And this happened despite a weak non regulatory prohibition based on such wagering in the United States, according to a report.
The American Gaming Association said that its analysis shows the need for a congressional study on avenues to regulate how US residents gamble online in a way that will help support US jobs and its tax revenues.
The report authored by a Washington attorney found that online gambling by US residents has been growing at a rate of 20 percent per year for the last year or two, even with the contention by the US Department of Justice and several state governments that this form of gambling is illegal.
Due to the threat of prosecution against the betting website operators, nearly all monies spent on online casinos gambling went to offshore sites, the report said, noting that several countries, even Great Britain, are in the process of working out licensing and regulating online gambling operators either on shore or offshore.
He added that the current US prohibition will continue to allow a high volume of online gambling traffic while imposing no regulatory policies to protect their gamblers.
This Washington lawyer also called for a congressional study commission of one year that should evaluate how best to protect children and problem gamblers and whether online gambling can be effectively legalized and regulated in these United States.
