Online gambling is any type of gambling conducted online. This includes casinos, online poker and virtual casinos. The first online gambling facility opened to the public, was online ticketing for the first ever Liechtenstein International Poker tournament in October 1994. Since then online gambling has grown in popularity and has developed into a multi-billion dollar business.
There are many different types of online gambling including live casino gaming, sports betting, card rooms, high stakes gambling and wagering through various websites. The most popular types of online gambling are sports betting, online casinos, card rooms, fantasy games and poker. Live online casinos are normally referred to as betting exchanges where you wager your “real money”, in other words where you risk your own money. Online sports betting and online casinos are very popular and are the most commonly used.
Many people find it easier to bet on their favorite team or in the same city as where they live rather than going to a real casino where there may not be enough funds available. Online gambling has been regulated in some countries, however this does not mean all gambling websites are completely legitimate. There are numerous stories of people being charged with fraud for online casino games, sports betting and online poker. There are a number of online gambling sites that are offshore which are based in another country such as Belize or Panama. The UK Gambling Commission recently conducted an investigation into one online gambling site in the UK which had a turnover of over one million pounds.