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Whether gambling online or off, the most important question players must ask themselves before placing a bet is “Can I win?” Assuming the operation is legitimate, as most are nowadays, the next question is “How much can I win?” Most casino table games have caps on their payouts. Even the most rewarding slot machines limit their top combinations to a few thousand times the initial wager.

In the early days of online gambling, the biggest prizes anyone could win over the Internet were state sponsored lotteries. Essentially, the web sites that sold entries were just clearing houses for existing terrestrial sweepstakes. But in 1998, that situation changed as Microgaming introduced the Internet’s first “progressive jackpot slot.” It was called “Cash Splash,” and it featured three reels with a single payline.

Read More >> Reel Money Maker

The introduction of casino-type games online required a skip and a jump, compared to the world’s quick hop into Internet sports betting. Dealers had to be replaced by reliable software. Secure random-number generators had to be adopted from slot machine technology to enable virtual cards to be shuffled. And graphic interfaces had to be designed to make play enjoyable.

From the relative safety and anonymity of offshore locations, some operators decided to bypass these necessary steps and create games rigged to cheat players out of their bets. In 1996, only 15 web sites were accepting real money for virtual roulette, blackjack and other table games. One year later, more than 200 such sites appeared, many of which were fly-by-night operations seeking easy prey. Their “business model” was to strike fast, close up quickly and disappear before authorities could be alerted to find them.

Read More >> The Games people Play

Opportunities to play and win online have certainly attracted increasing attention and wagers. Among these, sport betting was one of the very first and is still extremely popular.

The earliest online “sportsbooks” were simply an extension of off-track betting shops. New York’s Capital OTB, for example, began using a “virtual tote board” to post race track odds on in 1996. In the beginning, bettors still had to use telephones to place their wagers, but the Internet did make it possible to disseminate betting information and to broadcast races far beyond state borders.

Read More >> A Sporting Chance

Originally based in Atlanta, Georgia, Realtime Gaming is a developer of online gaming applications that operates out of Costa Rica. Its products are among the most popular on the Internet, including the “Real Series” of slot machine-type games. Of the top five software providers, Realtime Gaming alone allows its online casino operators to accept business from players in the USA.

Whether or not Realtime Gaming is a champion of Internet freedom may be open to debate, but there can be little doubt that the company has a shrewd instinct for business. They are willing to gamble that the UIGEA is an unenforceable law. No single country alone—not even the mighty United States—can stop offshore transfers of money via bank wires, checks, Western Union, Money Gram, and prepaid credit cards. Realtime Gaming’s reward for taking a risk with American players has been a disproportionate share of the U.S. online gambling market, still estimated at $5.9 billion per annum despite the UIGEA.

Read More >> A Matter of Freedom (and Money)

The timing of Carruthers’ arrest was not at all random. In mid-2006, a new law was making its way through the U.S. legislature that would effectively prohibit Americans from gambling online. Arresting Carruthers helped gain the support needed to push the bill through the Senate in September. The very next month, on Friday the 13th, President George W. Bush signed the “Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act” (UIGEA) into law.

The UIGEA banned American financial institutions from processing any transaction with an online gambling operator. There were special exceptions for horseracing, state-run lotteries, and fantasy sports, but it forced many publicly traded online casinos, sportsbooks and poker sites to stop taking bets from American players.

Read More >> Yankee Stay Home