Where are we on Legal Gambling in the US?

For the longest time, gambling in the US was simple. There was the racetrack, Vegas and a handful of real-world casinos, depending on where you lived. PASPA 1992 appeared to make sports betting outside of Vegas illegal, while the Wire Act had a similarly restrictive impact on internet gambling.

 

That all changed in May of 2018, when PASPA was struck down by the Supreme Court, which unleashed a gold rush of gambling operators scrambling to get a foothold in the new legalized gambling sectors from New Jersey to Arizona.

 

Unfortunately, this legal development has also led to a much more confused picture across the US. Some states were quick out of the blocks in setting up their legal gambling sectors, others hesitated or got bogged down in political and legal wrangling and a handful of states remained steadfast in their opposition to legalised gambling.

 

So where does this leave the average American looking for legal gambling outlets in 2023? Step one in choosing a casino or sportsbook is, of course, to check whether gambling is even legal in your state. To shine a little light on a confused picture, here is our quick guide to the state of play on gambling.

Full Gambling Legality

 

·       Delaware

·       New Jersey

·       Michigan

·       Pennsylvania

·       West Virginia

·       Connecticut

·       Nevada

 

Delaware was the first state to launch a legal gambling sector, beating New Jersey, which had been involved in the PASPA case. Both states had their gambling sectors up and running by the end of the summer, however, and both permit online and in-person sports betting, as well as online casinos.

 

The same applies to Connecticut, Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and, not surprisingly, Nevada, though each state has their own rules around wagering on college sports. Delaware also has a quirk in that online sports betting is legal but there are not currently any bookmakers offering that service.

 

All Sports Betting, No Casinos

 

·       Arizona

·       Arkansas

·       Colorado

·       Illinois

·       Indiana

·       Iowa

·       Kansas

·       Kentucky

·       Louisiana

·       Maryland

·       Massachusetts

·       Michigan

·       New Hampshire

·       New York

·       Ohio

·       Oregon

·       Rhode Island

·       District of Colombia

 

If you reside in one of these states, and you want to bet on sports, you’re in luck. You can bet both in-person and online, although none of these states allow for online casino gaming.

 

Sports Betting with Restrictions

 

·       Washington

·       New Mexico

·       Montana

·       North Dakota

·       South Dakota

·       Nebraska

·       Wisconsin

·       Mississippi

·       North Carolina

·       Tennessee

 

Here’s where it gets complicated, mainly due to the Wire Act of 1961. This prohibited the transmission of betting related information across state borders, something that was fairly restrictive in 1961 but even more so in the internet era. In 2011, the Justice Department gave an opinion that the Wire Act only applied to sports betting, but this didn’t fully settle the matter for some states.

 

The result is that the ten states above permit sports betting in either retail or online forms only. In fact, nine of them require all sports betting to be done in person, while Tennessee is the only US state to allow online but not in-person sports betting.

 

Still Waiting

 

·       Maine

·       Vermont

·       Florida

·       Minnesota

 

That means in 35 states of the US, you can bet on sport in some form or another, although only seven of them will also allow you to wager on casinos online. If you want to gamble in the states above, however, you will have to wait. How long is uncertain and the reasons for the delays in each case vary from legislative obstruction and legal objections to the restrictions of some state constitutions.

 

Maine and Vermont have both passed legislation to legalize and may launch their sports betting sectors at the end of 2023. Florida’s delays relate to an ongoing dispute with the Seminole tribe although it is possible that sports betting could be up and running by the end of 2023.

 

Not Happening Soon

 

·       Alaska

·       Alabama

·       California

 

·       Georgia

·       California

·       Hawaii

·       Missouri

·       South Carolina

·       Oklahoma

·       Texas

·       Utah

·       Idaho

 

That leaves 12 states with no legal gambling and no prospect of that changing. This category is a mixed bag of states where there have been serious efforts to introduce gambling that have failed, those that have seen more half-hearted efforts, and those such as Idaho and Utah where it seems unlikely that sports betting will ever be legalised. In all these cases, however, there has been significant opposition, either political or from the public that will make it hard to legalize anytime soon.