Since Brian Christopher has begun his ambassadorship with BetMGM Casino, there have been many who have come to check out some of those videos, and naturally questions arise. During one recent video, someone asked a very simple question:
Who regulates this for fair play?
Chad H.
Online casino regulation in the United States works similarly to commercial physical casinos. Each state sets the legality of such options, and then sets the rules under which they must operate.
This includes how many can operate, if they must partner with a physical casino to offer their services, which gaming providers and games can be offered in the state, and so on.
As of this writing, seven states have online casinos available: Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia. Three of those seven (Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island) are restricted to one or two options, while the other four have a more competitive market, which mirrors in some ways the commercial physical casino markets for those states.
Because many of the same providers online are providers for physical casinos, whether game makers or casino operators, they tend to follow the same strict protocols for both in-person and online casino options. Breaking the rules in a way that aggravates regulators in one format could put them at risk more broadly in both, and these businesses are too valuable and important to mess around.
So, things like Know Your Customer checks exist online to ensure that players are confirmed to be of a legal age to partake. All sorts of regulations are created, on a per-market basis, on things like what sorts of payment options you can use to deposit, offering tools to set limits on your play, what payback range is offered, and so on.
The end result is an online casino experience that is as safe and secure as an in-person one, with additional benefits like the ability to have a lower minimum bet vs. what you’d find in person due to the higher cost structure of having a physical casino and additional staff.
