“Place your bets,” the poker dealer says. She gestures to the first player, asking if they want to call, fold, or raise. They slowly contemplate their options and make their decision. Then it’s the next player’s turn, with the cycle repeating until all the cards are dealt. A brief bit of celebration or sadness ensues, and it’s on to the next hand. It’s a matter of speed at the casino, and while money can tend to fly, the pace is constrained by the snail’s pace of the real world.

Online casinos are a different beast. When poker is on the internet instead of on the felt of the casino table, we see something different. Click bet, call or fold, call or fold, win or lose. Only a minute has passed, but it’s already time for the next hand. Speed is king. At a traditional casino, one can only play 25 to 30 hands of poker per hour. Online gamblers can play a hundred. They are limited only by how fast they can click and if they decide to play multiple tables simultaneously. This is also true for any other casino game, from slots to blackjack. With its speed, online gambling represents a more significant threat to gamblers, who face the perils of addiction and monetary loss. To this end, states must devise regulations to fight this financially disastrous threat.

When it comes to the considerations state policymakers must make in blunting the sharp edges of online gambling, speed is not the only factor. Online gambling is becoming increasingly accessible due to the limited restrictions in place. Policy differs both across states and the specific game in question. Sports betting stands out as the most easily accessible of the lot. In nearly 80% of the U.S, sports betting is legal or pending legalization. In these states, one can simply unlock their phone, download a betting app, and play within minutes. Now, almost anyone in the United States can join the 95% of people who lose money on sports betting apps from the comfort of their own homes.

As for the broad category of casino games, there are more restrictions. Only six states allow online casino gambling and poker. This seems rather restrictive, but there are key get-arounds for these services. One common workaround for the tech-savvy gambler is the virtual private network (VPN). VPNs mask the IP of the potential gambler, allowing them to make it seem as though they are in a state that permits gambling. VPN users can be exposed and banned through geolocation services, but this is not the standard across all gambling websites.

Easier than using a VPN are offshore gambling websites. These websites usually operate using cryptocurrency. This means that to access these websites, one first needs to open a cryptocurrency wallet, purchase a currency, and then put this currency on any gambling website. While this process contains multiple steps, it’s significantly easier than driving to a casino so long as they have a bit of technical know-how. Furthermore, some websites are tailored to whatever gambling interests one has. There are websites known for slots, others known for poker, and just as many for sports betting and any other casino game. Many of these websites have all of these games in one place.

These access points indicate why online gambling is so difficult to oversee. A gambler can buy cryptocurrency, which is legal in all 50 states with or without a VPN, and put it on a website operated as far away as Curacao. Without restrictions on cryptocurrency use or access to offshore sites, online gambling remains virtually unregulated. This is critical as online gambling is also reported to be more addictive than casino gambling.

To fight the speed and addictive edge of this unsafe betting, legislators must crack down on online gambling. The sad truth is that it will likely prove impossible to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges or access to overseas casinos. Cryptocurrency is designed for discretion, and overseas casinos operate outside of U.S. jurisdiction. As such, it must be a top priority of legislators to make US-based online casinos both easy to access and safe through country-wide legalization. This may seem counterproductive, but if online casinos were legalized in all 50 states, gambling sites’ operations would be controlled by the U.S. alone. This means that gambler safety could finally be prioritized and monitored.

Safety would be ensured through the next important step: controlling access and speed of online gambling in the United States. For controlled access, regulators must guarantee any gambler in the U.S. is where they say they are. This can be done by tying a driver’s license to the state that they are gambling in, requiring the gambler to virtually “check in” any time they want to gamble. Utilizing geotracking services as well would turn this into a double authentication system to defeat the threat of VPNs. With this system, states can limit speed as well. Each driver’s license would represent a trackable entity across all U.S.-based gambling websites. States then should put a cap on the amount that an individual can spend in a given day gambling in that state. Some would argue that individuals could just leave the state to avoid this. However, these gamblers would have to drive to a new location. Individuals already have to do for traditional casinos, meaning online gambling just becomes equivalent in threat to in-person options

With these steps, states would be able to grab hold of this problem before it gets out of hand. Gamblers would be limited in their maximum gambling per day, and a new revenue stream would present itself as fully regulated online gambling begins to rise. Should this come to pass, gambling can be moved onto the shores of America in its safest form yet.