Important Question – Is Online Gambling Legal in the US?
Online gambling in the United States is an interesting topic and there are conflicting views about this topic. As online gambling is constantly still being challenged, one frequently asked a question by many people is whether it is legal or not.
One thing is clear— the legality of online gambling depends on the state.
The stance to online gambling of most states of the US is vague as the law just doesn’t say. The many states are still struggling to put into law their stance on this subject. Currently, online casinos are legal in the following states: New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.
Online Gambling in New Jersey
New Jersey has the largest market of legal and regulated real-money online casinos in the country.
However, all gambling activities should be within Atlantic City, and all approved gambling sites must be partnered with a land-based casino also within Atlantic City.
This means all gaming servers should, again, be within Atlantic City. Only people within state lines are eligible to play on the approved sites.
Online Gambling in Nevada
Nevada is the first state in the country to legalize land-based casinos and is also currently the highest grossing casino economy in the country. Online gambling was legalized for Nevada residents in 2013.
It’s the stance on real-money online gambling however is only restricted to online poker.
Online Gambling in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is the second-highest grossing casino economy in the country and is the fourth state to legalize online gambling. In 2017, Tom Wolf signed into law that the state now allows online slots, online poker, online table games, and more—and this will all launch sometime in mid-2019.
Currently, there are ten operators in the state with approved licenses as given by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB).
Considering the online gambling industry makes an estimate of over one billion dollars, some states have considered legalizing online gambling as well. And a great example of this is New York.
Currently, New York hasn’t legalized online gambling—yet. The state is currently active though in trying to pass a law for its legalization. In 2016, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo passed a law legalizing daily fantasy sports— a mixture of fantasy sports and sports betting in a nutshell.
In 2018, the New York Senate passed a bill for the legalization of online poker. Unfortunately, this wasn’t passed by the Assembly.
But with Assemblyman Gary Pretlow leading, as he is pushing for the legalization of online sports betting in the state, it appears that there is a brighter future for New York’s stance on online gambling.
