There is no U.S. federal law against Gaming online

There’s no U.S. national law against gambling online. At the national level, betting online is perfectly legal, due to the lack of a law against it. It’s possible to run afoul of state law (notably in extremely conservative countries ), however there prosecution is very uncommon, and penalties are often slight.
U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway admitted in a House hearing that only placing wagers online doesn’t violate federal law. No American has ever been arrested, indicted, or prosecuted by the feds for gambling online, since there’s no law against it. If online gaming were illegal I would not be running his site for nineteen years, as an American citizen, residing in the U.S., using my real name. And I occasionally gamble online, also, and I admit that publicly, like I am doing right now.
This might be confusing because other outlets erroneously noted that Congress banned online gambling in 2006. Those reports are just erroneous. The 2006 law makes it illegal for banks to move betting money once the stakes are already illegal (including from a country law), but does not ensure it is illegal for gamers to make bets. The law just does not create or extend any ban on gambling itself. In fact, the law states quite clearly,”No provision of this subchapter shall be construed as altering, limiting, or expanding any Federal or State legislation or Tribal-State compact banning, permitting, or regulating gambling within the USA.” You can see for yourself by checking out the entire text of the law.
Despite the fact that you don’t violate any federal laws from putting bets online, it is not legal to conduct a gambling operation (i.e., to take bets), except in those few countries where it’s explicitly legal and the operator is accredited. Therefore don’t believe you can begin an online casino or operate Facebook raffles.
And yes, the FBI published a frightening warning online in which they claimed that putting bets online is against the law. In short, they lied, and the DoJ eventually reversed that position anyway. (more on that)
States where online gambling is explicitly legal
Very few countries have specific laws against online gaming, though many have laws against gaming in general, which apply both to online and offline gambling. A small handful of countries have legalized online gambling, provided that you play at one of the handful of approved online casinos. In some states, only certain kinds of gaming may be lawful (e.g., poker). The countries That Have legalized some form of online gambling are:
Delaware became the first nation to legalize online gaming, in June 2012, and the next to start (Nov. 26, 2013). (USA Today, Delaware Online, Casino.org)
Nevada became the first state to legalize online gambling (well, poker at least), on Feb. 21, 2013 (CBS) and launch on April 30. (LVRJ)
New Jersey became the third state to legalize online gaming (poker casino), signed into law in February 2013, and launching on Nov. 25th. (NJ Poker Online)
Note that Bovada won’t accept players from such states, nor will they take players out of Maryland or New York.
The District of Colmbia became the first jurisdiction to legalize online gaming in the U.S., in April 2011. On the other hand, the measure was repealed in February 2012 until it ever became lively. (NY Times)
State violations of gambling are usually misdemeanors
Even when countries do not permit players to gamble, the penalties are always light. The only nations where simple gambling is a felony are both Washingtons: Washington, DC, and Washington state. (source) In many states easy gambling is merely a misdemeanor, and in Arkansas and Colorado it’s a simple petty crime, like a traffic ticket. (origin )
States with an online gambling prohibition
Even states that ban gambling generally usually don’t have a particular ban on online gambling. When it’s against the law to bet in your state, that applies offline and online, even if the law does not mention online. But a couple of countries do specifically outlaw online gambling. Those countries are:
Illinois
Indiana
Louisiana
Montana
Nevada (go figure)
Oregon
South Dakota
Washington
Wisconsin
Resource: Gambling Law U.S.
Players convicted of violating State laws I know of two cases in which a participant ran afoul of state legislation (in extremely conservative states), both of whom were billed under their state’s overall anti-gambling legislation, no specific anti-online-gambling law:
North Dakota. Jeffrey Trauman paid a $500 fine on which was likely over $100,000 in online sports wager winnings, in 2003. (Gambling & the Law)
Oklahoma. Online sports bettor Roland Benavides was charged in 2011 and in 2012 received a deferred sentence (meaning that if he doesn’t violate the conditions of his probation, he’ll likely face no jail time). (News OK)
Kentucky seized domains A Kentucky judge agreed to let Kentucky capture 141 gambling-related domains, on the spurious grounds that a domain name constituted a”gambling device” under regulations. But even if it were clear that gaming domains broken Kentucky law, the seizure was nevertheless ridiculous, due to that logic any nation could grab any domain anywhere in the world when the website happened to violate its local law. In any case, as FlushDraw stated,”Only a small number of US-based registrars complied, as well as the seizures themselves were left somewhat moot when nearly all of the affected domains relocated to non-US registrar services and ceased using”.com” domains”
The Kentucky Court of Appeals quickly overturned the seizure action, but then the State appealed. I couldn’t find any updates between 2014-2018 (EFF 2008, KY appealed in 2009, 2014 judgment )
Taking bets is illegal It’s always been contrary to national law to take sports bets over the Internet (to not create them). In other words, you can’t set up a website and accept sports bets from the general public. The law which prohibits that is called the Wire Act. For many years the feds said that the Wire Act applied to accepting casino and poker stakes too. In 2011 they reversed themselves and said the Wire Act applied only to sports. (Forbes) Then in 2019 they reversed themselves again and returned to the previous position that the Wire Act indeed applies to taking poker and casino stakes as well. (origin ) Though again, placing bets stays perfectly legal under national law. The challenge is finding a reputable place to play. Due to the legal issues, there are not many operators operating the entire U.S., and several of those which are kind of sketchy. That is why I advertise only Bovada on this website, because they’re the best one for U.S. players.
States can now offer sports gambling In May 2018, the Supreme Court overturned a law that prohibited sports betting in all states but Nevada. This allows individual states to legalize sports gambling if they choose to do so. On the other hand, the court’s judgment doesn’t speak to the Wire Act, therefore online sportsbooks still violate federal law (for the operator, not the player). (Forbes)

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