A No-Holds Barred Review of Gambling Laws

Is Bovada Legit?

Bovada is well known for it’s huge online poker and sports betting network and to a lesser extent casino games, live dealer and horse racebet operations. But let’s go beyond all those thin clickbait reviews to reveal our truths about determining the legitimacy of online gambling.

Licensing and Regulation

People are going to find a way to do the things that they want to do. It should be the government’s role to guide and protect them. But along the way, governments all over the world have perverted and stolen that agenda and replaced it with self serving, short sighted and all manner of abhorrent regulations.

Prohibition

The failed US National Prohibition Act of 1920 is a perfect example of a spineless governments holier than thou attempt to stop activities that they decide are evil. This misguided effort was ratified by 36 of the 48 states and transformed bootleggers into notorious organized crime syndicates.

Sin Taxes and Rights

The ATF is a law enforcement agency for an odd mixture of alcohol, tobacco and firearms. Booze can be easily made, distilled and watered down in bathtubs. Tobacco is simply grown in the ground and can be stuffed into pipes and rolled as cigarettes. They are both slapped with hefty ‘sin taxes’ in an attempt to discourage their use.

The owning of firearms in the US exists in the national consciousness and is a fiercely protected right. But that also permits bouts of mass shootings to occur with alarming frequency.

Indian Gaming

Indian tribes in the US have sovereign rights negotiated with the federal government as a result of land seizures and generally abusive treatment tantamount to genocide. The 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act set the stage for the proliferation of local tribal gaming pacts with their respective States that have brought many tribes out of poverty. Some small tribes are excessively wealthy, but not all tribes have access to large population centers and are still poor and neglected.

States Rights

The 1961 Wire Act was meant to help states prevent organized crime from operating gambling businesses. It was not meant to prohibit gambling. Also, the Interstate Horse Racing Act of 2000 says “the States should have the primary responsibility for determining what forms of gambling may legally take place within their borders”.

Subject to Interpretation

The 2006 UIGEA “prohibits gambling businesses from knowingly accepting payments in connection with the participation of another person in a bet or wager”. It was originally interpreted as prohibiting online poker and other forms of gambling. It was also re-interpreted many years later as applying only to sports betting.

This law sent many businesses to operate ‘offshore’. Five years later it also caused a ‘Black Friday’ when the three major online US poker sites were shut down and resulted in thousands of players losing money.

Worthless Licensing

Since 1999 many international online casinos have proudly displayed licenses from the small Kahnawake Indian tribe in Canada. But in 2016, the tribe agreed with the State of New Jersey that they would no longer sell licenses to businesses that accept players from the US.

It is a well known fact, that many countries around the world will issue a gambling license to anyone that has enough money to buy one. They have no real enforcement powers outside their own country and are in effect ‘window dressing’ and effectively worthless in identifying legitimate operators or protecting consumers.

Excessive Regulations

The UK gambling commissions’ originally enlightened regulations have turned overly restrictive, regressive and repressive by bureaucrats who have recently been described by an industry representative as “wankers”.

Current Bovada Operation

Bovada operates out of offices in Costa Rica where it is legal to gamble  online.  It does not have an existing license. Instead, it prefers to do business in a safe, fair and honest environment for the benefit of it’s players.

It has an excellent reputation with the industry and players alike! So if you are ready to get started, just click below. But before you go, you may want to check out our complete Bovada review that covers the games options, depositing methods and the all important simplicity of withdrawing your gambling profits.