State Sports Betting Guide

Welcome to the sports betting state laws page. This article is going to show you the many options there are for online sports betting in the USA. We will tell you now that anyone from any state will have many options when it comes to putting money on a game. Still, we recommend reading through this and our other pages in order to get a decent grasp on the legal betting atmosphere in America right now.

This page is going to show you whether your state regulates sports betting, and go over some of the laws and regulations that are important for the state you live in. This guide to sports wagering in the individual U.S. states will cover land-based as well as online wagering, and show readers where to place safe and legal wagers on all of their favorite sports teams.

States With Legal Land-Based Sports Betting

As you may have learned from our prior references to sports betting laws in the U.S. from other pages, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) only allows four states to have land-based sports betting events. Out of them, only Delaware and Nevada actually have legal bookmaking. Delaware offers limited wagering options during football season, so if you are interested in any other sports you will be out of luck. Nevada has full-fledged sportsbooks and is the only state in the nation where you can wager to your hearts content. This is why we suggest checking out the many legal online sportsbooks for US players, as they accept almost everyone.

The other two states allowed to regulate sports betting under PASPA, but decline to do so, are Montana and Oregon.

If you're looking to learn more about other legal betting options in your state, you should be able to find individual sports betting guides for each state on our website. These pages will not only discuss important sports betting laws and statutes from your state, but they will also spotlight many of the sports betting sites you will want to be sure to consider when signing up. If that wasn't enough, you will even find help on where the best places to bet on a particular sports team that is local to your area...a nice touch that makes each guide unique. Look below for the links, or on our site navigation, to find your state.

Sportsbook Deposits | Sports Betting Withdrawals | Sportsbook Bonuses | Sports Betting Apps

States That Have Legal Online Sports Betting

Most states do not have an online sports betting venue. In fact, Nevada is the only state that does, and you must live there to take advantage of it. That is why we recommend the many overseas sites because they usually accept players from all fifty states. The federal laws that ban sportsbooks throughout the states do not affect these sites, and they offer better wagering options and more rewards than the real world counterparts do.

Online Sportsbooks For Players In Your State

As you can see, individual states do not have much to say about the matter of online sports betting. This is a great thing for sports fans because it means that anyone can join an industry-leading site as long as it accepts members from your state. Almost all of the sportsbooks we review take anyone from anywhere. Check out our federal laws page and our other related pages to learn more about the world of online sports wagering in the US.

More: Betting on NFL Games Legally

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State-By-State Sports Betting FAQs
Do States Regulate Sports Betting?

This is a great question and one we get asked constantly. Many people know about the federal laws that regulate sports betting in America. If you don’t, we recommend checking out our US sports betting law pages. The fact is, the individual states don’t have much to say when it comes to the act of sports wagering unless you’re in one of the states that regulates it. The federal laws such as PASPA decide whether states can host land-based sports wagering events, and no state bans online betting so anyone can use the legal sports betting sites shown here on BettingIsLegal.com as long as the website accepts players from your home state.

What Is PASPA?

The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act is a federal law that dictates whether or not a state can offer land-based sportsbooks. The formation of the law was a response to criminal business practices involved with sports betting. Many believe that the almost nationwide ban has caused even more illegal activity than when sports betting was nationally accepted. Either way, there are only a handful of states that are able to let players wager real money on their favorite games. Delaware, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon are the only states that are exempt from PASPA. Out of those four states only Nevada and Delaware actually have regulated bookmaking, and Delaware’s sportsbooks only open up during football season and only offer certain types of wagers. This is why online sportsbooks that accept U.S. players are the go-to places for the majority of people.

What's The Age To Legally Wager On Sports?

Most states have a legal betting age that is either 18 or 21, while some states don’t have a set age. It is wise to follow the guidelines that the state sets out to ensure you are within the bounds of the law. Most online sportsbooks require players to be 18 to join. What we suggest is to make sure you are of age for BOTH online and in the state. This will make sure that you are playing 100% safe. If your state requires you to be 21 and the site asks that you be 18, wait until you are 21 to join.