USA Live Casinos

A question like “is online gambling legal in the US?” seems simple enough, but the answer is fairly complicated. Decades of legal conundrums left their mark, leaving things unclear or in legal grey areas. You should also consider that individual states also have a say in the matter, which means that the legality of gambling activities varies from state to state.

On a federal level, online gambling in the United States is legal but highly regulated. Individual states set their own regulations and policies, which means the legality of online casino games varies a lot from state to state.

Gambling Laws & Regulations

There are a few nationwide bits of legislation that you should keep in mind if you intend to gamble online in the US.

• The Federal Wire Act of 1961 – This law prohibits any sort of gambling that takes place across state lines. It also means that it’s illegal to move gambling proceeds over state lines. So, for instance, if you’re based in Pennsylvania, you can’t simply register with a casino site in New Jersey. The casino would have to have a subsidiary in Pennsylvania for the whole thing to be legal.
• Secondly, there’s the infamous Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. This law is widely considered to be one of the root causes of the stagnation of the online gambling industry in the US, although it does not expressly prohibit internet gambling. However, it prohibits transactions between banks and online gambling sites. As you might imagine, this puts online casinos in a difficult position, especially concerning deposits and withdrawals.
• In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992. Although this law was more concerned with sports betting than casino gaming, it also gave the Federal government authority over the legality of gambling in US states. Since the law was overturned, individual States retain full authority to prohibit, allow, manage, and regulate gambling within their respective territories. As a result, the legality of online gambling still varies from state to state.

How Legislation Affects US Online Gambling

The effects of these laws can be felt throughout the online gambling experience in America, as well as in terms of how online casino games (and live dealer tables specifically) are forced to operate.

• Due to the Wire Act of 2016, players can only gamble with operators licensed in a specific state. The operator has to be registered as a company within that state.
• This principle applies to every part of the gambling industry vertical. For example, software providers typically collect a portion of the profits of their games, sharing the rest with the casino operator. This counts as gambling proceeds, which means it can’t cross state lines. This effectively means that any provider that wants to offer live casino games in a certain state has to stream them from the same state, necessitating specialized US studios.
• That’s why many live casino software providers offer only a small part of their portfolio to American players. Any games in legal US casinos are streamed from studios that are limited in size and scope because they can only cater to a very small audience. In comparison, these companies’ main studio locations can stream worldwide, allowing them to be much bigger and more diverse.
• The UIGEA Act of 2016 also heavily restricts how US players can withdraw from online gambling venues. While deposits are usually not a problem, withdrawals are often limited to a few severely limited options, such as checks or wire transfers, which have hefty fees, long processing times, and high transaction minimums.
• As a result, cryptocurrency casinos have gained a lot of traction among American players. The legally murky status of cryptocurrency means that most gambling legislation in the US does not affect it, since crypto is not widely considered to be legal tender (yet.) Also, the anonymity of crypto transactions allows US-based players to sidestep the payment restrictions and legally access offshore casinos, which typically offer a lot more game variety as well.

Legality by State

The table below contains the current status of the legality of online gambling in US states.

Note that this information is subject to change, and some states have more in-depth regulations that allow some forms of online gambling while prohibiting others. As such, you should double-check your state’s laws before attempting to register at a casino.

Key points about live online casinos in the US

• Despite being one of the largest markets for casino gaming on the globe, the online casino scene in America is still relatively small. There’s a very clear reason for this – most states currently outright prohibit online gambling in most forms.
• To be specific, gambling itself is not illegal in the US. However, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 prohibits transactions from banks and similar institutions to online gambling sites in the US. As you might imagine, it’s hard to gamble online for real money without being able to make transactions.
• Since 2006, several attempts have been made to change or rectify the UIGEIA. So far, none have passed through Congress.
• However, several states managed to enforce their legislation, finally allowing residents to safely play live games online. For instance, online gambling is expressly allowed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
• For most other US-based players, cryptocurrency betting such as with BitCoin remains the best option. Bitcoin Casinos in the US are perfectly legal because the 2006 law only covers fiat currency transactions. However, cryptocurrencies come with their own set of advantages and disadvantages.
• All that aside, the US is still the home of Vegas, Atlantic City – not to mention blackjack and Texas Hold ‘em. Moreover, regulations are being updated regularly.
• That said, a lot of the world’s best online casinos are software providers and not accessible to American customers. Instead, a number of specifically American live dealer casinos specialize in the US corner of the market. The same largely applies to live casino software providers and studios.