Almost every gambler who bets online asks the question “can I go to jail for sports gambling online” sometime or perhaps the other, because nobody really loves to be a law breaker. This really is since it is a known fact that illegal sports gambling can result in you landing up in jail. However, the answer to this is not simple because it depends on the conditions and situations the bettor finds himself in. There is a great distinction between making bets, taking bets, accepting advertising, making payment on the casinos as well as buying advertising etc that is why illegal activity varies. Besides, online sports betting an internet-based casino betting also has differences.

Only Federal law instead of the state laws need to be considered in the United States. These laws and their enforcement are constantly being changed and every day can have new laws being enforced. The best thing for gamblers or online sports bettors to do should be to seek right and appropriate legal counsel for his situation.

The web based sports gambler has not much to fear because there is no actual federal law which is against online sports betting. Catherine Hanaway, an attorney in the US admitted that placing a bet on the web is not against federal law, in a House hearing in 2007. It’s really a rare case that players are found guilty of violating state laws.

Giant publishers like Microsoft, Google and Yahoo have previously faced penalties where they did not face criminal charges but only paid a fine. Others were warned against taking advertisement and thus did not face penalties after they obeyed. Smaller publishers were not even warned against taking internet gambling advertisements.

Gambling operators don’t have trouble if they only deal with casino and poker bets and operate outside the United States. It is essential to look at and look at all of the risks that are associated with every online gambling activity. This means that you ought to know of what will probably lead to a fine or possibly a jail sentence.

The following will help you to be savvy about the legalities of online sports betting. By taking a bet with a server which is in the US is an activity that is very risky and you could be in trouble. Taking a bet on a server which is offshore and then entering the US, or taking casino and poker bets from your US client on a site outside the US, helping clients to place bets over a site, accepting betting advertisements for online sports gambling etc implies that you are taking great risks and might land in trouble with the law.

Other areas which involve lesser risks are accepting or buying advertising in media that is small for internet gambling, buying advertising as a casino, a US publication affiliate or poker room. The gambler who places bets himself on the internet faces little risk.

So finally all of it comes down to this. In case you are still wondering “can I go to jail for sports gambling online?” then all you have to do is download material, guides, articles, reviews etc that is simple to get online and determine the specific laws which relate to your city, state and jurisdiction as to whether betting on the internet is legal or not.