The moratorium blocks new virtual casinos that offer games like electronic roulette, blackjack and bingo.

The Las Vegas Hilton, for example, is building a virtual casino, a star ship with slot machines.

The growth in the industry has prompted major investment houses to invest their mutual funds in the virtual casinos.

Unlike regulated casinos in the United States, however, virtual casinos typically are not subject to strict controls over ownership, financial reserves, or fairness of the games.

Rather than build a set from the ground up or create a virtual casino on a computer, Mr. Bruckheimer used a real one.

That paved the way for independent virtual casinos like PartyGaming to succeed.

A player can then visit any part of the virtual casino and wager their virtual money as they could in a real casino.

Others are beoming poker clubs or internet cafes where people can play in virtual casinos.

Online casinos, also known as virtual casinos or Internet casinos, are online versions of traditional ("brick and mortar") casinos.

They are skeptical about trusting off-shore virtual casinos to process credit cards and return winnings.