Online gambling in the United States is decided state by state, not in Washington. Federal statutes set the outer limits — what money may cross which wire, and who may take a bet — while each legislature decides whether a casino, a poker room or a sportsbook may open inside its own borders. That is why the same wager can be routine in one state and a misdemeanour across the river.
Three federal layers come up on almost every state page below. The Wire Act of 1961 was written for telephone lines and sports bets, and the Department of Justice re-read it in 2011 as covering sports wagering alone, after the New York and Illinois lotteries pressed for an answer on selling tickets online. The UIGEA of 2006 is addressed to gambling businesses, not to the person placing the bet: it bars them from knowingly accepting payments for a wager unlawful under some other state or federal law, which is why the act is felt at the cashier rather than in a courtroom. Tribal gaming sits on its own footing under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, built on the Supreme Court decision in California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians.
What is left after those three is the part that decides your case: the statute of the state you are sitting in. A short list of states now licenses online casino play and names the operators allowed to offer it; most do not, and a few write the prohibition into the criminal code in terms that reach the player and not only the house. The pages below say which of those describes each jurisdiction, and who gets to decide when state and federal readings disagree.
Gambling law in every state
All fifty states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico — 52 pages, each a plain reading of that jurisdiction’s own statute.
- ALAlabama
- AKAlaska
- AZArizona
- ARArkansas
- CACalifornia
- COColorado
- CTConnecticut
- DEDelaware
- FLFlorida
- GAGeorgia
- HIHawaii
- IDIdaho
- ILIllinois
- INIndiana
- IAIowa
- KSKansas
- KYKentucky
- LALouisiana
- MEMaine
- MDMaryland
- MAMassachusetts
- MIMichigan
- MNMinnesota
- MSMississippi
- MOMissouri
- MTMontana
- NENebraska
- NVNevada
- NHNew Hampshire
- NJNew Jersey
- NMNew Mexico
- NYNew York
- NCNorth Carolina
- NDNorth Dakota
- OHOhio
- OKOklahoma
- OROregon
- PAPennsylvania
- PRPuerto Rico
- RIRhode Island
- SCSouth Carolina
- SDSouth Dakota
- TNTennessee
- TXTexas
- UTUtah
- VTVermont
- VAVirginia
- WAWashington
- DCWashington, D.C.
- WVWest Virginia
- WIWisconsin
- WYWyoming
Federal law and the cases that shaped it
The statutes and court decisions every state map traces back to.
- The Federal Wire ActThe Wire Act for many years has been held by the Department of Justice to make online gambling illegal , although…
- The Department of Justice Changes Its Mind About The Wire ActIt's been no secret that the Wire Act has only applied to interstate sports betting, as that's exactly how the…
- The Impact of the UIGEAThe UIGEA was really just an effort by the US federal government to blow smoke, but they did blow a lot of smoke…
- The Indian Gaming Regulatory ActAfter the idea that states could regulate Indian gaming on their reservations was tossed aside by the Supreme…
- California v. Cabazon Band of Mission IndiansIndian gaming is now a huge business, but it is a fairly new phenomenon, and one that only arose when a couple of…
- United States v. Scheinberg, aka Black FridayBlack Friday will go down in infamy in the world of US online poker, and this time the actions taken against…
- The Aftermath Of Black FridayBlack Friday came close to wiping out the US online poker market, for a time anyway. Where there is demand though…
- The Southern District of NY Takes On Poker PlayersThe US Department of Justice, through the Southern District of New York, dropped a $34 million bomb on US poker…
- Overview Of Federal Law That May Apply To Online GamblingThere are a number of federal laws that address interstate and foreign online gambling, but most of them rely on…
- Who Has The Jurisdiction To Make Gambling Laws in the U.S.?In order to understand gambling law in the United States, we must first get clear on who has the power to make…
- The Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement ActSince the UIGEA, several versions of the Internet Gambling and Enforcement Regulation Act have been proposed, all…
- The Internet Poker Freedom ActThe Internet Poker Freedom Act consisted of two separate versions proposed in Congress in 2013 and 2015 by Rep…
- The Threats of the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA)The Restoration of America's Wire Act, or RAWA, is an attempt by Congress to have the Wire Act apply to other…
- Early Efforts By The US to Curtail Online GamblingThe emergence of online gambling in the US presented a number of big challenges to the government in looking to…
- Actions By The US Government to Stop Online GamblingUS officials have never been shy about looking to charge Americans with online gambling offenses. There have been…
How the argument has gone
Prohibition, regulation, and the case made on each side.
- A Brief History of Gambling in the United StatesGambling has a long and rich history in the United States, as do anti gambling laws. Gambling has had several…
- Gambling Prohibition and RegulationPeople get confused a lot about what is legal and what is not, and even what it means to say something is legal or…
- States Start Regulating Online GamblingRegulated online gambling has finally come to USA and its huge gambling market, although at the present time only…
- The Political Barriers To Gambling in The United StatesAnti gambling laws have been popular in the United States for most of its history, driven primarily by beliefs…
- The Arguments In Favor of Online GamblingThere aren't really any good reasons why people should not be allowed to gamble online, but there are some good…
- The Arguments Against Online GamblingThere are several reasons why people believe that gambling, and especially online gambling, should be prohibited…
- The US Anti Gambling Propaganda MachineThe major took of the U.S. government in its efforts to combat online gambling has been the use or propaganda…
- Why These Internet Gambling Bills Don’t Really MatterSeveral bills have been proposed to permit online gambling in the US, and all have failed to become law, but none…
- The Challenges of Regulated Online GamblingRegulating land based businesses is a fairly easy proposition, especially compared to regulating online…
- Toward A Comprehensive Regulatory System in the USRegulating online gambling at the federal level is a very easy task in many countries, but it's far from that in…
- The Future of Online Gambling In the USNow that we finally have states regulating online gambling in the US, the expectation is that more and more states…
- Offshore Online Gambling RegulationWe often hear that offshore gambling sites are non regulated, and we need to therefore regulate or prohibit them…
- The Workarounds for Offshore Online Gambling SitesThe US has gone to some great lengths to look to eliminate or at least reduce the incidence of online gambling…
- Differences Between Land Based and Online GamblingOnline gambling has been a real game changer as far as greatly expanding the access that people have to gambling…
- How Do US Gambling Laws Apply to Other CountriesWho decides whether you can offer online gambling to people in other countries? It is always the case that the law…
How to read these pages
Each state page sets out what that state’s statute says and which regulator, if any, issues licenses there. Where a state has no regulated market, the page says so plainly rather than presenting an offshore site as though it were licensed locally.
We do not put a colour-coded legal status on this index. Legality is a claim about the law, and a one-word label hides the part that matters — a state may license sports betting and not casino play, regulate poker alone, or leave the question untested in court. The state page says which of those applies. Laws also move: where a bill was pending when a page was written, the page says so rather than guessing at the outcome.