In the United States, gambling is subject to a variety of legal restrictions.
In 2018, as per Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, the United States Supreme Court declared a federal ban on sports gambling to be technically unconstitutional. In the years that followed, dozens of states legalized sports gambling. The sports gambling industry has recorded record profits year-by-year, and advertisements for sports gambling have become pervasive in sporting event coverage.
The American Gaming Association, an industry trade group for commercial gambling, reported $66.6 billion in revenue (the difference between the total amounts wagered minus the payouts) and $14 billion in state and local taxes paid in 2023. For the same year, the National Indian Gaming Commission reported that Native American gaming operations generated $41.9 billion in revenue.
Critics of gambling argue that it leads to increased political corruption, compulsive gambling, higher crime rates, and suicide. Others argue that gambling is a type of regressive tax on the individuals in local economies where gambling venues are located. Critics of sports gambling argue that it has adversely affected sports.
History
Authorized types Many levels of government have authorized multiple forms of gambling in an effort to raise money for needed services without raising direct taxes. These include everything from bingo games in church basements, to multimillion-dollar poker tournaments. Sometimes states advertise revenues from certain games to be devoted to particular needs, such as education.
When New Hampshire authorized a state lottery in 1963, it represented a major shift in social policy. No state governments had previously run gambling operations directly to raise money. Other states followed suit, and now the majority of states run some type of lottery to raise funds for state operations. Some states restrict this revenue to specific forms of expenditures, usually oriented toward education, while others allow lottery revenues to be spent on general government. The ethics of certain government practices have been questioned, such as using marketing firms to increase market share, or developing new programs to replace less-lucrative forms of gambling.
The American Gaming Association breaks gambling down into the following categories: Card rooms, both public and private Commercial casinos Charitable games and Bingo Tribal casinos Legal bookmaking Lotteries Parimutuel wagering Advance-deposit wagering
Legality While gambling is legal under U.S. federal law, there are significant restrictions pertaining to interstate and online gambling, as each state is free to regulate or prohibit the practice within its borders. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 effectively outlawed sports betting nationwide, excluding a few states. However, on May 14, 2018, the United States Supreme Court declared the entire law unconstitutional (Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association).
If state-run lotteries are included, then 48 states allow some form of gambling. The exceptions are Hawaii, where gambling was outlawed prior to statehood, and Utah, which bans gambling in its state constitution. Casino-style gambling, however, is much less widespread than lotteries. Federal law provides leeway for Native American Trust Land to be used for games of chance if an agreement is put in place between the state and the tribal government (e.g. a "Compact" or "Agreement") under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.As of 2023, Louisiana and Nevada are the only states which allow casino-style gambling statewide, although both state and local governments impose licensing and zoning restrictions. All other states that allow casino-style gambling restrict it to small geographic areas (e.g., Atlantic City, New Jersey or Deadwood, South Dakota), or to American Indian reservations, some of which are located in or near large cities. The only U.S. states that do not have casinos are Hawaii, Utah, Georgia, and South Carolina.What states don’t have legalized gambling?
As domestic dependent nations, American Indian tribes have used legal protection to open casinos, which has been a contentious political issue in California and other states. In some states, casinos are restricted to "riverboats", large multi-story barges that are permanently moored in a body of water.
Online gambling has been more strictly regulated: the Federal Wire Act of 1961 outlawed interstate wagering on sports, but did not address other forms of gambling; it has been the subject of court cases. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) did not specifically prohibit online gambling; instead, it outlawed financial transactions involving online gambling service providers—some offshore gambling providers reacted by shutting down their services for U.S. customers.
Other operators, however, have continued to circumvent UIGEA and have continued to service U.S. customers. For this reason, UIGEA has received criticism from notable figures within the gambling industry.
In May 2025, it has been reported that Ohio lawmakers are debating Senate Bill 197, which would legalize online casino gambling and internet lottery gaming in Ohio, allowing Ohioans aged 21 and over to play games like slots and blackjack on their phones. The bill proposes that 99% of tax revenue from online gambling would go to the state's general fund, with 1% allocated to problem gambling programs, potentially generating millions in new revenue for priorities such as education and child care.
In August 2025, all 50 state attorneys general signed a letter that called on the United States Attorney General to "address the rampant spread of illegal offshore gaming operations" across the United States. The letter asks that the DOJ use its authority to dismantle the financial infrastructure supporting offshore gaming operations.
+ Legality of gambling types in U.S. states and territories (commercial, racetrack casinos, etc.) State/district/territory Charitable Pari-mutuel Lotteries Video Lottery Commercial Racetrack Online Sports betting California Connecticut Indiana Iowa Maine Maryland Massachusetts New Hampshire New Jersey New York North Carolina Oregon Pennsylvania Texas
Recriminalization On July 1, 2000, a new law took effect in the state of South Carolina, whereby the ownership, possession, or operation of a video poker machine, for either commercial or personal use, became illegal. Violators are subject to prosecution and substantial fines. Through at least 2007, the only type of legalized gambling in that state is the South Carolina Education Lottery.About.com , accessed February 21, 2007 In 2025, South Carolina was considering legislation to legalize commercial casinos in the state.South Carolina Casino Legislation Fields Fiery Public Input
Types Commercial casinos
Commercial casinos are founded and run by private or public companies. Aside from tribal lands, 24 states (and three U.S. territories) allow commercial casinos in some form: Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Northern Marianas Islands, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.
The approximately 450 commercial casinos on non-tribal lands produced a total gross gambling revenue of $34.11 billion in 2006.
Native American gaming
The history of Native American commercial gambling began in 1979, when the Seminoles began running bingo games.Johansen, Bruce. The Praeger Handbook on Contemporary Issues in Native America, Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2007. Prior to this, the Native Americans had no previous experience with large-scale commercial gambling. Native Americans were familiar with the concept of small-scale gambling, such as placing bets on sporting contests. For example, the Iroquois, Ojibwes, and Menominees would place bets on games of snow snake. Within six years after commercial gambling among Native Americans developed, 75 to 80 of the 300 federally recognized tribes became involved. By 2006, about 300 Native American groups hosted some sort of gaming.
Some Native American tribes operate casinos on tribal land to provide employment and revenue for their government and their tribe members. Tribal gaming is regulated on the tribal, state, and federal level. Native American tribes are required to use gambling revenue to provide for governmental operations, economic development, and the welfare of their members. Federal regulation of Native American gaming was established under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. Under the provisions of that law, games are divided into three distinct categories: Class I games are "traditional" games that involve little or no wagering. Class II games include bingo, pull-tabs, and certain non-banked card games (poker, cribbage, contract bridge, whist, etc.). Class III games include all casino games (craps, roulette, blackjack, baccarat, slot machines, and other games where the player bets against the house) and games that do not properly fall into classes I or II.
Of the 562 federally recognized tribes in 1988, 201 participated in class II or Class III gaming by 2001. Tribal gambling had revenues of $14.5 billion in 2002 from 354 casinos. Approximately forty percent of the 562 federally recognized tribes operate gaming establishments.
Like other Americans, many indigenous Americans have dissension over the issue of casino gambling. Some tribes are too isolated geographically to make a casino successful, while some do not want non-Native Americans on their land. Though casino gambling is controversial, it has proven economically successful for most tribes, and the impact of American Indian gambling has proven to be far-reaching.
Gaming creates many jobs, not only for Native Americans, but also for non-Native Americans, and in this way can positively affect relations with the non-Native American community. On some reservations, the number of non-Native American workers is larger than the number of Native American workers because of the scale of the casino resorts.Welch, Deborah. Contemporary Native American Issues: Political Issues. Chelsea House Publishers, 2006. Also, some tribes contribute a share of casino revenues to the state in which they are located, or to charitable and non-profit causes. For example, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians of California gave $4 million to the UCLA Law School to establish a center for American Indian Studies. The same tribe also gave $1 million to the state for disaster relief when the area was ravaged by wildfires in 2003.
Although casinos have been proven successful for both the tribes and the surrounding regions, state residents may oppose construction of Native American casinos, especially if they have competing projects. For example, in November 2003, the state of Maine voted against a $650 million casino project proposed by the Penobscots and Passamaquoddies. The project's objective was to create jobs for the tribes' young people. The same day the state voted against the Indian casino project, Maine voters approved a plan to add slot machines to the state's harness racing tracks.
Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988 to divide responsibility for Native American gaming among tribal, federal, and state governments. Tribal governments have exclusive authority over Class I gaming. Tribes also regulate Class II gaming, with oversight from the National Indian Gaming Commission. Class III gaming is regulated differently. It must be authorized by a tribal ordinance, permitted in the state where it occurs, and conducted under an approved tribal-state compact.