Online gambling has become one of the favorite pastimes for people from all over the globe in the last several years. The activity itself made a significant boom in Europe first but we have been witnessing the huge rise of the niche across the Atlantic in the last couple of years. The reason behind this is the fact the American Supreme Court has abolished PASPA, a law that strictly prohibited gambling in the United States. The whole industry is not subject to federal laws but is rather overseen by local governments of each state individually. Some states have reacted promptly following the PASPA repeal, while others are still slow to fully embrace the pastime.
As an addition to everything written in the initial paragraph, it is logical to expect there are some differences between online casinos in the United States and Europe. We are about to break them down in the next several lines.
Law
Legal distinctions are the biggest cause of the differences between online casinos in Europe and the United States. Despite the recent PASPA repeal, the Americans will have to be patient to get rid of the numerous gambling restrictions in a solid number of states. Online casinos are much more common in Europe. Although the laws are different from one country to another there as well, you can still hit the reels on an online casino on a big part of the continent, regardless of the location (obviously with some exceptions). This can’t be said for the USA, though.
In the United States, you can visit sites such as AmericaGambles from anywhere in the country, but you can only register to online casinos that can be found there only if you are a resident of a state that has regulated online gambling. So, law restrictions are still a huge obstacle for most Americans. Gambling, in general, is considered a luxury in the USA because you usually need to travel across the whole country to reach places such as Atlantic City or Las Vegas to meet your desires. It works the same for online casinos as you can’t deposit any money to any legal online casino if you are not physically located within the borders of a state that has embraced the activity.
Gambling advertising
Another significant difference between Europe and America lies in advertising. Since online betting and casinos are much more common in most European countries, their governments allow sports betting and online casino operators to advertise. If you watch a regular soccer game (i.e. UEFA Champions League or English Premier League) on popular European television, you’ll find a bunch of sports betting/casino advertisements during the halftime. The industry has reached a whole new level and some casino operators have agreed to be shown on the big screen whenever a goal is scored in a match.
Most US states are still reluctant to embrace online casinos to such as extent. You will thus mainly see food commercials (such as McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King, etc) during the crunch NBA or NFL affair. Online casinos won’t be there.
Gameplay
In terms of the overall gameplay, it is hard to recognize a significant difference between European and US online casinos. Most of them offer the same range of games. Slots represent a formidable force at any online casino, while blackjack and roulette dominate table games departments. You’ll find many more American Roulette variations at a US-based online casino, but this is only a minor distinction in terms of the big picture.
To sum it all up, the main differences are still related to gambling laws. Online gambling has, however, flourished in the United States in the last few years and we only expect it to grow further in the years to come.
