Is online gambling legal in the U.S.?
There is no U.S. National law against gambling online
There is no U.S. federal law against gaming online. At the national level, betting online is perfectly legal, due to the lack of a law against it. It is likely to run afoul of state legislation (notably in extremely conservative countries ), however even there prosecution is very rare, and penalties are often slight.
U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway confessed in a House hearing that only placing wagers online does not violate federal law. No American has ever been arrested, indicted, or prosecuted by the feds for gambling online, because there’s no law against it. If online gambling were illegal I wouldn’t be running his site for nineteen years, as an American citizen, residing in the U.S., with my real name. And I sometimes gamble on the internet, also, and I acknowledge that publicly, like I’m doing at this time.
This may be confusing because other outlets erroneously reported that Congress prohibited online gaming in 2006. Those reports are simply erroneous. The 2006 law makes it illegal for banks to move gambling money when the stakes are already illegal (like from a state law), but doesn’t ensure it is illegal for gamers to create stakes. The law just does not create or expand any ban on gambling itself. In fact, the law states quite clearly,”No provision of this subchapter shall be construed as altering, limiting, or extending any Federal or State law or Tribal-State compact prohibiting, allowing, or regulating gambling within the USA.” You can see for yourself by checking out the full text of this law.
While you do not violate any federal laws from putting bets online, it is not legal to run a gaming operation (i.e., to take bets), but in those few countries where it’s explicitly legal and the operator is accredited. Therefore don’t believe that you can begin an internet casino or run Facebook raffles.
And yes, the FBI posted a frightening warning online where they claimed that placing bets on the internet is against the law. In short, they lied, and the DoJ finally reversed that position anyway. (more on that)
States where online gambling is explicitly legal
Very few states have specific laws against online gambling, though many have laws against gambling generally, which apply equally to offline and online gaming. A little handful of states have explicitly legalized online gaming, provided that you perform at one of the handful of approved online casinos. In some states, only certain kinds of gambling might be legal (e.g., poker). The countries which have legalized some Kind of Internet gambling are:
Delaware became the first state to legalize online gambling, in June 2012, and the next to start (Nov. 26, 2013). (USA Today, Delaware Online, Casino.org)
Nevada became the first state to legalize online gambling (well, poker ), on Feb. 21, 2013 (CBS) and launching on April 30. (LVRJ)
New Jersey became the third state to legalize online gambling (poker + casino), signed into law in February 2013, and launch on Nov. 25th. (NJ Poker Online)
Be aware that Bovada won’t accept players from such countries, nor will they take players out of Maryland or New York.
The District of Colmbia became the first jurisdiction to legalize online gaming in the U.S., in April 2011. However, the measure was repealed in February 2012 until it ever became lively. (NY Times)
State violations of gambling are often misdemeanors
Even when states don’t permit players to gamble, the penalties are almost always light. The only states where easy gaming is a felony would be both Washingtons: Washington, DC, and Washington state. (origin ) In most nations easy gambling is just a misdemeanor, and in Arkansas and Colorado it’s a straightforward petty offense, like a traffic ticket. (origin )
States with an online gambling prohibition
Even states that ban gambling generally usually do not have a specific ban on online gambling. When it’s against the law to bet on your state, that applies offline and online, even if the law doesn’t mention online. However, a couple of states do specifically outlaw online gaming. Those countries are:
Illinois
Indiana
Louisiana
Montana
Nevada (go figure)
Oregon
South Dakota
Washington
Wisconsin
Resource: Gambling Law U.S.
Participants convicted of breaking State laws I know of only two cases where a player ran afoul of state laws (in exceptionally conservative states), both of whom were billed under their state’s overall anti-gambling legislation, no special anti-online-gambling law:
North Dakota. Jeffrey Trauman paid a $500 fine on what was likely over $100,000 in online sports bet winnings, in 2003. (Gambling & the Law)
Oklahoma. Online sports bettor Roland Benavides was billed in 2011 and in 2012 received a deferred sentence (which means that when he doesn’t violate the conditions of his probation, he’ll likely face no jail time). (News OK)
Kentucky seized domain names A Kentucky judge consented to allow Kentucky seize 141 gambling-related domains, on the spurious grounds that a domain name constituted a”gambling device” under regulations. But even if it were clear that gaming domains broken Kentucky law, the seizure was still absurd, due to that logic any nation could grab any domain anywhere in the world if the website happened to violate its own local law. In any case, as FlushDraw said,”Just a small number of US-based registrars complied, as well as the seizures themselves were rendered somewhat moot when most of the domains jumped to non-US registrar services and stopped using”.com” domains”
The Kentucky Court of Appeals promptly chased the seizure actions, but then the State appealed. I couldn’t find any updates between 2014-2018 (EFF 2008, KY appealed in 2009, 2014 judgment )
Taking bets is prohibited It has always been contrary to national law to take sports bets over the Web (not to make them). That is, you can not set up a website and take sports bets out of the general public. The law which prohibits that is called the Wire Act. For years the feds said that the Wire Act applied to accepting poker and casino bets also. In 2011 they reversed themselves and said the Wire Act applied only to sports. (Forbes) Subsequently in 2019 they reversed themselves again and returned to the former position that the Wire Act actually applies to accepting casino and poker bets too. (origin ) Though again, placing bets remains perfectly legal under federal law. The challenge would be finding a respectable place to play. Due to the legal issues, there aren’t many operators operating the whole U.S., and several of those that do are kind of questionable. That’s why I promote only Bovada on this website, because they’re the best one for U.S. players.
States can now offer sports betting In May 2018, the Supreme Court overturned a law that prohibited sports betting in all states but Nevada. This allows individual states to legalize sports gambling if they choose to do so. However, the court’s ruling does not talk to the Wire Act, so online sportsbooks still violate federal law (for the operator, not the participant ). (Forbes)
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