Top 10 Online Casinos

Rushmore Casino is at number one on our list of top 10 online casinos, and they offer new players a bonus of 100% and up to $888 free in incentives. It is the top choice of gamers for online gambling fun. If you are serious about top customer service and having a variety of games to choose from, do visit Rushmore Casino online today.

Rushmore Casino uses the famous RealTimeGaming Software, and they have over ninety games available, including the fantastic Reel Series slots games. Rushmore has a payout percentage of 97.8%, which is one of the industry’s highest. You can expect 24/7 top customer support and speedy payouts.

At number two on our list of top 10 online casinos, we have InterCasino that has great bonus deals on offer. They offer new players a chance of getting 100 dollars free with their first 100 dollar deposit. Newcomers simply have to download the software and register to be eligible for this offer. After that they also offer you a 100-dollar bonus for a 100-dollar deposit every month, which means over a thousand dollars free bonuses per year!

InterCasino has been voted the top online casino in 2003 and every year following that up to 2006. This is certainly one of the best online casinos available and a safe option to try out. In addition to their great bonuses, they also have a spectacular variety of games, and afford you the opportunity to chat online with other gamers.

InterCasino has excellent customer service that never fails to treat you like a VIP during your visit. They offer some of the best odds out there with their payout percentage of 98.5%. You can expect round the clock customer support in English, Deutsche and Espanol, as well as prompt payouts. They have a loyalty program and offer multi-player games with chat facilities.

When players voted for their top 10 online casinos, Super Slots Casino came in at number three. New players can expect to get 100 dollars free when they deposit their first 100 dollars. You also get the chance to get the welcome bonus twice when you play regularly on their site.

Super Slots Casino have a Monday Mania promotion where you stand a chance to win a thousand dollars in extra prizes when you play one of your favorite games. They also have similar promotions over the weekend for gamers that choose to play some of their favorite slot games on Saturdays and Sundays.

Super Slots Casino offers Unique Casino Software and A+ customer support. They have more than 65 games available as well as a host of continuous promotions. They offer an average payout percentage of 94.42% and are licensed by the Government of Bubuda and Antigua. Expect to find all your favorite table games as well as traditional slots and flash games here.

Are Online Sportsbooks And Casinos Legal?

Internet casinos and sportsbooks have grown immensely in popularity over the past several years. From playing cards to betting on the Super Bowl to playing roulette, you can literally have Las Vegas in the comfort of your own home. However, is it legal to gamble online?

The answer is, yes and no. Currently, the law stipulates that online gambling is illegal, but given the fact that most online casinos continue to operate unfettered, it might seem that it is in fact legal to run an online betting or casino business.

What forms of gambling are available online? Well, you can play poker and other card games, you can bet on sports, or you can play games of chance, such as roulette, craps, etc.

Betting on sports seems like a perfectly legitimate form of online betting – the computer does not control who wins a pro football game. Games of chance should probably be prohibited. A computerized roulette wheel can easily be fixed, resulting in a few winning bets, but enough losing spins to insure the house wins.

So, of these activities, which ones are legal? According to the Wire Wager Act, betting on sports is the only form of online wagering that is illegal. The Wire Wager Act reads as follows:

“Whoever being engaged in the business of betting or wagering knowingly uses a wire communication facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets or wagers, or information assisting in the placement of bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest, or for the transmission of a wire communication which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or wagers, or for information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years or both.”

This means that it is illegal for American based internet companies to accept bets on sports or other “contests.” However, most online gambling enterprises have moved their operations offshore to countries in Central America and other countries around the world. It is common for most of these companies to be incorporated in places like Antigua or the Caribbean islands. PartyPoker, the most popular website for playing poker for money online, is licensed and regulated by the Government of Gibraltar.

Online sportsbooks, often run by Americans offshore, still accept bets from Americans, and this is where the problem arises. Americans are the biggest betters, and most of the income stream for online sports betting comes from American wagers. These companies usually provide wire instructions to the gamblers so that the player can wire money into a pre-funded betting account before they can begin wagering.

So, the question is, is it legal for an offshore company to run their business offshore but still accept bets from the United States, where online sports betting is technically illegal? Yes and no. Theoretically it is illegal, but it is very difficult to compel an online sports betting service to shut itself down if they operate under the laws of a foreign government where it is legal.

It is been very difficult for the Department of Justice to enforce the Wire Wager Act when it comes to offshore companies, and the offshore betting business continues to get bigger and bigger. In 1998, the sum total of all internet wagers was estimated at $600 million, and has grown by 10 or more times that between then and the year 2006.

The Wire Wager Act was upheld when the U.S. Supreme Court, during 2001 and 2002, refused to review the conviction of Jay Cohen, who had been running an internet sportsbook based in Antigua. And, even though the Department of Justice has said in recent years that that the Wire Wager Act also declares online casino games, not just sports betting, to be illegal, the Federal Appeals Court has ruled that that interpretation is not correct.

However, in July of 2006, everything changed. On a vote of 317-93, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to ban financial payments to offshore casinos as part of the The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 H.R. 4411. The legislation also compels banks and credit card companies to cut off payments to the estimated 2,300 gambling sites located outside of U.S. jurisdiction. This legislation bans all forms of internet gambling, including card games and sportsbetting.

Ultimately, the U.S. Government is just trying to protect betters from getting screwed by online casinos that accept bets over the internet but do not pay out when someone wins. However, it does not seem fair to allow major casinos that operate in Las Vegas and Atlantic City to have a monopoly on the betting industry.

Online casinos and sports betting over the internet should be permitted. The United States simply needs to implement a system whereby the online casino industry is regulated, making it mandatory for these companies to disclose the details of their operations and apply for a casino or sportsbook license.

What Will Barack Obama Do About Online Casinos?

Millions of people eagerly viewed the recent American election. Millions of people in millions of countries stayed up late to get the result of this landmark election. Barack Obama and John McCain had worked around the clock. They had debated, they had argued, they had spent countless dollars trying to convince the American people – the Joe plumbers, the hockey moms – to tick their box in the voting booth. After the votes were counted, only one man walked out onto the stage the winner. He was Barack Obama. Many have speculated why Obama finally won. In the end, he promised change and after two terms of George W. Bush, it was what the American public, and the world, wanted. 

Barack Obama promises a different approach to politics and a confident press conference recently suggested he was going to keep to the script that got him elected. He told journalists his actions for his first months as president. Obama set out his aims for economic revival, stimulus packages and troop withdrawal from Iraq. It’s questionable whether many reporters in the group had questions concerning online gaming.  Indeed, the 44th president probably has bigger things on his mind. He is the new representative of the American people after all.

When the issues surrounding the recession, the war and fossil fuels have subsided though, the issue of online gaming will find its way into the Whitehouse. Obama’s call on online casinos will choose the fate of gaming in the US. The most important question left remaining is what will the President decide to do; to allow online casinos to operate in the US, or not?  While the 2006 Safe Port Act prevents online gamers from wagering money on online casinos, there are some positive omens that an Obama presidency may overturn the law introduced by the outgoing president, George W. Bush.

But, there are signs of hope for online gaming players. Comments made in the past from Obama hints he’d study the pros and cons of legalising online casinos across the United States. Asked a question by reporters during his election bid, Obama said that he could see the opportunities a regulated online casino industry could bring.  Although Obama hasn’t declared that he’d reinstate online casinos in the USA, his statement has heartened many players and online operators alike.  Obama’s comments from an appearance in Las Vegas, that online casinos was a good economic factor, gave more joy to online casinos wishing to play in America again.

American players shouldn’t be too eager to log onto their nearest online casino though Obama has told a number of reporters that he’s not the biggest supporter of online casino gaming. When a president, voted into the Whitehouse on a wave of change, talks to a newspaper and explains that online casino gaming can have devastating ethical and social costs, online casino companies hoping to run their casinos in America shouldn’t start buying up domain names. He’s also had a track of anti-casino voting, blocking the increase of the Illinois gaming  arena in 1999.

A lot of online casino companies will be troubled by Barack Obama’s wavering opinion on the issue of internet casinos. Although, a President can often change his mind and there may be a possibility for online casinos in America. A possibility, but don’t start dreaming of chips and cards at the moment.

As an occasional poker player, Obama is known for his calm poker game. As a member of the Senate, Obama often indulged in games of poker. He never bet huge amounts, rarely bluffed, and always kept his hand close to his chest. Could there be any similarities between his playing and presidential methods If you ask Obama about his opinions on online casinos, will he just glance at his cards and smiles?

 Given the scale of Democratic gains in The Senate, Obama should have no problems passing a law to allow internet casinos. Whether he will is another matter altogether.  The regulation of online casinos has been seen to provide a large of tax revenue for other countries; battling against a faltering economy and seeing a strong possibility of recession the USA, will Barack Obama be able to give a good reason for keeping the law on online gaming, purely because of  any possible moral protests he may have? No one really knows until Obama starts his presidency in dark nights of January. Until Inauguration Day, American casinos will have little option but to lie back and pray to the gaming gods for a successful throw of the die.