Gambling in the United States
By Joe Casino for JoeCasino.com · November 15, 2009
Gambling in the United States
Legal gambling in the United States generates almost $100 billion dollars in gross revenue every year. According to the American Gaming Association (AMA), commercial casino operations account for nearly half of all revenues, with lotteries, Indian gaming, horse racing, dog racing, jai-alai and card rooms accounting for the remainder of this massive annual income.
In light of the open and highly profitable legal gambling operations the US, it seems rather ironic (or hypocritical) that some state and federal lawmakers have taken it upon themselves to combat online gambling, especially when they do so under the guise of morality and protecting their constituencies from the “evils of gambling”. Some lawmakers in opposition of online gambling are, in fact, the recipients of large amounts of funding and support from land-based gambling operations; so, for them to use moral arguments against Internet casino games, sports gambling and poker rings rather hollow, if not glaringly hypocritical.
On the national level, the Federal Wire Act of 1961 has been applied, or more accurately misapplied to outlaw online gambling activities. Most recently the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) was passed to outlaw financial transactions involving online gambling service providers, although it makes no actual prohibition of online gambling in and of itself. Interestingly enough, the various forms of online gambling are legal and regulated in most of the rest of the world, including the majority of Europe.
At the state level, most individual states have no express prohibition against online gambling. However, a few have passed various laws in an effort to outlaw some or all internet gaming activities within their borders. Not surprising is the fact that, when it suits their purposes or the purposes of large business interests, some states have actually legalized certain forms of internet gambling. For example, web-based horse race wagering has been specifically legalized in the states of California, Nevada, Oregon and South Dakota.
As for “legal” gambling in the States, only Utah and Hawaii prohibit any such activities. The following list indicates the states that embrace and promote one or more forms of gambling and gambling-generated revenues (the legend at the bottom of the page explains each of the icons used):
| District of Columbia |   |
 Alabama |
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| Alaska | |
| Arizona |  |
| Arkansas |
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| California | |
| Colorado |  |
| Connecticut | |
| Delaware | |
| Florida |
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| Georgia |
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| Idaho | |
| Illinois |
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| Indiana |
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| Iowa | |
| Kansas |
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| Kentucky |
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| Louisiana |
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| Maine | |
| Maryland | |
| Massachusetts | |
| Michigan | |
| Minnesota | |
| Mississippi |
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| Missouri |
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| Montana | |
| Nebraska | |
| Nevada | |
| New Hampshire | |
| New Jersey | |
| New Mexico | |
| New York | |
| North Carolina |
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| North Dakota | |
| Ohio | |
| Oklahoma |
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| Oregon | |
| Pennsylvania | |
| Rhode Island | |
| South Carolina |
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| South Dakota | |
| Tennessee |
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| Texas |
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| Vermont | |
| Virginia |
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| Washington | |
| West Virginia |
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| Wisconsin | |
| Wyoming | |
Just for fun (and to highlight the hypocrisy of lawmakers’ moral arguments against online gambling), we’ve indicated those states that fall within, or are otherwise associated with, the Bible Belt.
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Bingo or other charity-based gambling |
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Parimutuel wagering (e.g. horse racing, greyhound racing) |
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State lotteries, lotto, scratch-off tickets, etc. |
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Commercial casino operations |
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Indian casinos |
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Cardrooms |
