The change which tore a gaping hole in the wall between iGaming (online gaming) and gambling is the 2018 Supreme Court decision to strike down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, a law from 1992 that barred most state-authorized sports betting outside of Nevada. Though these games are free-to-play, they encourage players to make in-game purchases with money to improve game performance. Social networks offer social games that are traditionally gambling games, like slot machines, poker, and roulette. Filipa Calado, these differences have been diminishing over the last decade. Gaming was a mostly free, skill-based activity while gambling was a chance-determined activity for which the player had to invest money to win money.īut, according to research from academics Dr. Historically, gaming and gambling were considered completely separate activities. Are you looking to showcase your brand in front of the brightest minds of the gaming industry? Consider getting a custom GamesBeat sponsorship.