It’s been over two decades now since casinos have found their way into the internet. It was in the 90s when the first online casino with an integrated payment solution became available to the general public. This changed the gambling industry and how people gamble forever.
Fast forward to today, and there are now thousands of online casino operators out there that offer its services in different countries. Some of the countries that gamble the most include the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, and Canada.
Now, the United States and Canada are neighboring countries that are plenty of similarities between the two. However, there are still some differences that are worth pointing out including how each of their gambling industries is thriving.
Gambling in Canada
Canada is one of the countries that are known to be polite and open-minded. When it comes to online gambling, the locals have a knack for it. This is even though it is still illegal to locally operate a local casino in the country. The best online casinos in Canada are usually based offshore, and this is because Canadians are not prohibited from placing their bets over there.
Generally, gambling is already legal in the country. Most forms of gambling are already legal in Canada, but when it comes to online casinos, the law is still in the gray area. Based on Canada’s Criminal Code, only government-run online casinos are allowed to operate in the country. This is why many locals would rely on offshore casinos and even illegal gambling operations.
It is estimated that Canadians would spend over 13 billion US dollars each year on gambling activities. A big chunk from that accounts for the online sector, and it simply means that Canada is losing a lot of potential revenues.
When it comes to sports betting, only parlay bets are allowed and single-event sports bets are still prohibited. If you’re in Canada and you’d like to bet on your favorite sports events without any limitation, then your only option is to find the best offshore bookies.
However, Canadians may be able to place their bets locally soon because in November of last year, Bill C-13 was presented and this would amend the Criminal Code which has prohibited the local operations of online casinos in Canada. If this bill passes, each territory or province in the country has the right to decide on whether they would like to legalize and regulate local online casinos.
Since the process is on its way, there is a chance that Canadians will be able to place their sports bets on local casinos before this year ends. And if it passes this year, it probably won’t be too long before Canada also looks into regulating online casinos the way the United Kingdom does.
Gambling in the United States
Now, when it comes to how gambling is regulated in the US, there are still similarities with Canada. However, the US is more welcoming when it comes to online gambling as you can legally play real money games and place your bets online on a USA online casino.
There are states in the US where online casinos can legally operate like Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. This means that there are states where the locals don’t have to turn to offshore casino sites to gamble.
When it comes to sports betting, this is becoming widespread in the country. In May 2018, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992 was overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States. This allowed each state the country to decide on whether they would like to regulate local sports betting within their borders.
Since then, many states have already legalized local sports betting including the states of New Jersey, Oregon, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Colorado, and many more. The only state with legal sports betting that still doesn’t allow online gambling in New York, but this might change shortly too.
Anyhow, more states are following suit and in the coming years, the majority of the states in the US are most likely going to allow online sports betting. So far, only the state of Utah seems to have no interest in doing this.
Conclusion And so, it appears that the US is ahead of Canada when it comes to online gambling. However, Canada is willing to look into the direction that the US is heading when it comes to this. Overall, both Canadians and Americans are allowed to gamble offshore if there are any restrictions in place within a state, province, or city. This just shows how online gambling is still somehow in the grey area for both countries but both are also already starting to clear things up a bit.
