Gambling Rating: 5,9/10 3804 reviews
A Part of Conversation Questions for the ESL Classroom.
  1. Gambling Games
  2. Gambling Definition
  3. Gambling Game Crossword Clue
  • Do you play the lottery?
  • What kind of lottery do you play?
  • Do you play football pools?
  • Do you play slot machines?
  • How many forms of gambling as you can think of?
  • What percentage of people do you think gamble?
  • What do you think is the most amount of money that different people loose? E.g. An average person or a big gambler?
  • Do you bet? How often? What's the biggest bet you ever placed?
  • Apart from the obvious financial problem what other consequences can occur as a result of excessive gambling?
  • Who suffers the most from a gambling problem?
  • Apart from the obvious reason of winning money, why do people gamble?
  • Why is gambling addictive?
  • Do you think it could be genetic?
  • What kinds of people do you think are more prone to developing a gambling problem?
  • Do you think there is gender difference?
  • At what age do people generally start gambling?
  • What's the usual age limit for gambling games?
  • Do you regard putting money in machines for prizes, at an amusement arcade, as gambling?
  • Is there such a thing as good and bad luck? If so, what is it?
  • Does luck have anything to do with winning?
  • Do you think it's possible for a gambling addict to kick the habit?
  • What help is available for addicts?
  • What techniques can you think of that may help an addicted gambler quit?
  • Should some forms of gambling be banned?
  • Do you think that those who own and run casinos are criminals or conmen?
  • Does the national lottery encourage gambling?
If you can think of another good question for this list, please add it. Thanks to Marie E. Kilcline who suggested this topic and contributed the first 32 questions in April 2008.
Copyright © 1997-2010 by The Internet TESL Journal
  • A balanced approach to betting. Since we first launched in 2000, across all our platforms,the Exchange, Sportsbook and the various updates to our app, has always been about smart betting.
  • Gambling definition is - the practice or activity of betting: the practice of risking money or other stakes in a game or bet —often used before another noun. How to use gambling in a sentence.
  • Whether you're visiting Las Vegas or just having a night out at your local casino, gambling can be an exhilarating game of chance. Usually, the odds aren't in your favor, but it is possible to increase your chances of winning. Play games with the least amount of house edge, use betting strategies, and know when to walk away.
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Gambling Law: An Overview

Gambling

Another word for gambling. Find more ways to say gambling, along with related words, antonyms and example phrases at Thesaurus.com, the world's most trusted free thesaurus.

Gambling, though widespread in the United States, is subject to legislation at both the state and federal level that bans it from certain areas, limits the means and types of gambling, and otherwise regulates the activity.

Congress has used its power under the Commerce Clause to regulate interstate gambling, international gambling, and relations between the United States and Native American territories. For example, it has passed laws prohibiting the unauthorized transportation of lottery tickets between states, outlawing sports betting with certain exceptions, and regulating the extent to which gambling may exist on Native American land.

Each state determines what kind of gambling it allows within its borders, where the gambling can be located, and who may gamble. Each state has enacted different laws pertaining to these topics. The states also have differing legal gambling ages, with some states requiring the same minimum age for all types of gambling, while for others, it depends on the activity. For example, in New Jersey, an 18-year-old can buy a lottery ticket or bet on a horse race, but cannot enter a casino until age 21. Presumably, the age 21 restriction is due to the sale of alcohol in that location.

A standard strategy for avoiding laws that prohibit, constrain, or aggressively tax gambling is to locate the activity just outside the jurisdiction that enforces them, in a more 'gambling friendly' legal environment. Gambling establishments often exist near state borders and on ships that cruise outside territorial waters. Gambling activity has also exploded in recent years in Native American territory. Internet-based gambling takes this strategy and extends it to a new level of penetration, for it threatens to bring gambling directly into homes and businesses in localities where a physical gambling establishment could not conduct the same activity.

Internet Gambling

Federal Regulation

In the 1990s, when the World Wide Web was growing rapidly in popularity, online gambling appeared to represent an end-run around government control and prohibition. A site operator needed only to establish the business in a friendly offshore jurisdiction such as the Bahamas and begin taking bets. Anyone with access to a web browser could find the site and place wagers by credit card. Confronted with this blatant challenge to American policies, the Department of Justice and Congress explored the applicability of current law and the desirability of new regulation for online gambling.

In exploring whether an offshore Internet gambling business taking bets from Americans violated federal law, attention was focused on the Wire Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1084 (2000). The operator of a wagering business is at risk of being fined and imprisoned under the Wire Act if the operator knowingly uses a 'wire communication facility' to transmit information related to wagering on 'any sporting event or contest.' 18 U.S.C. § 1084(a). An exception exists if that act is legal in both the source and destination locations of the transmission. § 1084(b). The Wire Act’s definition of “wire communication facility” appears to embrace the nation's entire telecommunications infrastructure, and therefore probably applies to online gambling. See § 1081.

The Department of Justice maintains that, under the Wire Act, all Internet gambling by bettors in the United States is illegal. U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Hearing on Establishing Consistent Enforcement Policies in the Context of Online Wagers, 110th Cong., Nov. 14, 2007 (testimony of Catherine Hanaway, U.S. Attorney (E.D. Mo.), Dept. of Justice). The Fifth Circuit disagreed, ruling that the Wire Act applies only to sports betting, not other types of gambling. In re MasterCard Int’l Inc., 313 F.3d 257 (5th Cir. 2002).

In 2006, Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which made it illegal for wagering businesses to knowingly accept payment in connection with unlawful Internet gambling (though it does not itself make Internet gambling illegal). 109 Pub. L. 109-347, Title VIII (Oct. 13, 2006) (codified at 31 U.S.C. §§ 5301, 5361–67). It also authorizes the Federal Reserve System to create regulations that prohibit financial transaction providers (banks, credit card companies, etc.) from accepting those payments. See 31 U.S.C. § 5363(4). This Act, along with threats of prosecution under the Wire Act from the Department of Justice, has caused several Internet gambling businesses to withdraw from the U.S. market.

Gambling Games

In response, House Representatives introduced multiple bills in 2007 to soften federal Internet gambling law. If passed, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act and the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act would license, regulate, and tax Internet gambling businesses rather than prohibit them from taking bets from the United States. Alternatively, the Skill Game Protection Act would clarify the Wire Act to exempt certain games such as poker and chess.

State Regulation

In addition to federal measures, some states have enacted legislation to prohibit some types of Internet gambling. In 2006, Washington State amended its Code to make knowingly transmitting or receiving gambling information over the Internet a felony. See Wash. Rev. Code § 9.46.240 (2006). Other states with similar prohibitions have made it a misdemeanor instead. See e.g., 720 ILCS 5/28-1 (2007).

States have not been particularly active in enforcing these laws, possibly due to a conflict with the dormant Commerce Clause doctrine. That doctrine theorizes that state law applying to commerce outside the state’s borders is unconstitutional because that power lies with federal, not state, government. In particular, federal preemption has obstructed states’ attempts to regulate gambling activity on Indian reservations within state borders. See Missouri ex rel. Nixon v. Coeur D’Alene Tribe, 164 F.3d 1102 (8th Cir. 1999). The federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 U.S.C. § 29 (2000), governs gambling activity on Indian reservations, but the extent to which it and other federal gambling laws preempt state action in the Internet arena is uncertain.

menu of sources

Gambling

Federal Material

U.S. Constitution and Federal Statutes

  • U.S. Code: Title 15, Chapter 24: Transportation of Gambling Devices
  • U.S. Code: Title 15, Chapter 57, Interstate Horseracing
  • U.S. Code: Title 18, Chapter 50: Gambling
  • U.S. Code: Title 18, Chapter 61: Lotteries
  • 18 U.S.C. §1953 (Interstate Transportation of Wagering Paraphernalia Act)
  • 18 U.S.C. §1955 (Illegal Gambling Business Act of 1970)
  • 25 U.S.C. §§2701-2721 (Indian Gaming Regulatory Act)
  • U.S. Code: Title 28, Chapter 178: Professional and Amateur Sports Protection
  • Code of Federal Regulations: Title 25, Chapter 3: National Indian Gaming Commission, Department of the Interior
  • Proposed Internet Gambling Prohibition Act of 1997 (not passed)

Federal Judicial Decisions

  • Greater New Orleans Broadcasting Association, Inc. v. United States, 527 U.S. 173 (1999)
  • Ratzlaf v. United States, 510 U.S. 135 (1994)
  • Chickasaw Nation v. United States, 534 U.S. 84 (1999)

State Material

Other References

Gambling Definition

  • '14 Charged in Internet Betting' (Washington Post, March 5, 1998)

Gambling Game Crossword Clue

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