Is Online Gambling Legal in the USA?

This guide breaks down the current legal status of every major type of online gambling in the United States as of June 2026. It covers online casinos, online sports betting, online poker, daily fantasy sports, online horse betting, state lotteries, prediction markets, sweepstakes casinos, tribal gaming and offshore sites. It also explains the federal laws that shape all of them, provides a history and timeline of how American gambling law developed, and gives state-by-state breakdowns so you can find the rules that apply where you are. Where possible, it links directly to the statutes, court opinions and regulator pages that are the original sources for these rules.

A high-level summary of the nine categories of online gambling covered in this guide, how widely each is available, and which federal or state framework governs it. Each row links to the detailed section further down the page.

Although gambling is regulated mainly at the state level, four federal laws set the outer boundaries. Understanding them explains why the map looks the way it does. None of these laws makes it a federal crime for an individual to place a bet online; they target operators, payment processors and the question of what states may authorize.

The Wire Act of 1961

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA)

PASPA and Murphy v. NCAA (2018)

The Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978

Are Online Casinos Legal in the USA?

Real-money online casino gaming, often called iGaming, is legal and regulated in a small number of states. Online casino games include slots, blackjack, roulette, baccarat, video poker and live dealer games streamed from studios. Because online casinos are regulated at the state level, you must generally be physically located inside a state that permits iGaming and be at least 21 years old, which is the minimum age in every state that currently offers it. You do not have to be a resident of the state; you only have to be physically within its borders when you play, which licensed operators confirm using geolocation technology that draws on GPS, Wi-Fi, cell data and IP analysis. For a full breakdown of operators and bonuses, see our guide to real money online casinos.

iGaming has expanded far more slowly than sports betting. The main obstacle has been resistance from land-based casino interests, which have invested heavily in physical properties and employ thousands of people, and which worry that online play will cannibalize their floors. Legislation that gives existing casino license holders a clear path to online licenses tends to have an easier time passing. iGaming also raises sharper problem-gambling concerns than sports betting, since casino games are continuous and available every hour of the day. As a category, regulated U.S. iGaming generated billions in gross gaming revenue in 2025, with New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan together accounting for the large majority of it.

Which States Have Legal Online Casinos?

As of June 2026, eight states have legalized real-money online casinos. Seven of them have live, operational markets, and one, Maine, has legalized iGaming but had not yet launched as of this writing. The table below shows each state, the regulator that oversees it, the launch year and the shape of the market.

State-by-State Breakdown of Legal Online Casino Markets

New Jersey. New Jersey is the most mature and competitive iGaming market in the country, having launched in November 2013. It is regulated by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, every operator must be tied to a licensed Atlantic City casino, and the state offers a catalog running into the thousands of games. Online casino revenue in the state has grown to the point where it now exceeds what Atlantic City’s brick-and-mortar floors generate. New Jersey publishes monthly revenue reports and a current list of licensed operators through the DGE.

Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is the largest U.S. iGaming market by gross gaming revenue and hosts more than 20 licensed online casino brands. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board licenses and audits operators, each of which must partner with one of the state’s brick-and-mortar casinos. Pennsylvania carries some of the steepest tax rates in the country yet still supports one of the deepest game libraries anywhere, and it joined the multi-state poker compact in 2025.

Michigan. Michigan launched in January 2021 under the Lawful Internet Gaming Act and has quickly become a top-three market. It is overseen by the Michigan Gaming Control Board and integrates both Detroit commercial casinos and tribal operators, with around 15 brands live. Michigan has also become the most aggressive state in the country at policing offshore operators, a point covered in the offshore section below.

West Virginia. West Virginia legalized iGaming in 2019 and launched in July 2020 under the West Virginia Lottery Commission. It is a smaller market by population but a steady performer that has set its own revenue records, with roughly 10 online casinos including most major national brands. It also offers online poker and participates in the multi-state poker agreement.

Connecticut. Connecticut legalized online casino gaming in 2021, but the market is deliberately narrow. Only the state’s two tribal nations may offer it: the Mohegan Tribe, whose product is powered by FanDuel, and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, whose product is powered by DraftKings. The Department of Consumer Protection regulates the market. The selection of operators is far smaller than in New Jersey or Pennsylvania.

Delaware. Delaware was one of the first states to legalize online gambling, back in 2013, but it operates very differently from the commercial markets. The Delaware Lottery runs the online casino as a monopoly built around the state’s three casino properties, with Rush Street Interactive serving as the platform vendor since 2023. Players can access slots, table games and video poker, but there are no competing operators, so the selection is the most limited of any commercial-style state.

Rhode Island. Rhode Island is the newest and smallest live market, having launched in March 2024 under Senate Bill 948. It operates as a single-operator market under an exclusive arrangement with Bally’s, overseen by the Rhode Island Lottery. It offers regulated slots and live dealer table games to players 21 and older who are physically located in the state.

Maine. Maine became the eighth state to authorize online casinos in early 2026, when Governor Janet Mills allowed the Wabanaki Nations economic opportunity bill to become law. The four federally recognized tribes each hold exclusive rights to partner with one operator, and a launch is expected in the second half of 2026 or into 2027. Gross online casino revenue will be taxed at 18 percent, with the Maine Gambling Control Unit as regulator.

Several other states debated iGaming legislation in 2026, including New York, Virginia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts and Indiana, but none passed a new online casino law as of June 2026. Virginia advanced two bills that could not be reconciled and that carry a reenactment clause meaning a launch there could not realistically happen before 2028. New York is widely viewed as the most likely large state to legalize iGaming in the near future, driven by budget needs and pressure from neighboring legal states.

Are Online Sportsbooks Legal for USA Players?

Online sports betting is by far the most widely available form of online gambling that involves wagering against a book. Its expansion followed the 2018 Supreme Court decision in Murphy v. NCAA, which struck down the federal ban known as PASPA and returned the decision to individual states. Before Murphy, Nevada was effectively the only state with full-scale legal sports betting. Within weeks of the ruling, Delaware and New Jersey took the first legal bets outside Nevada, and the map has expanded almost every year since. Our full guide to legal online sportsbooks covers the operators and apps available in each state.

As of June 2026, around 39 to 40 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico have legalized sports betting in at least one form. Of those, roughly 30 to 32 offer statewide online or mobile sports betting through licensed apps, which is the version most people mean when they ask whether online sports betting is legal. The remaining legal states limit betting to retail sportsbooks, restrict it to tribal lands, or allow mobile wagering only on casino premises. As with other forms of online gambling, you must be physically inside a state’s borders to place a legal online wager there, confirmed by geolocation, and the minimum age is 21 in most states though a few permit 18.

How a state regulates sports betting varies. Some run open, competitive markets with many operators (New Jersey, Colorado, Pennsylvania). Some tie each license to a casino or racetrack. A few run a single-operator or lottery-controlled model: Oregon’s mobile betting runs through the state lottery with DraftKings as the operator, New Hampshire contracts with a single online operator, and Florida’s mobile betting flows exclusively through the Seminole Tribe’s Hard Rock Bet app under a 2021 tribal compact. Rhode Island and Delaware also run lottery-centered models. These structural differences explain why the odds, promotions and number of apps available can change dramatically from one state line to the next.

What States Have Legal Online Sports Betting?

Below are the states with legal statewide online or mobile sports betting and the date online wagering became available. States where sports betting is legal but limited to retail or tribal-premises wagering are noted separately afterward, because they do not offer statewide online betting.

States with legal sports betting that do not offer statewide online wagering as of June 2026 include Mississippi, where mobile betting is limited to casino premises; Nebraska, which allows only in-person retail betting; North Dakota and South Dakota, where betting is restricted to tribal or in-person locations; New Mexico, which offers wagering only at tribal casinos under existing compacts; and Montana, where mobile betting is available only on-premises through the state lottery. Washington State permits sports betting only at tribal casinos, with no statewide mobile.

Are Online Poker Sites Legal for USA Players?

Real-money online poker is legal and regulated in a handful of states. Like online casinos, it is governed at the state level rather than nationally, and you must be physically located inside a regulated state to play on a licensed site. The defining feature of the regulated U.S. poker market is the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), a compact that lets participating states combine their player pools. This matters enormously for poker, because the game depends on liquidity: enough players online at once to fill tables and tournaments. New Jersey, Nevada, Delaware, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia participate in MSIGA, which produces larger tournaments, bigger prize pools and more active games than any single state could support alone. See our online poker guide for site reviews and game details.

What States Have Legal Online Poker?

As of June 2026, nine states have legalized and regulated online poker. They fall into two groups: states with live, active sites and states that have a legal framework but no operating sites yet.

Larger states such as California, Florida, New York and Texas remain outside the regulated online poker market, and meaningful near-term movement in those states appears unlikely. Nevada is unusual in that it permits online poker but not other online casino games.

Are DFS Sites Legal in the USA?

Daily fantasy sports (DFS) are legal or at least tolerated in most of the country. Their broad availability traces to UIGEA, the 2006 federal payments law, which carved out fantasy sports contests that meet certain requirements, treating them as games of skill rather than games of chance. Many states have since passed laws that explicitly legalize and regulate DFS; others have simply never addressed the activity, allowing operators to function in a legal gray area. The major operators today are DraftKings, FanDuel, and a set of pick-em-style apps such as PrizePicks and Underdog, some of which have faced state-specific challenges over whether their products are DFS or unlicensed sports betting. Our daily fantasy sports guide covers the major apps and contest types.

DFS is available in roughly 45 states. Some states have specific rules about pick-style contests. New York, for example, restricted pick-em-style contests in 2023, after which several operators shifted to peer-to-peer formats to keep operating there. Several states have sent cease-and-desist letters to pick-em operators while continuing to allow traditional salary-cap DFS.

What States Do NOT Have DFS?

Are Online Horse Betting Sites Legal for USA Players?

Online horse racing betting is the most widely available form of online wagering in the country. It operates under the federal Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 through a model called advance deposit wagering (ADW), in which you fund an account first and then place wagers online or through an app. Major ADW operators include TwinSpires (Churchill Downs), FanDuel Racing/TVG, NYRA Bets and Xpressbet. Wagers are pari-mutuel, meaning they are pooled with on-track and other off-track bets, and the odds reflect the total betting pool minus a takeout. See our online horse betting guide for operator details.

Horse betting works differently from sports betting when it comes to location. With sports betting, only your physical location matters. With horse racing ADW, your state of residence is often the primary factor in whether you can open an account, because operators are licensed state by state and some states are served only through multi-jurisdictional hubs licensed in Oregon or North Dakota.

Is Horse Betting Legal in My State?

As of 2026, online ADW horse betting is legal in roughly 40 to 44 states. A small group of states do not allow it at all: Alaska, Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina and Utah. Two additional states have notable restrictions: Texas allows in-person pari-mutuel wagering at licensed tracks but prohibits online horse betting, and North Carolina has passed legislation permitting pari-mutuel wagering but has not issued operator licenses, so online betting is not practically available there. Arizona permits ADW but applies restrictions near tribal lands. In the remaining states, including major racing jurisdictions such as Kentucky, New York, California and Maryland, online horse betting is broadly available. Because policies on accepting out-of-state customers vary from one racebook to the next, check a specific operator’s terms for your state.

Are Lotteries Legal in the USA?

State-run lotteries are the most widely available and widely played form of legal gambling in the United States. As of 2026, lotteries operate in 45 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Only five states have no state lottery at all: Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah. The reasons vary. Alabama and Utah cite religious and moral objections, with Utah’s constitution banning games of chance outright. Nevada’s casino industry has long lobbied against a state lottery that would compete for gambling dollars. Hawaii prohibits nearly all gambling. Alaska’s oil revenue historically reduced the need, though budget pressures have prompted recent proposals there. Our lottery guide covers the major games in more detail.

All 45 lottery states participate in the two multi-state games that function as de facto national lotteries: Powerball, drawn Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, and Mega Millions. Each is run by a consortium of state lotteries rather than the federal government; there is no national lottery organization. Lottery revenue is typically earmarked for public programs, most commonly education, and in fiscal years recently Americans have spent on the order of $100 billion a year on lottery tickets.

Is Online Lottery Legal?

Buying lottery tickets online, as opposed to at a retailer, is a separate question from whether a state has a lottery at all. Online lottery sales became viable nationally only after the 2011 Department of Justice opinion concluded that the Wire Act did not apply to non-sports gambling, which removed the federal cloud over selling tickets across state telecommunications lines. After that opinion, a number of states began selling draw-game tickets and, in some cases, instant games online or through official apps. The 2018 DOJ reversal briefly threatened these programs by suggesting the Wire Act might again reach lottery transmissions, but the 2021 First Circuit ruling in the New Hampshire Lottery case, and a 2022 Rhode Island ruling in the IGT case, restored confidence that the Wire Act does not apply to lotteries. The DOJ also issued guidance directing its attorneys not to apply the Wire Act to state lotteries operating under state law.

Today a subset of lottery states offer some form of online ticket sales or subscription, while many still require an in-person purchase. Online courier services, which buy physical tickets on a customer’s behalf, occupy a separate and sometimes contested niche, and several state lotteries and legislatures have moved to regulate or restrict them. Because online lottery availability and the specific games offered change frequently and differ from state to state, players should check their own state lottery’s official website for what is available.

Are Prediction Markets Legal for USA Players?

Prediction markets, such as Kalshi and Polymarket, let users trade contracts on the outcome of future events, increasingly including sports. Their legal status is one of the most contested questions in American gambling law as of June 2026. These platforms argue that they are regulated federally by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and that federal commodities law preempts state gambling regulation. Many states disagree, arguing that sports event contracts are functionally unlicensed sports betting that avoids state taxes and consumer protections. See our prediction markets guide for how these platforms work.

The result has been a wave of litigation with conflicting outcomes. In April 2026, the Third Circuit affirmed an injunction protecting Kalshi in a 2-1 decision, holding that sports event contracts fall within the federal definition of a swap; other courts have sided with state regulators. The dispute is widely expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court, and Congress has seen bills, including one titled the Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act, that would bar sports and casino-style contracts on federally regulated platforms. The bottom line for users is that the legality of trading sports contracts on these platforms remains unsettled and depends on where you live and which court ruling currently applies.

States That Have Challenged Prediction Markets

By early 2026, regulators in at least eleven states had issued cease-and-desist orders or taken enforcement action against prediction-market operators over sports event contracts, including Nevada, Maryland, Arizona, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Massachusetts and Connecticut. In several of these states, federal courts temporarily paused enforcement while the underlying questions are resolved, so the practical situation can change quickly. Separately, around eleven states introduced prediction-market legislation in 2026 ranging from outright bans to taxation and consumer-protection frameworks, and California gaming tribes have challenged prediction markets operating in the state.

Are Sweepstakes Casinos Legal for USA Players?

Sweepstakes casinos operate under a dual-currency model. Players use a free virtual currency for entertainment and a second promotional currency that can sometimes be redeemed for prizes. Because no direct purchase is required to obtain the redeemable currency (the “alternative method of entry”), these sites have historically operated under federal sweepstakes promotional law rather than gambling law, which allowed them to function in many states where traditional online casinos are illegal. The model rests on the principle that a sweepstakes is legal as long as it removes one of three elements: prize, chance or consideration. Our sweepstakes casino guide explains the model and the leading sites.

That model has come under heavy and accelerating pressure. Through 2025 and 2026, a growing number of states passed laws explicitly banning dual-currency sweepstakes casinos, often arguing the model is online casino gambling in everything but name. As bans pass, class-action litigation mounts and attorneys general issue cease-and-desist letters, many operators have exited states quickly. As of mid-2026, sweepstakes casinos are banned or effectively pushed out in roughly 13 states, while remaining legal in the rest, including large markets like Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Georgia.

States That Have Banned or Restricted Sweepstakes Casinos

The table below summarizes the states that have enacted statutory bans or use existing law and enforcement to block sweepstakes operators, with effective dates where available. The picture is changing month to month.

Several additional states have issued consumer warnings or sent cease-and-desist letters without a dedicated statute, including Maryland, Mississippi, Illinois (letters to more than 60 operators) and South Dakota. Anti-sweepstakes bills failed in some states, including Minnesota, Maryland, Florida and Massachusetts, when sessions ended without a vote, but such bills frequently return with sharper language. Because operators use geolocation to block banned states, a player traveling into a banned state typically cannot log in from that location.

A large share of American casino gaming happens on tribal land under a separate federal framework that is worth understanding, because it shapes several of the online markets above, especially in Connecticut, Michigan, Florida and the West. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 (IGRA), codified at 25 U.S.C. Sections 2701 and following, was enacted after the Supreme Court’s 1987 decision in California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians affirmed tribes’ right to conduct gaming the state otherwise permitted. IGRA’s stated purpose is to promote tribal economic development and self-sufficiency while shielding gaming from organized crime.

American gambling law has moved in waves: periods of broad tolerance followed by moral backlash and prohibition, then revival. Understanding that cycle makes the current patchwork easier to follow. Scholars often describe three great waves of legal gambling in U.S. history.

The first wave ran from the colonial era into the 19th century. Lotteries were a primary public-finance tool: the Virginia Company was authorized by King James I to run a lottery for the Jamestown colony in 1612, and colonial and early-state lotteries funded roads, bridges, churches and universities including Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Card rooms, horse racing and riverboat gambling spread west during the 1800s. This wave collapsed amid moral reform movements and a wave of corruption scandals, most notoriously the Louisiana Lottery, which led Congress to ban interstate lottery promotion in 1890. By around 1900, nearly every state had outlawed lotteries, and most gambling went underground.

The second and third waves brought gambling back. Nevada relegalized casino gambling in 1931 with Assembly Bill 98, during the Depression and the construction of Hoover Dam, creating the template for Las Vegas. In 1964, New Hampshire launched the first modern state lottery, initially tied to horse-race results to skirt old anti-lottery laws, and lotteries then spread state by state in a geographic ripple. Atlantic City brought casinos east in 1978. Tribal gaming was unlocked by the Cabazon decision and IGRA in the late 1980s. And the modern online era arrived in two bursts: the 2011 DOJ opinion that cleared online casinos, poker and lottery, and the 2018 Murphy decision that opened sports betting nationwide.

Timeline of Key Dates

Because each category of online gambling is regulated separately, the answer to whether online gambling is legal where you live depends on which activity you mean. The table below summarizes the most common forms for all 50 states and Washington, D.C.: online casinos, online poker, statewide online sports betting, daily fantasy sports, online horse betting and the state lottery. For prediction markets and sweepstakes casinos, refer to the dedicated sections above.

For the rules that apply specifically where you live, see our full set of state-by-state gambling guides.

Are Offshore Gambling Sites Legal for USA Players?

Offshore gambling sites are casinos, poker rooms and sportsbooks licensed in other countries that accept American players. Their legal status is a gray area. No federal law makes it a crime for an individual to place a bet on an offshore site. Federal enforcement, including the Wire Act and the 2011 action against major poker sites, has focused on operators and payment processors rather than individual players. State laws vary, and most states do not have a law that specifically makes it illegal for a resident to bet on an offshore site.

The practical risks are less about prosecution and more about consumer protection. Because these sites operate outside U.S. regulation, players have little recourse if a site refuses to pay out, freezes an account or shuts down. There are no state-mandated responsible-gambling protections, no audited random number generators, and disputes cannot be resolved in U.S. courts. State regulators consistently warn that consumers using offshore sites face the risk of unfair or manipulated games, withheld winnings and misuse of personal and financial data.

Will I Go to Jail for Using Offshore Gambling Sites?

For the overwhelming majority of Americans, the realistic answer is no. There is no documented case of a U.S. player being arrested simply for playing at an offshore casino, poker room or sportsbook for personal use. When federal authorities prosecuted major offshore poker sites in 2011, those sites worked with the government to return money to players rather than have it seized, and the players themselves were not charged. That said, a handful of states classify online gambling itself as a crime, and in those states using an offshore site is technically illegal even if individual players are rarely or never prosecuted. Washington State is the clearest example, treating online gambling as a felony. This guide is not legal advice; weigh both the legal status in your state and the absence of consumer protections before using any offshore site.

How States Are Cracking Down on Offshore Sites

Even though players are rarely targeted, state regulators have sharply escalated enforcement against offshore operators, mainly through cease-and-desist campaigns aimed at the operators themselves and the payment, advertising and affiliate channels that support them. Michigan has been the most aggressive. The Michigan Gaming Control Board has issued waves of cease-and-desist orders under the Lawful Internet Gaming Act and Lawful Sports Betting Act, including a single April 2026 action against 45 offshore operators, on top of dozens of earlier letters. Named targets have included well-known offshore brands such as Bovada, BetOnline, MyBookie, WagerWeb and BetDSI. Other states have followed with their own warnings and orders, and some offshore operators voluntarily exclude residents of certain states, such as Washington, New Jersey, New York and Maryland, as a matter of company policy. The broader trend is that as legal markets mature, regulators treat offshore enforcement as a core, ongoing activity, increasingly coordinating across states and pressing for federal help.

What States Have Made Offshore Gambling Sites Illegal?

Washington has the strictest law in the country on this point: under Washington law, online gambling, including the use of offshore poker and casino sites, is classified as a felony. A few other states classify online gambling as a felony or misdemeanor in ways that can reach offshore play. Iowa and Montana, alongside Washington, are commonly cited as treating online gambling as a felony, while states such as Michigan, Virginia and Utah classify it as a misdemeanor. In most other states, there is no specific law making it a crime for a resident to bet on an offshore site, which is why operators continue to accept American customers nationwide even as regulators target the operators.

Online gambling in the United States is legal, but only in pieces. There is no nationwide yes or no answer. Online sports betting, daily fantasy sports, online horse betting and state lotteries are available across much of the country, while online casinos and online poker remain limited to a small but slowly growing group of states. Newer categories such as prediction markets and sweepstakes casinos are in the middle of intense legal battles that could reshape their availability within the next year or two.

The single most important rule is to know the laws in your own state, because they determine what you can legally do and what protections you have if something goes wrong. State-regulated options come with licensed operators, defined regulators and a clear path to resolve complaints, which is why they are generally the safer choice. Because these laws change frequently, confirm the current status with your state’s gaming authority before you play, and treat this guide as a well-researched starting point rather than the final word. If gambling stops being fun or starts causing harm, free and confidential help is available 24/7 through the national problem-gambling helpline at 1-800-GAMBLER.