With the U.S. Supreme Court recently deciding to legalize sports betting in the U.S., it has become clear to the high rollers what’s legal and what’s not in certain states. Some of the most influential names in sports showed their support in legalizing sports betting, specifically a well-known supporter is the NBA and, more recently, the PGA.
That’s why PlayUSA have put together an interactive guide designed to let you work out exactly what’s legal in each state and in which states all types of sports betting are legal, illegal and possibly unclear, helping even the least experienced players know their chances throughout the country.
The Main Four Sporting Contenders
So while other states might still classify sports betting as illegal, the good news is that there are four states that do allow you to be able to get in on a game or two. These states for include:
- Delaware – While Delaware doesn’t offer conventional casino gambling everywhere in the state. It does, however, maintain several constitutionally exempt casinos, as well as sports betting and horse racing.
- Montana – While the Northwestern state only classifies 3 forms of gambling illegal, including Daily Fantasty Sports (DFS) and online lottery, it is one of the few that sees sports betting and horse racing as legal forms of gambling.
- Oregon – Alongside Delaware and Montana, Oregon was one of the three states where sports lotteries were exempt from the 1992 Act preventing sports betting.
- Nevada – The Las Vegas state certainly has statewide gambling establishments (one of only two states). As well as the three states whose sports lotteries were exempt from the PASPA, Nevada’s licensed sports pools went unbanned.
Sun, Sea and Statewide Bans
While sports betting is rather a controversial topic, it is interesting that horse racing is not as outlawed. With majority of US states, such as New York, Wyoming and Kentucky, classify horse racing as legal there are however only five states which remain opposed, namely Utah, Hawaii, Alaska, Georgia and North Carolina.
Overall Hawaii has a blanket ban on all forms of gambling. Social gambling among friends is allowed, and some bills have been introduced attempting to legalise both internet gambling and daily fantasy sports, but historically legislation attempting to legalize gambling in the state has been rejected.
As well as Hawaii, Utah also claims to have strict restrictions on gambling, with the majority of gambling practices listed as illegal, including sports betting and horse racing, and Daily Fantasy Sport’s standing remaining unclear.
The State of Play
For the rest of the states, and to see which gambling has the least acceptance in America, explore the tool on the PlayUSA website here.