When I was younger (which is every time but now), I used to bet a quarter with my uncle on the Super Bowl every year. He was nice enough to let me choose first and pick only the outright winner. In the years of dominance by teams like the 49ers, this was a substantial advantage. Nevertheless, he made the consensual agreement to give me a huge edge on his 25 cents.
Fast forward several years 2004-2008, and I am 22-26 playing poker online. I am also still making sportsbets which I consider mostly entertainment (as I am aware how difficult it is to maintain a prolonged edge over the ever-increasingly efficient sportsbooks). But the sportsbook offers you consensual entertainment at your discretion over a selection of games.
Fast forward to 2017. Online gambling has been federally banned (with states being allowed to make exceptions intrastate). If I live in Nevada, I can only play online poker with people located in Nevada online. As an interesting sidenote, a consensual sportsbet that I could make between a friend and myself would be considered illegal.
Why does any of this need to be regulated? What business does the government have in a consensual agreement between two parties able to consent? Not only does the regulation restrict our freedom, but it weakens the ability of the market to provide a better price of doing business. At any of the regulated casinos, usually the best price you could get is -110 (meaning you pay an additional 10 percent of your wager on a loss). A free market could bring consenting parties together that prefer opposite sides of a wager allowing them to pay a commission of zero percent!
The same examples can be applied to poker. Why shouldn't a group of consenting people be allowed to organize a poker game at their house to avoid the commission of the casino? Why shouldn't a group of consenting people be able to organize a poker game via the internet to broaden the player pool and take advantage of the freedom that the internet allows them.
I've mentioned this before, but the reasons seem to be absent or lacking efficacy. As I'm often reminded by poker-playing friends from across the pond, "You just can't play online poker in the Land of the Free."
(Post-script addendum: a friend of the site has provided this link http://www.worldcasinoindex.com/ as a comprehensive of list and reviews of casinos, live and online. Our site in no way vouches for the validity or currency of these casinos, but if you're looking to find a comprehensive list for gambling in the USA, refer to http://www.worldcasinoindex.com/ )