web. Though internet gambling is a relatively recent phenomenon, it has exploded in a way that few industries ever do.

The first online casino commenced in 1995 offering eighteen online games. Since then there has been no looking back and the industry has boomed at an immensely fast rate. It is believed that an estimated 30 million gamblers visited internet gambling sites in July of 2005 alone. It is believed that the industry has grown from $1 billion in profits in 1997 to an immense $10.9 billion in 2006.

This online phenomenon has truly revolutionized gambling. It has provided gamblers the unique opportunity to place wagers on all sorts of games and events from the comfort of their home.