The pandemic and the consequent switch to remote services had a serious impact on the American and global gambling industries. It increased the revenue of online gambling, which was estimated to be around $2,178 million in 2020. According to forecasts, it will increase by 17.34% during the next six years. During the pandemic, casino websites expanded their game selection — many of them, including Gratorama, introduced a variety of new games and slots. Some states in the USA, though, still prohibit it. In this article, you’ll find out about the gambling regulations for online websites that exist in the USA right now.
States With Online Gambling Regulations
In America, gambling is federally legal: authorities of each state decide to allow, restrict, or even outlaw gambling in every form within its borders. As a result, there are significant differences in laws concerning gambling among states. Currently, it is legal to wager on sports in twenty states, but only six among them have laws for platforms for online gambling.
New Jersey
The first attempts to legalize gambling in New Jersey were in the early 70s. In a constitutional referendum in 1974, new laws did not gain approval. However, in 1976 the majority decided to greenlight a legalization bill. Two years later the first gambling establishment in Atlantic City opened.
Today, it’s legal in New Jersey to play all types of casino games, both on the Internet and in various gambling houses. Estimated gambling revenue in this state is around $5.8 billion annually — that’s about $1.2 billion of the state’s tax revenue. New Jersey has lots of casino websites, and 10 of them work exclusively for the state residents. To play there, people have to be older than 21.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has a long history of regulated gambling. People started gambling there in 1964 — they quite liked races and they wanted to get money out of it, so the betting on horses began. Since then, local authorities have introduced regulations for lottery and casino games. In recent years, there were a few attempts to extend the legislation to cover online casinos as well. It was not successful until 2019 — then, Pennsylvania allowed all types of online gambling.
Now there are around 15 licensed casino establishments in the state. Overall, gambling revenue in Pennsylvania is the second-highest in the US ($6.8 billion). The estimated tax revenue is around $2.8 billion.
Michigan
One of the most liberal states for gambling is Michigan. The first approval of gambling legislation took place in 1997. The main aim was opening casinos in Detroit to attract players from the neighboring Canadian city, Windsor. During the following years, the gambling law was extended, which made Michigan one of the most popular destinations for casino players. According to local law, the legal gambling age is eighteen (but that excludes offline facilities with alcohol).
In 2021, Michigan allowed online gambling within its borders. By the end of 2021, about twenty legal online casinos started working in the state. The annual online gambling revenue of a new branch was expected to be around $1 billion last year ($250 million tax revenue).
Delaware
Another state with a long and rich history of gambling regulation is Delaware. The first official bet in the state was made on the racetrack in 1760. Horse races in the city of Newark operated for around 150 years. The first gambling license also was issued for horse betting. Afterward, state authorities legalized lottery and land-based casinos. Because of that, horse racing venues started to buy slot machines and tables for card games to offer services for new gamblers.
In 2021, it is legal to play all types of games in online casinos in Delaware. Estimated gambling revenue in the state is $635 million and tax revenue is about $253 million. People play from age 21.
West Virginia
Regulation for gambling in West Virginia appeared in 1931 when betting on horse races was legalized. Lotteries of the state were legalized in 1974, and casinos — in 1994. In 2001, video poker machines became legal there, too, while authorities in other states fought any attempt at legitimizing their activities. Tax rates for operators in West Virginia were fixed at 48%.
In 2019, an Interactive Wagering Act from the state’s lawmakers legalized online slots, poker, and betting for every state resident beyond age 21. First online casinos joined the bustling American industry immediately after. Estimated gambling revenue (without online casinos) is about $1 billion in West Virginia. The accumulated amount of tax from gambling is $385 million.
Nevada
While the capital of the United States is Washington, the gambling capital of the country is Las Vegas. Nevada was the first to make all games of luck legal: the idea was to fuel the economy with money from gambling taxes and regulate unruly underground gambling. Hotels in Las Vegas were the first holders of casino licenses. Today, there are more than 320 land-based gambling houses in the state.
Given all that, it may sound strange that in Nevada there are no state regulations for iGaming, bingo games, sports and horse racing, and lottery (though the former two also do not have any legislations applicable for brick-and-mortar casinos). There is, though, the state’s Control Board and Commission that regulates the activity of websites where users play poker, bet on anything other than sports/horse races, etc. Also, Nevada hosts one of the most popular online poker rooms in the world — WSOP.com.
Today, the gambling industry of Nevada accumulates more than $11.7 billion annually — approximately 783 million in tax revenue. The legal gambling age is 21 for casinos.
States That Are Planning to Introduce Gambling Regulation
While many states already made online gambling legal and produced laws for online casinos, many states are still planning to do so.
Connecticut. Their regulation was introduced in late 2021. Currently, only two online casinos have entered the market.
Massachusetts. After years of discussion, the MA House approved a bill to legalize sports betting. But the Senate of Massachusetts has not voted for it yet.
Ohio. Gamblers in Ohio await the legalization of online gambling in 2022. Most likely both sports betting and online casinos will become legal.
New York. New York chose to continue developing sports betting. There are almost ten legal sportsbooks. The legalization of online casinos is still being discussed.
Louisiana. In January 2021 sports betting in Louisiana also will be introduced. Though, online casinos still have to wait for it.
States Where Online Gambling is Restricted / Prohibited
Although gambling is legal in the USA on the federal level, two states forbid it on the local level. Utah adopted a strict ban on any gambling activity that requires real money. Hawaii allows only some card games in private homes, but no public entertainment.
Summary
The US can be described as one of the most liberal countries in the world when it comes to gambling legalization — but, of course, not every state’s gamblers are happy. In some parts of the country, a player is valued and appreciated — in others, they aren’t welcome. Since 2019, four states have legalized online casinos and, in three other states, some sort of legislation will be enacted in the next several years.
Published by