Virtually every gambler who bets online asks the question “can I go to jail for sports gambling online” at some time or the other, because nobody really loves becoming a law breaker. This is also since it is a known fact that illegal sports gambling can lead to you landing up in jail. However, the answer to this question is just not simple because it depends on the conditions and situations the bettor finds himself in. There is a good distinction between making bets, taking bets, accepting advertising, paying the casinos and even buying advertising etc that’s the reason illegal activity varies. Besides, online sports betting and online casino betting also has differences.

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

The online 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 United States admitted that placing a bet online is not against federal law, in a House hearing in 2007. It’s really a rare case that players are found accountable for violating state laws.

Giant publishers like Microsoft, Yahoo and google have previously faced penalties where they did not face criminal charges but only paid a fine. Others were warned against taking advertisement and therefore didn’t face penalties when they obeyed. Smaller publishers weren’t even warned against taking online gambling advertisements.

Gambling operators do not have trouble as long as they only manage casino and poker bets and operate outside of the United States. It is essential to examine and study all the risks which are associated with every online gambling activity. This implies that you should be aware of what is likely to result in a fine or possibly a jail sentence.

The following will assist you to be savvy about the legalities of online sports betting. If you take a bet with a server which is in the Usa is an action which is very risky and you could be in trouble. Choosing a bet with a server that is offshore and after that entering the Usa, or taking casino and poker bets from your US client with a site outside of the US, helping clients to set bets on a site, accepting betting advertisements for online sports gambling etc implies that you’re taking great risks and might land in trouble with the law.

Other areas that entail lesser risks are accepting or buying advertising in media that is small for online 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 it all boils down to this. If 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 on the internet and find out the specific laws which relate to your city, state and jurisdiction whether or not betting on the internet is legal or otherwise not.