Old games,

new twist No casino required: It's easy. It's quick. It's online. (And it's not really legal). We would never encourage you to break the law. If you're feeling lucky, however, here are some Web sites that are willing to let you gamble.

Fuhgedabout green felt tables and cheap drinks, chips you can roll between your fingers and the hard eyes of the liar who is sitting next to you, waiting for your decision.

No, poker now is sitting in the den at 2 a.m., wearing no sunglasses, perhaps not even pants, staring into the low glow of a computer screen and click-clicking to ante up.

And suddenly every other kind of gambling looks about the same. From blackjack to betting on sports, Americans are seizing the chance to gamble online from anywhere at any time.

Almost 20 million Americans visited a gambling Web site in February, according to Nielsen//NetRatings.

As a result, despite concerns about the legitimacy of Web sites based on small Caribbean islands and despite the fact that gambling is, well, against the law, Internet casinos are flourishing.

American gamblers lost an estimated $4.1 billion online last year, according to Christiansen Capital Advisers LLC. The New York-based firm estimates online losses this year could total $5.9 billion. By comparison, Americans lost $72.8 billion at legal gambling in 2003.

"It's quick and easy and it gives you the distinct advantage of not having your legs broken due to lack of payment," said Michael, 32, a Charlotte gambler who has switched from the olden ways to the Internet.

Michael, who asked that we not use his last name, used to call a bookie to place his bets each week during NFL season. Now he visits Sportsbook.com and pays with a Visa credit card.

The Web site, which is run by London-based Sportingbet Plc, collects a fee on each bet. All of this is legal in England, and the company's stock trades on the London Stock Exchange.

Michael's bets, however, violate the policies of his credit card company, which prohibits the use of the card for online gambling. Oh, and he is also violating U.S. and N.C. law.

But Michael has little reason to worry. The consensus in local law enforcement is that no one in North Carolina has been prosecuted for gambling on the Internet.

The state attorney general says it's a decision for district attorneys to make. The Mecklenburg DA's office has no formal opinion on when, if ever, some unlucky gambler might get collared.

`Leap of faith'

For most players, any hesitations about gambling online come instead from concern they could win and not get paid because the site cheats -- or they could lose because the site cheats."I certainly did take a leap of faith in the beginning," said Brian, 38, an Albemarle resident who has been playing poker and blackjack on the Internet for six years.

Davis found peace of mind in a pair of rapidly forming safety nets -- consumer Web sites that track the industry, and companies that guarantee the integrity of online casinos.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the global audit and consulting firm, charges online casinos to certify sites as safe for players. The site can then display the company's seal. Several dozen casinos have signed up.

There are also consumer sites, such as PokerPulse.com, where reports of bad experiences sit on message boards like scarlet letters on a gambling site's reputation.

"That kind of disciplining has a surprisingly strong effect," said Koleman Strumpf, an economics professor at the University of North Carolina who follows the industry.

Because casinos make money on each bet, the loss of business that comes with a bad reputation means many sites go out of their way to keep customers happy.

Even so, many players are more cautious online than at a casino with real neon lights.

"I don't wager more than $100 just in case I don't get paid out," said Pete, 31, a Charlotte resident who plays online poker two or three times a week.

Credit card runaround

Alongside trust, the other major challenge for players and Web sites is money flow.

Under government pressure, many banks that issue credit cards have banned the use of their cards for Internet gambling. Paypal, the most popular money transfer Web site, bans transfers to online casinos.

Strumpf said these policies caused a brief hiccup in the growth of online gaming. But into the gap have sprung a number of other payment services, such as Neteller.com.

"It's exactly the same thing as Paypal except it's located in Canada," Strumpf said. Users deposit money by credit card or other means, and the money can then be used without restrictions.

Online gambling is legal in Canada and in most other countries. That leaves the United States in the position of being by far the largest market for online gambling and also one of the few places where it is illegal.

Exactly how illegal is hard to tell. The Bush administration has opined that an old law against using the telephone to bet on sports applies to all Internet gambling. Many states, including the Carolinas, have laws that bar Internet gambling. But experts say only one gambler, a North Dakota resident, has been convicted for gambling online.

Mostly the administration has focused enforcement on U.S. companies that do business with the offshore casinos. The government has lately turned the screws on companies that accept advertising.

In April 2004, the federal government seized $3.25 million from Discovery Communications. The money had been paid to Discovery to run television advertisements on the Travel Channel for Tropical Paradise, a Costa Rica-based poker Web site.

Radio giants Infinity Broadcasting and Clear Channel Communications yanked advertising for online casinos after a government warning. So did Internet giants Google and Yahoo.

The absence of mainstream advertising has affected the online gambling industry in roughly the same way it has affected the online pornography industry. Both are booming.

"I like it because it's very private and no one bothers you," said Bill, 46, a Charlotte resident who plays online blackjack and bets on sports.

Ain't misbehavin'

Half the gamblers we spoke with believe the government should legalize online gambling. The other half believed gambling online already was legal."If it's OK to go to Vegas to do it, what's wrong with doing it online?" said Peter, a 20-something who live in the Charlotte area and plays poker online.

Indeed, online gambling has the potential to be safer than casino gambling, said Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, which counsels people with gambling problems.

"They have access to almost total information," Whyte said, "so theoretically they could come up with all sorts of creative limitations, public service announcements and responsible gaming practices."

For now, however, online gambling remains a largely freewheeling frontier.

Peter, who asked that we not use his last name, has won more than $4,000 online over the last two years. He knows he's doing something illegal, but he said he pays taxes on his winnings and views himself as a basically upstanding citizen.

It's just entertainment, he said, no different than going to dinner and a movie. Check that. One small difference.

"When you go to dinner," he said, "you're not getting any of that money back."

Feeling Lucky?

We would never encourage you to break the law. If you're feeling lucky, however, here are some Web sites that are willing to let you gamble.

http://www.sportsbook.com/

One of the world's busiest online sports books. Based in London, it is operated by SportingBet PLC, which advertises itself as the world's largest online gaming operator. Like all English bookies, the site offers odds on much more than sports. Already available: The early line on the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

http://www.pokerstars.com/

The site, based in Costa Rica, shot to fame in 2003 when it sent the winner of an online tournament to the World Series of Poker. The aptly named Chris Moneymaker emerged victorious over a roomful of seasoned pros, giving the site -- and online poker -- lots of free mentions in places like The Charlotte Observer.

http://www.intercasino.com/

Voted the Internet's top casino by the readers of Gambling Online magazine (http://www.gamblingonlinemagazine.com/), the site offers a version of nearly every game you can find on a casino floor, from slots and video poker to multiplayer games such as blackjack and baccarat.

There are also a number of sites attempting to serve as watchdogs, some operated by the industry and some privately operated. Some of the most established include http://www.casinomeister.com/ for casinos and http://www.sportsbookreview.com/ for online sports books.