US Online Betting: Which States Have Legalized it Already?

The American online gambling industry has been limited to horse racing betting for decades, but we have witnessed a massive expansion of other forms like poker, sports betting, casino games, lotteries, and daily fantasy sports in the past decade. We have never had so many betting options available in the United States, and the number keeps growing on a monthly basis.

The players from all over the country are thus spoiled for choice among numerous freebet offers, bonuses, welcome packages, and all types of attractive incentives you can think of. It is obviously great news for the bettors who will much easier find better options for wagering in such a highly competitive market.

How has the landscape changed?

The United States have steadily shifted the entire landscape on the back of several important events. The federal government changed its interpretation of the 1961 Wire Act in 2011 when the Department of Justice came out with an opinion stating that the Wire Act applied to sports betting only, not to the other gambling activities. From then on, each state had an opportunity to legalize other gambling forms like betting with free bets, individually. Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware were among the quickest to react by adopting online poker, casino games, or both. Seven years later, in May 2018, the Supreme Court ruled out PASPA, allowing the states to decide whether they want to regulate online sports betting as well.

The states have divided opinions on the matter, but we believe the vast majority will eventually embrace all gambling activities sooner rather than later. While other countries are moving forward with liberalization of things like Cannabis, USA is still struggling with online gambling. We will now provide you a list of the states that have already reacted to the aforementioned changes in regulations.

States with legal online casino/poker, or both

• New Jersey

• Nevada

• Delaware

• Pennsylvania

• West Virginia

States expected to pass legislation to allow online gambling (casino and poker) in the next year

• Illinois

• New York

• Massachusetts

• Indiana

• Connecticut

• California

States with legal online sports betting

• Illinois

• Arkansas

• Delaware

• Colorado

• Iowa

• Indiana

• Maryland

• Louisiana

• Mississippi

• Michigan

• Nevada

• Montana

• New Jersey

• New Hampshire

• New York

• New Mexico

• Oregon

• North Carolina

• Rhode Island

• Pennsylvania

• Tennessee

• South Dakota

• Washington

• Virginia

• West Virginia

• Washington DC

States expected to pass legislation to allow sports betting in the next year

• Connecticut

• California

• Ohio

Daily Fantasy Sports, horse racing, and lottery

These three forms are available in almost all states without any prohibitions. Nonetheless, some states have limited online purchases of lotteries or put certain restrictions on DFS or horse racing wagering, but in theory, you can place bets on any of the three activities pretty much anywhere in the country.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes