New affiliate legal questions

[VRCandy]

I am affiliate marketer outside of gaming. Now i want to start promoting casino affiliate programs. I am based in USA (Florida). What are some legal issues i need to be concerned about?
I plan on building free promo code offers wp site and get it ranked high in search engines, so the visibility of the site is worldwide.
Thanks for any feedback.

 

[TheGooner]

You need to be very careful about promoting online gambling to US citizens outside of their own state - as the US Government has determined that this is illegal based on a 1950's money laundering statute known as the "Wire act" where money is sent across state lines for gambling.

How this could possibly relate to internet traffic, and online sports, casino, poker betting which came into being 40 years later is a source of much amazement - but the Federal Government doesn't need to make sense and they've determined that it's appropriate.

The reality is that it's a carve out to protect vested interests in the US - specifically existing landbased casino / sportsbook owners - but with a specific exemption for the Horse Racing industry. (which is apparently GOOD gambling)

So Horse Racing is legal - and so is Poker and Fantasy sports in some states - and you need to stay up to date with who allows poker and fantasy sports.

Casino Gambling/ Sport Gambling for US citizens online is illegal

 

[NDG]

Online casino gambling is NOT illegal in the US on a federal level. The US government under the Obama Administration in 2011 made it clear that the "Wire Act" doesn't cover online casino or poker games. Without the Wire Act, there is no US federal law that makes it illegal. The Wire Act does make it illegal to place sports bets over the Internet. You need to look at state law, because their are some states where online gambling is legal at licensed sites in their own states, and others where it is illegal.

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer and I'm not giving any legal advice.

 

[TheGooner]

Online casino gambling is NOT illegal in the US on a federal level. The US government under the Obama Administration in 2011 made it clear that the "Wire Act" doesn't cover online casino or poker games.

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer and I'm not giving any legal advice.

Only three states have legal, licensed and US regulated online gambling (within state) : Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey.

To participate in legalized US online gambling, you must be physically present in one of three states mentioned above. For example, an American citizen in Texas cannot register a real money casino gambling account at one of the online casinos in New Jersey.

(States are strict about this which has lead to geolocation issues, meaning even some people inside a state's boundaries find themselves unable to play, but that's a story for another day.)

Unless you're physically located inside the three states above, you have no licensed sites to play at. Your only options are gambling sites that operate outside of the US and against the will of the US government.

----------------------

While I take the point that the U.S. Department of Justice have changed their position - that the Wire Act of 1961 also applied to any kind of Internet gambling activity (while still outlawing sports) - I do not know of ANY website or operator prepared to operate within reach of US Government take takes money across state boundaries.

The OP is based in Florida - pretending that online casino outside state lines is US legal is not responsible.

 

[NDG]

Not one time did I say that online gambling is "legal", "licensed" or "regulated". I simply said that its NOT illegal to gamble online in the US at the federal level. You said, "Casino Gambling/ Sport Gambling for US citizens online is illegal".

 

[VRCandy]

Thank you for the information.
What do USA based affiliate marketers do regarding online gaming? they do not promote any online casinos?
So even if i just post links to online casino bonus offers as affiliate marketer, that can be considered against the law?

 

[PROFRBcom]

Thank you for the information.
What do USA based affiliate marketers do regarding online gaming? they do not promote any online casinos?
So even if i just post links to online casino bonus offers as affiliate marketer, that can be considered against the law?

It is not against the law to promote online gambling. It is not against the law for US citizens to gamble online, bet sports online, or play poker online.

If there are any legal exceptions to this, no one has ever been taken to task on it legally.

US based affiliates promote what they want to promote freely and openly. Most of them anyway. IF however you get licensed in regulated states, you too are effectively regulated and your ability to promote to the remaining 47 states is limited.

Also, technically, there are 4 regulated states. Pennsylvania simply has no regulated/licensed sites active yet.


*I also am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

 

[xecutable]

Don't you just love what a mess it is when it comes to what's legal and what not. And yes this is the case in almost every country I've been. I'd suggest you get a gambling lawyer and pay for consultation. It has to be GAMBLING lawyer, cause regular lawyers are clueless and will waste you a few hundred bucks for nothing.

 

[Biti]

Don't you just love what a mess it is when it comes to what's legal and what not. And yes this is the case in almost every country I've been. I'd suggest you get a gambling lawyer and pay for consultation. It has to be GAMBLING lawyer, cause regular lawyers are clueless and will waste you a few hundred bucks for nothing.

This.

Ask a lawyer, a gambler lawyer. They know it exactly and way better than people on a forum, accountants, divorce lawyers, hair dressers, etc.

 

[PROFRBcom]

I plan on building free promo code offers wp site and get it ranked high in search engines

For your information, free casino offers aimed at US players is a saturated niche. You will be facing stiff competition. If you do not possess great prowess with SEO, put out kickass content, etc, you may find yourself having one hell of a time ranking highly in search engines for "free online casino offers" and similar phrases.

Be prepared to put a few years work in before you start to see the fruits of your labors IMHO.

 

[TheGooner]

It is not against the law to promote online gambling.

*I also am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

While that's true - here are my two observations - that tell you something powerful about US legality.
1/ There are NO gambling adverts for .com betting sites (real betting sites) on TV or print advertising.
2/ There are NO gambling affiliate conferences held in the US any more.

The TV companies, and Newpaper barons are very smart and powerful men with expensive lawyers, and the gambling industry is still very lucrative for operators and successful affiliates. If there was no issue - we would be seeing many high profile adverts on TV, Radio and print. We don't.

I am also not a lawyer ... but I look at what the big advertisers do.

 

[Kapitalo]

My friend recently (end of 2017) launched his website which now ranks 1# for several high competitive key-words including "free spins". If you do things right, you still have a good chance of having succes, whaetever you touch

 

[PROFRBcom]

My friend recently (end of 2017) launched his website which now ranks 1# for several high competitive key-words including "free spins". If you do things right, you still have a good chance of having succes, whaetever you touch

He is ranking #1 for multiple large search terms in < 6 months? I'm changing focus to freebie slot machines!
I'd be very surprised/impressed if this were true.

 

[xecutable]

Well given the information, the top site is only 254d old, and that being the domain name registered. Seems legit and well done.

 

[PROFRBcom]

What site is that? From my location, I'm not seeing a site < 1 year old in top spot...

But since I assume what you say is true, I am impressed!

 

[xecutable]

From here I see kingcasinobonus dot co dot uk. I assume that's the site because it's r1 and it's less than a year old.

 

[TheGooner]

I see newfreespinsnodeposit dot com .. so his world domination is not complete
;-)

 

[Kapitalo]

It is casino-professor.com. It ranks 1# for competitive key-words in the "UK" mostly

 

[Biti]

It is casino-professor.com. It ranks 1# for competitive key-words in the "UK" mostly

It's a great website and the guys behind it that know what they're doing. If I'm right, they also have some experience in the gambling niche. Clear that they know exactly what are the money keywords and how to rank on them. Besides that it's a brandable website, hence not pure seo and it's very user friendly for people looking for gambling info.

I think it's a situation that's a bit different than building on your own a promocode WP website for the US.

 

[xecutable]

Alright I guess it was thrown off by the domain age. The domain above is a 10 year old one.