States vary greatly when it comes to online gambling regulations and laws, from outright prohibition of all forms to only allowing certain games in certain places and only at certain times of day or year. Therefore, it’s essential that you check with your state regulators regularly for updates as even though some states have legalized online gaming that doesn’t necessarily indicate it is safe.
Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey were among the first states to legalize online casino and poker sites; Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia soon after followed suit. Most recently Connecticut passed legislation permitting regulated online casino gaming and sports betting, providing residents of their state access to some of the finest iGaming available anywhere. Major operators like BetMGM and FanDuel offer residents some of the finest iGaming available today.
State regulations typically focus more on what you cannot do than what can. Regulators tend to focus on punishing providers of gambling services rather than individual gamblers themselves; this is especially evident with online casinos which tend to offer less risky forms of gambling than other forms. While many states don’t explicitly ban such casinos, they may be difficult to locate due to limited advertising from large national operatorss.
Alaska stands apart from most states by having very stringent rules on what types of games can be played legally. Although Alaska does have tribal casinos, their activities are limited to bingo, pull-tabs, raffles and the state lottery. Alaska does not permit casino-style games such as poker and casino gambling online and gambling is illegal within its borders – yet daily fantasy sports and some sweepstakes games may still be legal options in Alaska.
Kansas does not permit regulated online casino gambling, yet has some of the most liberal laws regarding it. DraftKings currently operates as one of only two iGaming offerings within Kansas’ borders while horse racing and daily fantasy sports remain among other forms of iGaming offerings available here.
Kentucky stands out as an interesting case study as a state with an anti-gambling culture that nevertheless quickly passed legislation to open their first casinos in 2023. Louisiana laws differ slightly in that they don’t specifically ban or prohibit online gambling; rather it’s up to each parish. Online sports betting has now been legalized in both of these states and Utah and Hawaii remain as two of only four remaining states without legalized online gambling despite having very restrictive legislation against this activity, though both are looking into loosening those restrictions in the near future.