Abstract
Despite the recent proliferation of legal online casino in the Unites states, offshore casino sites still remain prevalent, causing various problems in the U. S. Although numerous law violations occur in this domain, before research has reported limited information about nhà cái thabet offshore casino, mostly focusing on offshore gamblers’ characteristics and motivations. Using routine activities theory, this study attemptedto understand environmental and theoretical factors that affect the use of offshore sites by focusing on offshore gambling-generating contexts that involve offshore sites and online casino reviews. Major findings show that the online visibility of offshore sites may be a key predictor of the use of the sites by U. S. players. In addition, online casino reviews providing a blacklist of online casino sites served as informal parents, helping players avoid unreliable offshore casino sites that pose a risk to their customers. Policy significances were suggested based on the findings and provided insights toward effective online casino regulatory efforts.
Keywords: Illegal online casino, Offshore casino, Cybercrime, Online casino reviews, Routine activities theory, Structure equation modeling
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Introduction
The U. S. has recently experienced the relaxation of casino prohibitions (both off-line and online). Internet casino has historically been federally restricted in the U. S., yet its permits can be issued on the state level. Indeed, a growing number of states have recently legalized online casino. Only a few states, including Nevada, Delaware, and Nj, offered certain forms of legal online casino before the first half of 2018; however, a proliferation of legal online sports playing across the states, caused by the repeal of the former federal ban on interstate sports playing in 2018, has expanded the legal online casino market in many parts of the country. Legal online casino is now available in more than twenty states in 2023 (“States that offer, ” n. d. ).
Despite the recent expansion of legal online casino market in the U. S., the ‘black market’ of online casino sites continue to benefit from American players. The American Gaming Association (AGA)’s report in 2019 showed that approximately $150 billion worth of bets placed by Americans went to illegal sports playing operations each year (p. 7). Furthermore, its survey on U. S. sports bettors in 2020 reported that the number of U. S. players using offshore online sports playing sites increased 24% in states where sports playing is not yet legalized and even 3% in legal states from a year ago (American Gaming Association, 2020). These illegal online casino sites do not hold a valid license issued by casino authorities in the united states but can be accessible from the U. S. regardless of their base and legitimacy in other jurisdictions (Gainsbury et ing., 2018). Most of these sites are known as offshore casino sites that operate outside the U. S., but tend to accept gambling bets from customers who reside in the jurisdictions where their operating license is not valid (Gainsbury, Abarbanel, & Blaszczynski, 2019; Schmidt-Kessen et ing., 2019).
Offshore casino sites are a major concern for local governments (Gainsbury et ing., 2013, 2019). As they are not governed by the regulations set by the U. S. casino authorities, offshore sites are mostly free from any obligation required on operators licensed within U. S. beds and borders. For instance, they are more unlikely that than domestic/regulated ones to provide robust consumer protections or encourage responsible casino practices (Gainsbury et ing., 2019; Gainsbury, Parke &Suhonen, 2013). Also, they don’t need to abide by federal anti-money laundering compliance requirements and other financial obligations (e. gary the gadget guy., local taxes and licensing fees) required by U. S. casino authorities. At the same time, the fact that most offshore sites are within “tax location countries” allows them not fair competitive advantages over domestic operators; specifically, such financial evasion enables them to maintain their operation with lower costs, offer customers higher probability and better services, and provide more features as well as a greater variety of gaming options (Gainsbury et ing., 2018, 2019). Therefore, the entrenchment of offshore casino entities is a serious threat that poses a potential risk to players, compromises the value of domestic, legal, taxpaying gaming entities, and harms the local economy.
