Online Casino Gambling Laws

1. Federal Casino Laws
2. Is Online Casino Gambling Legal In The Us

Gambling has proliferated across the USA over the past few decades and now most states have commercial casinos, tribal casinos or both. Online gambling in the United States has been slower to grow, but a handful of states have legalized online casinos in the to date. The management of legal US casinos varies from state to state. The law had no effect on online casino or poker gambling and does not affect online sportsbook gambling. This law was thrown off the books in May of 2018 by the Supreme Court of the United States dramatically changing the landscape of USA gambling. UK Online Casino Gambling Laws. New Jersey currently stands tall as the leader in the online gambling USA space. New Jersey passed its online gambling law in 2013. The new statute allowed Atlantic City casinos to apply for internet gaming permits. Those permits authorized the casinos to host a variety of online casino sites under their licenses. Laws can, therefore, vary depending on different forms of gambling such as Poker, Casino games like Roulette or Blackjack, sports betting, lotteries, horse racing, and advance-deposit wagering. The federal laws which affect online gambling in the US are: the PASPA Act, the Interstate Wire Act, and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The PASPA Act was meant to prevent anyone from placing sports bets at land-based or online casinos. However, the Act was revoked in 2018 when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of New Jersey.

In the United States, both the Federal government and individual state governments are responsible for regulating gaming within their jurisdiction. The Federal government has designated some forms of gambling as prohibited within the US and has created laws that are non-negotiable in the regulation of such prohibited activities. On this subject, the Federal government may outlaw any form of gambling and states must abide by their law as Federal regulation will always trump state laws. It is important to any country’s gambling laws in order to stay within the country’s legal guidelines.

States, however, are permitted to maintain their own regulations and prohibitions on acceptable forms of gambling as dictated by Federal regulations. So long as state laws align and do not challenge or disobey Federal gaming laws they are free to control, oversee, and manage to gamble within their state. Usually, states create and employ gaming control boards or special gaming commissions to supervise gambling activities within their state borders. State laws are subject to their specific state and do not have jurisdiction or power to control laws in other states. Therefore, gambling laws can differ greatly between states.

Active Federal Laws And Regulations In The United States That Affect Online Gambling

The United States maintains several significant federal gambling laws that greatly affect how gambling is regulated and permitted throughout the nation. Each law provides its own in-depth explanation, reasoning, and history behind its creation and implementation. On this page we summarize the laws, however, to gain a comprehensive understanding of the background of each federal law simply follow the highlighted links to resource guide that provides a greater depth of explanation.

Federal Wire Act – To combat prolific organized crime surrounding illegal bookmaking, then President John F. Kennedy enacted this law which effectively outlawed betting businesses from using phones to accept, place, or transmit interstate or foreign wagers on sports. At the time, this federal law greatly minimized domestic mafia bookmaking operations. The law has recently been interpreted by the US Department of Justice as effectively prohibiting U.S. based online sportsbooks from operating within the nation’s borders. Therefore it is a crime to operate an online sportsbook on US soil. The law does not prohibit USA residents from engaging in online sports betting at a legitimately licensed and regulated sportsbook that is legally operating outside of the United States.

DOJ Formal Opinion – In 2011, the DOJ and the Office of Legal Counsel released a memo that explained their formal interpretation of the Federal Wire Act that countered against the previous position the Criminal Division of the DOJ had taken. The memo stated that their prohibition on US-based Internet gaming only applied to online sports wagering. This clarification effectively allowed U.S. states to determine their destiny regarding online gambling as long as it doesn’t entail betting on sports. Therefore online casinos and poker sites are now legally permissible should a state decide to legalize these forms of betting entertainment.

UIGEA – This federal law is specifically aimed at online gaming operators and online gaming payment processors to curb illegal financial crimes, fraud, and money laundering through internet gaming activities. Financial institutions were thus barred from permitting direct transactions to online gaming service providers and given specific regulations on how they may process such transactions. In essence, the law provides regulatory oversight regarding how the online gambling transactions of USA residents are processed. The law does not make online gambling illegal.

PASPA – Once acted as the governing law over the prohibition of brick and mortar sports wagering throughout the US, with the exception of four exempted states. These four states had already implemented some type of active sports wagering or had pending sports legislation in place by a specified deadline and therefore were deemed exempt from the restrictions enacted by PASPA. The exemption was also offered to New Jersey due to their thriving Atlantic City gambling entertainment market, however, the state failed to take advantage of this option and allowed the deadline to pass. However, in 2018 SCOTUS reviewed PASPA and on May 14th ruled it unconstitutional and void. This law is no longer effctive in the land of the free.

RAWA – A preemptive bill yet decided upon intends to rewrite the Federal Wire Act of 1961 to extend prohibitions to include all forms of online gaming. If passed, this law would violently impact the current and future USA online gambling market as it does not include carve-outs for existing state-regulated online gambling platforms such as those initiated in Delaware, New Jersey, and Nevada – effectively making all online gaming in the USA illegal immediately.

State Gambling Laws

Individual states maintain the authority to allow or prohibit any form of gambling within their borders that are not expressly prohibited by US federal gambling laws. Due to the differing climate of states and their individual positions regarding legal forms of gambling entertainment, it is crucial to provide up to date information on what each US state permits and forbids in order to deliver the most accurate information for our readers. Therefore, we have specialized state focused pages to deliver the most current information on gaming laws and permissible gaming entertainment within their borders. Not only that, we provide here a state-specific gambling entertainment bill tracker to keep Americans updated on upcoming legal forms of betting entertainment in their state and inform them of newly enacted or retracted gambling laws.

Who Regulates Gambling in The United States?

At the federal level, there are multiple agencies that have a say in the regulation of U.S.A. gambling, these figures include the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US Supreme Court, the House of Representatives, Congress, and even the President. All of whom communicate with one another and utilize the US constitution and precedent laws to determine the eligibility and legality of pending gambling legislation and regulations. At the state level, senators and congressmen in government positions lobby, direct, and discuss possible gaming legislation to either generate, permit, and regulate various legal forms of gaming entertainment in their state.

However, state governments often create sanctioned oversight boards such as Gaming Control Boards or Gaming Commissions to authorize, supervise and regulate legalized gambling activities within their state. Certain states in the USA may only have limited forms of legal gaming and therefore consolidate administrative power to existing commissions such as Lottery Commissions that are then tasked to regulate lotteries and limited forms of gambling such as charitable gaming in this case.

Forms of Legal Gambling in The United States

There are a variety of legal forms of gambling within the United States, however, these permitted venues are not uniform across state lines and players interested in engaging in these activities should check with local state laws to ensure lawful participation. As identified by the American Gaming Association the following forms of gaming entertainment are legal in the US: brick and mortar commercial casinos, tribal-run casinos, public and private poker rooms, bingo halls, various charitable gambling venues offering games such as raffles, pull-tabs, paddlewheel, punchboards, and casino nights, table games, on-track and off-track pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing, exotic wagering, bookmaking, daily fantasy sports tournaments, skill-based tournaments such as billiards, darts, and fishing, and lotteries.

Forms of Legal Online Gambling in The United States

Within the U.S.A. there are legal forms of online gambling that citizens may participate in, however again, the permissibility of online wagering is not equal across state borders as individual states hold the authority to allow or prohibit various types of online gambling for their state residents. With this being said, a number of US states have permitted the legalization of online gaming platforms through the use of iGaming services providing online casino, poker and lottery initiatives that are thriving. As of this writing, Delaware, New Jersey, and Nevada all have state-based online poker available, and both Delaware and New Jersey also offer state-regulated online casino gambling as well.

At this moment in time, individual states are not eligible to provide state-regulated sports betting online due to current federal legislation blocking such access. Regardless, nearly all USA residents may participate in legally licensed and regulated offshore online sports betting sites that remain a legal online avenue for USA players.

What Is The Legal U.S. Gambling Age?

Generally, gambling is legally accessible to individuals above the age of eighteen. However, every state has its own laws on the minimum legal age for gambling within their borders and often it can vary by game type. Normally, lottery gambling, charitable gambling, parimutuel wagering and bingo are available to young adults who are at least eighteen. Often times poker and casino gambling impose a requirement for individuals to be at least twenty-one in order to participate. These norms vary by state.

What Happens If I Violate A US Gambling Law?

Nearly all states criminalize gambling in some form and contain various penalties and punishments set for engaging in illegal forms of gambling. Violations of any US gambling laws, whether federal or state, can lead to imprisonment, hefty fines, and/or probation. Each violation case is different, and penalties vastly change based on the state or jurisdiction the violation took place in and circumstance. Imprisonment can vary based on a misdemeanor or felony offense in which case can result in up to a year in county or local jail for misdemeanors and a year or more in prison for felony offenses.

Criminal cases involving organized crime and professional gambling can result in up to a 10-year sentence in federal prison or more. Fines can vary on a state by state basis, generally, misdemeanor fines can range from $100 up to a $1,000 or more. Felony fees are relatively handled the same way and they can reach up to $20,000 or more. Fines can be separate punishments or in addition to jail or prison sentences. Probation sentences often ask offenders to serve 12 or more months either in a gambling addiction treatment facility or refraining from participating in gambling activities alongside with judge recommendations for community service or similar.

Is Illegal Gambling a Problem in the United States?

Federal Casino Laws

In the past, illegal gambling rings were run by threatening mobster figures who would often commit violent crimes against individuals and families of persons with unpaid debts. Today, the seedy dark figures of the past are no longer so prevalent but that is not to say that there are no underground gambling activities taking place in the US. In fact, several cases of violent threats and acts occur to this day due to gamblers placing wagers and falling into debt with the wrong type of individuals.

Illegal gaming remains a huge black-market business in the U.S. and every day individuals can place illicit wagers through bookies, backdoor casinos, and illegal online portals while operators, owners, and bookmakers take their cut of this lucrative business. No one is sure how much money is exactly wagered illegally but some estimate that the numbers are close to $88 billion a year. Other than the issue of states being unable to tax this money and legal venues losing money to illegal platforms, the greater issue of possible gambling addiction remains the most threating as addiction can lead to serious problems concerning an individual’s financial welfare, home-life, and possible crimes committed.

Which States Consider Gambling Illegal?

Gambling is wholeheartedly illegal in Utah and Hawaii, as they are well-known for their gaming prohibitions and strict anti-gambling laws. These two states have often reasoned that gambling would destroy their religious values, moral family structures, and harm their communities. Certain states that do not oppose gambling on moral grounds still limit gaming within their borders and only provide minimal gaming entertainment access; a move that often forces interested bettors into illegal gambling activities. One state in particular that engages in this type of limitations is Alaska, however, other states employ similar limitation tactics. These types of restrictions have driven the legal online gambling industry to gain momentum.

How Do I Know If I’m Gambling At An Illegal Destination?

Often a red flag for any gambler is the location of the said gaming site. Look around: is the setting of the business in a rundown location hidden from legal oversight? Do you have to enter through a special backdoor? Is the lighting poor, hygiene of the venue dissatisfactory, and do the patrons and staff give off a suspicious feeling? The one sure fire way to determine the legitimacy of any type of gambling business either offline or online is through their credentials. Legally sanctioned gambling businesses have no problem being transparent regarding their licensing, regulatory oversight and compliance certifications.

All licensing credentials should reflect the name of the agency or gaming commission that issues licensing for any given jurisdiction, and can easily be verified through the relevant regulatory body. If you find yourself in contact with a gambling business of any kind that acts defensive or is elusive when you attempt to question their credentials, you can speculate that their legitimacy is questionable. Illegitimate gambling businesses, which in turn are illegally operating, are usually focused on predatory acts, such as theft and fraud. We strongly caution against sharing any information with any gambling business that you are not sure is operating legally within the industry.

Who Do I Contact About Illegal Gambling Operations?

Once you have come in contact with an illegal gambling operation that attempted to entice you to wager on or participate in illicit activities, contact a lawyer, report the illegal operation at ic3.org, and follow up with filing a report with the FBI, local law enforcement, the American Gaming Associations Illegal Gambling Advisory Board, and/or Internal Revenue Criminal Investigation Department.

Help With Gambling Addiction In The United States

Following new health recommendations in Spain, casino operators in the Canary Islands have proposed a change in restrictions to the Ministry of Health. The preliminary agreement between industry leaders and the ministry will now be appraised by the Governing Council, who will determine if health measures are relaxed in casinos and bingo halls throughout the islands.

Casino operators in the Canary Islands have asked their council to extend opening hours among other COVID-19-related health measure changes. ©Zinah Insignia/Unsplash

What changes are proposed in Canary Islands casinos and bingo halls?

The main change in the proposal from casino venues is an extension of hours for gambling. As with many nonessential business and public entertainment venues, casinos and gaming halls were heavily restricted through Spain’s COVID-19 lockdowns in order to combat the spread of the virus.

Now that some health restrictions have eased in Spain, casinos on the island would also like to be allowed to operate for longer, allowing more visitors and increased spending, and hopefully reaching a normal level of operation sooner rather than later. As with many casino industries throughout the world, Spain’s gaming industry suffered during the pandemic and is trying to make up for lost time.

Is Online Casino Gambling Legal In The Us

In addition to longer hours, the proposal outlines additional changes that would help casino and bingo venues continue to address health and safety concerns while allowing more people into the premises. One such change would be requiring guests to show either a valid vaccination record or a negative COVID-19 test.

Operators in the Canaries argue that their venues should follow the same protocol initiated for other entertainment venues like nightclubs. Bingo halls in Valencia, Spain have recently made the same argument to local authorities, citing the easing of restrictions for other nightlife proprietors and asking to be allowed open until 3 a.m.

What were the laws until now?

New regulations for combatting COVID-19 were established in the Canary Islands at the start of September, under Decree Law 11/2021. Under the decree, casinos, bingo halls and other recreational gaming halls were allowed to carry out their activities once more.

However, this is under the stipulation that they regulate the number of guests on the premises and stick to strict capacity measures, as well as established opening hours. All of these requirements depend on the risk level of the particular region the halls are located in. Venues must ensure that they enforce capacity limitations and show evidence of venue control.

Use of masks indoors and distances of 1.5 meters between guests was another stipulation of the decree, meaning venues must also arrange gambling machines and tables accordingly. Where distance is not possible or where machines are used by multiple members of the public, a worker must also be present to supervise and disinfect contact points between uses.

For machines located outside of regular, designated casino halls — for example in tourist accommodations, restaurants, ships and amusement parks — owners must also ensure that distance is maintained between customers and that machines are regularly cleaned. They are also required to show proof of an established hygiene protocol.

Volcano Erupts in La Palma

Residents of the Canary Island of La Palma have been hard hit by the eruption of a volcano in the Cumbre Vieja nature park, which started on Sept. 19. Thousands of residents have been evacuated and many homes have been destroyed. Now the lava flow has finally reached the Atlantic Ocean, which poses a risk for creating toxic gases.

Since the smoke and gas from the destructive lava flow can travel, concern is high through the Canaries. Other islands have not shut down facilities as of yet, but are on alert as the situation develops. This means that all business, including casino regulation changes, may have to take a backseat until the situation is more settled.