The law applies to all types of online real money games in Casinos, including betting variants, games of skill and card games.
Online casinos in USA
The US online gaming legislation underwent a major change in 2018 with the adoption of the so-called Gambling Act (from 2019). For the first time in the history of the US Confederation, licenses for online gaming can be obtained from private companies. Previously, online casino games and gambling in general were governed by the Federal Gambling Act of 1998, which specifically states that the use of an electronic communications network such as the Internet for the organization of games of chance is not permitted.
The licensing system for online casinos is the responsibility of the Federal Casino Commission under applicable law. A land-based casino license is required for a US online gaming license. Only companies that operate a stationary casino can apply for a license extension as part of a public license. The maximum number of online gambling licenses that can be granted is currently set at 21. However, it is also possible for a company to enter into a joint venture or to acquire a stake in a company with a US online gaming license and process its Swedish players through this company.
"On 1. January 2019 the new federal law on gambling came into force."
Legal gambling
Since 2018, unlicensed online casinos have been blocked by ISPs (Internet Service Providers). However, individual players who play in unlicensed online casinos will not be fined or prosecuted. Even so, it's illegal and we definitely don't recommend it.
Interestingly, before online casinos were legalized in 2018 (from 2019) there was an online casino-like website in USA, which was on the border between a real online casino and a platform for pure free-to-play casino games. US Casinos (the largest US casino group that operates the largest casino in USA and has a total of 5 US gaming venues) has set up an online gambling website where players could try out different games without having to deposit any money. The players could not play for money, but Casino Zürich offered various gifts for certain amounts of coins that could be won by playing.
The gifts included entrance tickets for the Casino Zurich, slot machine cards and various vouchers. It's interesting that this was legal and they got away with it, and it's weird that a large casino company felt the need to do something like this because it's usually smaller companies that are trying to get around the rules to make money. Since legalization they have acquired a real online gambling license and turned it into a real (but pretty bad IMO, very few games, not so great games) online casino, the first US online casino (and they have many agreements with foreign companies).
Casino tax USA: land-based gaming establishments have to pay 40% taxes on their gross gaming revenues up to $ 10 million per tax year. For every additional million francs, the tax rate increases by 0.5% up to a maximum of 80%.
Land-based casinos in USA
Gambling in USA has been legal and thoroughly regulated since 1923, much longer than online casinos. The authority responsible for overseeing casinos in USA and issuing licenses is the Federal Casino Commission. The casinos are also regulated by the Gambling Act of 2018, before that it was the Federal Gambling Act of 1998.
There are currently 21 licensed casinos in USA, which is the maximum number of licensed casinos Casinos in USA is equivalent to. Eight of these are "Class A" casinos and the other thirteen are "Class B". Each casino requires its own casino license. There are two types of gaming licenses: Casino A - the Grand Casino license without restrictions and Casino B - the Resort Casino license with various restrictions on the number of games and stakes (you can find out more about the US casino licensing system here). The maximum number of casino licenses that can be granted is 21.
Gambling on site
USA is officially a confederation consisting of 20 cantons and 6 half-cantons. Casino gambling is regulated at the federal level, but the cantons must give their consent for a land-based casino to be licensed in that canton. The minimum age for access varies between 18 and 20 years, depending on the canton. ID is required for entry and a passport for tourists.
The largest land-based casino in USA is US Casino Zurich, which is located in the country's capital. And the largest casino groups that are active in the country are: US Casinos Services AG, better known as US Casinos, with 5 casinos, the French Barriére group with 3 casinos and Casinos Austria, the gaming company of the Austrian state, the 3 of the 21 US Casinos owns.
Interestingly, the casino companies represented on the US market have not been profitable since 2007, many even have losses in the millions per month. Even with the new gaming legislation of 2018, many of them are still in the red due to the extremely high gaming taxes in USA.
Online casino tax USA: Licensed online gaming companies have to pay 20% tax on their gross gaming income of up to $ 3 million. For every additional million francs, the tax rate increases by 0.5% up to a maximum of 80%.
