Never before in history, have people had so varied opportunities to gamble. As of 2008, in the United States, all but two states offer some form of legal gambling such as casinos, lotteries, video lottery terminals, on-track horse wagering, off-track wagering, bingo or pull-tabs. The United States is not unique. Legal gambling is more prevalent throughout the world than at any other time in modern history. To be successful, Internet gambling must compete against these traditional forms of gambling. For the reasons stated in the following discussion, Internet casino gambling and sports wagering offer the most promising futures, at least in the short term.CASINOS Virtual casinos offer software-based video facsimiles of most casino games, including reel slot machines, craps, blackjack and roulette. Unlike the “live” games, these video facsimiles rely on a computer program to randomly generate the results to simulate the play of the game. One company, Home Gambling Network, has a patent that covers certain aspects of the use of “live” Internet video transmission of the play of traditional games. For example, an actual blackjack dealer will play the game using real cards before a video camera. The only difference between this type of play and gambling at a brick-and- mortar casino is that the players participate by Internet connections.