Casinos Online Ratings

First off it is not illegal to gamble online in the US. And it is certainly not illegal to advertise casinos and other gambling sites. All of them offer play money games anyway, so who’s to say that is not all the potential customer is going to play.

As you know, in the recent past, the U.S. government has tried to make anyone involved in online gambling feel like a serial killer. It’s most likely a political issue. The land-based casinos are probably greasing the palms of the politicians and law makers that have kept online gaming illegal.
The reason why they haven’t pushed to make it illegal for U.S. residents to bet online is because it’s virtually impossible to enforce. However, the U.S. government will take action on any online casino that accepts bets from a U.S. bettor, even if it’s head quarters are located within a jurisdiction that allows it. This includes affiliate programs. However, most of the legal action that has been taken, has been with online casinos that are making millions, and in some cases, billions of dollars. The feds are most likely not going to waste their time on an affiliate of a casino that’s only pulling in a few thousand dollars. It’s not worth their time.
Additionally, the U.S. has applied pressure on companies that process financial transactions for online casinos. They have also come down hard on companies like Google and Yahoo who had previously accepted search marketing ads for online casinos. If you do a search on Google for online casinos, you’ll notice that there are no sponsored links. If you do a search on yahoo for online casinos, you’ll notice that the sponsored links are sites that may have to do with gambling but don’t accept wagers, nor are they linked to sites that accept wagers or promote online gambling.
The U.S. is shooting themselves in the foot with this line of action. Especially with countries like Antigua suing the U.S. for trade violations. It will be interesting to see if this prohibition of online gambling sticks.
Unlike some of the other people who have posted answers to this question, my information tells me that an affiliate program is just as illegal as the main site. However, the likelihood of the FBI wasting their time on an affiliate program is slim. Use caution.