How is online gambling different in the US and Canada?

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The USA and Canada don’t just share the same continent. Their cultures, traditions, even their affection towards sports and games of luck are similar. Thus, online gambling falls in this basket, too.

But the shared enthusiasm for online gambling isn’t enough to say that these two countries are equals in this field. What drives the knife in and cuts them apart are their laws. The US and Canada are federations with both federal and state/provincial gambling laws; however – they differ drastically.

Namely, Canada doesn’t allow hosting an online gambling site but has no problem with offshore betting or playing online games. And the US regards it quite the opposite.

So what do these two neighbors have in common, and where do they part ways when it comes to online gambling? Read on to discover how online gambling is different in the US and Canada.

The Legality of Online Gambling

One of the most researched questions is whether online gambling is legal in the US. This can be considered a tricky question considering the number of Acts passed which regulate this matter.

One of the more famous ones is the Wire Act from 1961, which banned certain types of gambling. However, because it didn’t expressly prohibit online gambling, in 2011, it was decided that this extends only to sports betting. This ultimately made it possible for states to individually make a decision on the legalization of gambling.

Today, the US allows online gambling. Or better said, the federal law legalized online gambling but left the details to the states. So, if you’re thinking of gambling through the Internet in the US, you first have to check what the state gambling law allows and prohibits.

Another thing to remember is that although online gambling is legal inside the US, that isn’t the case for offshore web gambling!

On the other hand, there is Canada and its laws. The legal hierarchy is the same but yields different results. In other words, online gambling inside Canada is prohibited, but the act itself is not. This means that you can place bets or play online games in any offshore web casino.

The reason for this is that the Government of Canada doesn’t issue licenses which makes gambling on its territory legal. But, there is a slight catch here!

Kahnawake – a Mohawk territory in Canada, established the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, which licenses gambling on Mohawk territory. Considering that this is a sovereign territory, best online casinos Canada players can access are based right here.

Online Casino – a Yay or a Nay

In Canada, you can gamble in online casinos from any province. However, in the US, there are states that prohibit gambling in an online casino. Here is a list of  states where online casinos are legal:

• Nevada,
• Delaware,
• New Jersey,
• Connecticut,
• Pennsylvania (joined 2017),
• West Virginia (joined 2019),
• Michigan (joined 2021).

Online Sportsbooks – To Bet or Not to Bet

Online sportsbooks are different but they are worth to be mentioned here, mainly because of their effect on the online gambling industry.

As an example, we can consider Canada. There are some different rules from those applied to online casinos. In 2021, single-game sports betting became legal in this country and this is a huge step for the whole online gambling world in the Great White North.