“Remote gaming” refers to all forms of gambling, such as casino gaming or sports betting, but where the bettor and gambling operator are not in physical proximity with each other.  In simple terms, remote gambling occurs when the bettor is one place, and communicates his or her wager via electronic means to a gambling operator located in another place.

Prior to the advent of the modern communication technologies, the gaming industry generally consisted of land-based casinos, race and sports books, card rooms, bingo parlours and lottery retailers. In the traditional land-based, or “bricks and mortar,” gaming model, the bettor is physically present to place a wager and collect winnings.

The development of modern communications technologies, particularly the Internet, have made “remote gambling” not only feasible, but the most rapidly developing component of the global gaming industry. Today, there is a wide variety of remote gambling in existence, including:

• Remote Wagering on Horse Races. The initial rise of commercial remote gambling occurred in the horse race industry. The most well-known and longstanding form of remote pari-mutuel wagering exists in “off-track betting parlours” (“OTBs”), where customers bet on televised races that are broadcast to betting shops located away from the horse racing track. A more recent and rapidly growing form of remote pari-mutuel wagering is “account wagering,” where customers bet by means of telephone or Internet connection from home or any other location and where customers can view the race by broadcast on television, radio, Internet, or wireless device. Now remote gaming operators located throughout the world, including AOGA members, provide account wagering services on horse races.

• Remote Lottery Play. Lottery tickets are primarily sold through private retailers who are paid a commission of from four to seven percent of sales. Some lotteries, including state lotteries in the United States and Europe, are fully remote in that bettors can purchase lottery tickets by telephone or mail and then claim their winnings by telephone or mail.

• Online and Telephone Race and Sports Books. The AOGA’s membership includes the global leaders in the Internet and telephone sports and race book industry. The Antiguan race and sports book operators are similar to the race and sports books licensed and operating in the State of Nevada. The State of Nevada licenses and regulates race and sports books that offer betting and wagering services on horse races and sports events. At a Nevada race and sports book, a bettor can wager on and view horse races from a racetrack located elsewhere in the United States. Similarly, a bettor at a Nevada sports book can wager on a wide variety of professional or amateur sports events located in the United States or in a foreign jurisdiction. Nevada also permits its race and sports books to accept remote account wagers by means of telephone or personal computer-to-computer network connection.

• Multi-Player Online Poker. The multi-player interactive poker rooms offered by the AOGA’s members are another example of a very popular form of remote gambling.

• Online Casinos. Many AOGA members offer online gambling on games such as blackjack or video poker. This is another popular form of remote gambling.

• Betting Exchanges. The last few years have seen the rise of online peer-to-peer betting exchange that offer a new form of wagering to bettors anywhere in the world. Betting exchanges are a form of remote online wagering by which individual bettors can place wagers against one another on opposing outcomes of a future event, such as a horse race or sports event, by means of a secure Internet service.

• Interactive Gambling (iTV). The last few years have also seen a rise in the prevalence and variety of gambling services through Interactive Television technologies (iTV). This type of interactive remote gambling includes wagering forms as diverse as traditional betting to fixed odds gambling, live and interactive bingo based betting, and Interactive betting on live sporting events. Industry experts anticipate an increase in the availability and offerings of gambling opportunities through iTV.

• Wireless Gambling Devices. Some operators, including members of the AOGA, offer interactive gambling via mobile phone or other wireless devices. This concept is taking hold in other jurisdictions. For instance, the State of Nevada and other jurisdictions within the Untied States have recently begun to sanction and regulate the use of wireless gambling devices that can be used by bettors while on casino or tribal property. This is a new form of remote gambling that industry experts anticipate to expand in the future.