Everything about legal online sports betting sites in the United States
Knowing where to find legal online sports betting places is a keystone for every responsable online bettor. This will guarantee that you get your payouts and ensure a smooth, worry-free betting experience. Thatβs why we have compiled a legal betting guide by location, and given you some tips for finding your own!
What you need for legal betting in your location:
Legal restrictions can vary greatly across national boundaries. They can even change quite a bit when you cross state or province lines.
This creates a messy legal patchwork. The laws seem to be intentionally unclear at times, and understanding the whole thing requires a team of betting experts.
Luckily we are here to help. We have vetted the legal sports betting landscape and compiled the best ones in many geographic regions, including the United States, Canada or even internationally.
There are many forms of legal sports betting in the US. You can bet at brick-and-mortar sportsbooks in Vegas or use their online services, which were typically restricted to Nevada. There’s also a lively debate over whether fantasy football sites like DraftKings are in fact a form of betting. In many states nowadays, DraftKings and even FanDuel actually operate full-blown sportsbooks.
There are many legal US Sports betting sites. All the sites we recommend on this page are available to most sports bettors across the country. Their legality and availability are part of what makes them the best betting sites.
If you want to make sure you are signing up at the best online sportsbook for your state, in particular, we also have you covered! Check out the map above! It has links to every state, with detailed descriptions of the best betting sites available in each one.
We keep an eye on the latest battles for legal and regulated sports betting across the country. Some states move faster than others, and the political dynamics are unique to each one. Oftentimes, Native American Tribes have a large say, along with casino companies and other taxpayers.
Whether or not your particular state has begun to regulate its sports betting market in this way, you can still access online gambling sites in the USA. That is because offshore sportsbooks are generally available in the United States.
We get questions from our readers, and the most common one is this: Is online sports betting legal? And if so, where is sports betting legal?
Gambling is heavily regulated in the United States. It is important from the outset to make distinctions within the legal framework between offline and online betting, as well as between sports and casino gambling.
Offline sports gambling was restricted to Nevada until the 2018 Supreme Court decision (Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association) opened up the markets. Now states can choose to legalize and regulate sports betting. Online sportsbooks like Bovada are typically still available in the states that have created their own regulated market.
| State | Sports Betting Laws | Best Online Betting Sites |
| Alabama | No | MyBookie |
| Alaska | No | Bovada |
| Arizona | β | GTBets |
| Arkansas | β | MyBookie |
| California | No | BetUS |
| Colorado | β | BetUS |
| Connecticut | β | Bovada |
| Delaware | β | SportsBetting.ag |
| District of Columbia | β | Bovada |
| Florida | β | Bovada |
| Georgia | No | BetOnline |
| Hawaii | No | Bovada |
| Idaho | No | SportsBetting.ag |
| Illinois | β | Bovada |
| Indiana | β | BetUS |
| Iowa | β | MyBookie |
| Kansas | β | XBet |
| Kentucky | β | Bovada |
| Louisiana | β | BetOnline |
| Maine | β | Bovada |
| Maryland | β | BetOnline |
| Massachusetts | β | Bovada |
| Michigan | β | Bovada |
| Minnesota | No | XBet |
| Mississippi | β | BetUS |
| Missouri | β | Bovada |
| Montana | β | SportsBetting.ag |
| Nebraska | β | Bovada |
| Nevada / Vegas | β | BetOnline |
| New Hampshire | β | Bovada |
| New Jersey | β | N/A |
| New Mexico | β | Bovada |
| New York | β | BetOnline |
| North Carolina | β | Bovada |
| North Dakota | Only Retail | BetOnline |
| Ohio | β | Bovada |
| Oklahoma | No | XBet |
| Oregon | β | BetUS |
| Pennsylvania | β | Bovada |
| Rhode Island | β | Bovada |
| South Carolina | No | BetOnline |
| South Dakota | β | SportsBetting.ag |
| Tennessee | β | MyBookie |
| Texas | No | Bovada |
| Utah | No | XBet |
| Vermont | β | BetOnline |
| Virginia | β | Bovada |
| Washington | β | BetUS |
| West Virginia | β | BetOnline |
| Wisconsin | β | Bovada |
| Wyoming | β | BetOnline |
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Casinos are regulated on a state-by-state basis. In Nevada and Louisiana, casinos are legal statewide. In most other states, they are reserved to small geographic regions, such as Atlantic City in New Jersey.
Other states are allowed to enter agreements with Native American tribes. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 made this possible. Some states have not entered into these agreements and have instead restricted gambling to riverboats.
Online gambling, on the other hand, is available for bettors in the US much more easily. The geographic restrictions are much softer, and most of the gambling laws do not regulate online bettors, but rather, online sportsbooks.
In other words, even though online gambling has faced stiffer challenges from a legal perspective, as a bettor, you are actually more free to bet from more places online. Bookmakers get around these regulations by putting their headquarters in other places, such as Panama. Bettors can access offshore sportsbooks and casinos fairly easily.
This is one of the biggest advantages of online sports betting in the US compared to offline operations. You can bet from almost wherever you are. No need to drive sometimes hundreds of miles to place a few bets.
SportsBettingSites has a signature review process. We are careful with all the details, as we systematically gather information on the various online sportsbooks in the US. While we cannot reveal all the details of our scoring system, we want you to know what our most important criteria are.
These criteria for our reviews of the best sportsbooks are not here in any particular order. At some sites, the bonuses are so good that it quickly becomes the most important aspect. All of this will depend on the collection of features offered by each US sports betting site.
When evaluating the different sports betting sites in the United States, we take care of many different criteria. One of the most important is the quantity and quality of the different sports betting markets that they offer.
While we are not only concerned with sports markets for US sports, they do tend to be the most important for sports bettors in the United States. These are often the biggest sports leagues, but not always. Some sports are bigger for bettors than they are for other types of sports fans.
We also look into the types of bets they have. We really like to see betting options that cover the gamut. A sportsbook without a good collection of Super Bowl props will end up being a letdown come January and February. We take all of these details into account as we prepare our reviews.
Here are the most important sports betting markets in the United States:
The best betting sites in the US will give you lots of great bonuses and promotions. This is definitely one of the biggest drivers of our sportsbook reviews. This is because they are key for improving the bottom lines of both expert and novice US sports bettors. The difference between the best and the rest can mean a difference of thousands of dollars.
The biggest bonus affecting our reviews is the welcome bonus. It is typically the largest bonus available, and all bettors will be able to collect it when they make their initial deposit. It is a great way to get started at a new sports betting siteβwith a big chunk of extra change!
But this is not the only promotion that we investigate. We look at the whole panoply of options that are open to US sports bettors. Some of them will be open all year, while others are promotions that come around during big events.
Here are the bonuses we must look for:
First and foremost, we like our sportsbooks to be easy to use. But we sometimes need a little extra hand anyway. It is important to have this help. It is one of the things you might not think about until you need the help, and you can end up stranded if you don't have it at your disposal.
That is why we include this important criterion when evaluating the best US sports betting sites. And with so many different types of customer service, you really would not know what the experience is like without doing it or finding reviewers who have systematically tested the different sites. That is what we are here for!
We always make sure to contact customer service in as many ways as possible. We write emails to the customer service teams. We contact the representatives via the live chat feature. We browse the frequently asked questions and the community forums. We are very thorough, making sure to test for friendliness, promptness, and professionalism.
Deposit methods will vary across different countries, and many payment options in US sportsbooks are less used in other countries. You can choose your preferred deposit methods based on a number of criteria that will fit into your life. It could be convenient because you already have it set up, saving money on fees or speed of deposit and payouts.
Here are some of the most common deposit options available at US Sportsbooks:
Retail sports betting is spreading across the country, but US bettors are flocking online to bet like never before. This may seem like a surprise, but looking at all the benefits of betting online in the US, it begins to make sense.
One of the biggest benefits is the advantage of choice. Not only can you compare the betting odds across a number of top US bookies, but they also respond to this consumer power by lowering their odds. At retail locations, you are stuck with just the one option, so they can jack up the prices all they want.
This same principle has an effect on things like bonuses. Because there is so much competition online, the bookies begin to offer incredible bonuses. This is a whole new league compared to retail locations.
All of this is concrete, and we have not even touched on the increased convenience of being able to play wherever you are. We recommend signing up at more than one US sportsbook so you can take full advantage of all your line shopping options, guaranteeing yourself a better deal!
There are only two inevitables in life: death and taxesβthough that may not be the case with gambling!
These rules will, of course, change a lot depending on the laws in each country. It can be complicated to figure out what exactly one is to do.
Our team of experts has broken down the different rules and regulations on taxes, complete with a few tips on how to improve your bottom line. Thatβs what weβre here for: to make your betting experience as smooth and enjoyable as possible.
Something to keep in mind throughout this section is the role of data and identity. If you deposit through bigger institutions such as banks or credit cards, Paypal, or Interac, they are required to report your identifying information.
This is due to KYC (know your customer) regulations that US betting sites must comply with. The details of the information change from place to place, but it is always enough to identify you. Using cryptocurrency is one way to protect your identity.
According to the United States tax code, profit from gambling is considered taxable income. You are required to report this income to the IRS.
If you do not, there is a chance they will know about it anyway through the KYC protocols that banks and similar institutions must comply with.
There are some bright spots in this gambling tax situation. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies do not have a centralized institution and, therefore, do not follow KYC protocols. This is one of the advantages of using cryptos when betting on sports in the US.
Also, gambling losses can be deducted from your gambling gains. So you will only be liable for net gains, rather than gross.
The United Kingdom has pleasantly relaxed laws regulating taxes and gambling. In fact, almost all gambling income in the United Kingdom is tax-free.
This is great news for anyone in England! Not only do you get to take home the entirety of your winnings, but the best part is also that you don't even have to think about taxes. No calculating, no worrying. Itβs simple, and we love simple.
Gambling tax was abolished for bettors in 2001, and the UK set up their Gambling Commission in 2005.
However, legal sports betting has to cover a fee. They charge a 15% levy on their earnings.
Australia is another case of a tax system that is full of good news for bettors. If you live in Australia and have an income from betting, you do not have to pay any taxes on this income.
This is justified by three points.
The taxes imposed on bookmakers vary across states, can be difficult to compare, and is mostly irrelevant to bettors.
The legal patchwork around gambling can at first seem overwhelming. But there is no need to worry. The team of experts here at SBS have pored over the details for you.
The key is to look at our list of legal US betting sites wherever you are betting from. We not only make sure they are available, but we also make sure they are the best ones.
Going about it like this will guarantee that you are acting safely, securely and legally. It will also come with our expertsβ seal of approval.
Sports Betting Legalization: State-by-State Update
Recent legislative attempts:
Key challenges: States face several hurdles in advancing sports betting legislation, including concerns over potential revenues, ensuring responsible gambling practices, and navigating competing interests from tribal groups, political factions, and the gambling industry.
