Online gambling is any type of gambling conducted online. This includes casinos, live poker and virtual casinos. In 1994, the first online gambling site opened to the public, was online ticketing for the prestigious Liechtenstein International Poker Tournament. Since then, many countries have allowed for online gambling, and today, online gambling can be found in virtually every country on earth.

Today, the reasons for why people gamble online has more to do with privacy and security concerns than traditional gambling. Many countries have moved to enact laws that allow online gambling, but some jurisdictions still have traditional casinos which attract gamblers from all walks of life. Many people gamble online because they are unable or unwilling to travel to Las Vegas or other gambling hot spots. In Las Vegas, for instance, non-residents can still gamble online.

Many states have made it illegal to transfer money to an offshore gambling site, but some jurisdictions allow it. The U.S. government has issued rules and regulations that online gambling sites must follow in order to stay operational, and although there are no federal laws against offshore gambling, many states have passed laws banning it. In some cases, the state will shut down a site if they are discovered taking money from individuals who live in different states, but there have been few cases of regulation of offshore gambling sites. Because of this, all online gambling must be done through licensed gambling sites, or else the user is breaking the law and could go to jail.