Is Online Sports Gambling Illegal in the U.S.?

From the standpoint of enforcement, the U.S. government is generally fine with allowing individual sports bettors to place wagers online. The government focuses the majority of its resources on trying to stop the websites that are offering sports betting services to U.S. citizens as well as the payment processors who facilitate deposits and payouts related to sports betting accounts.

With the explosion of the Internet in the late 90s and early 00s, online gambling services and poker rooms were everywhere. They all operated with impunity as U.S. lawmakers and law enforcement agencies were unsure whether they could successfully prosecute such activity. Eventually, the U.S. began to try to crack down on online sports betting services that were targeting U.S. customers. The problem they encountered, however, was that there was no law in place that outlawed betting on sports on the Internet. Many legal experts pointed to the Wire Act, which outlawed betting on sports over the telephone, but especially now in the age of satellite and cable Internet connections, the lines are more blurred than ever.

Eventually, the U.S. Department of Justice was able to prosecute a few companies for offering sports betting services to U.S. citizens. They also threatened prosecution of companies for selling advertising for the same types of services, but Antigua filed suit against the U.S. and won in International court. The U.S. eventually filed appeals to the ruling, but all appeals were also lost.

That is why you now hear and see a growing number of advertisements in publications, on the radio and online for gambling websites and services. More and more people - many of whom were regular online gamblers ten years ago - are going back to the Internet to look for action. States around the country are legalizing casino gambling and many are pushing to legalize sports betting as well. As a result, it’s becoming all the more difficult and pointless for the federal government to waste resources trying to police an activity that is already legal in the majority of the world.

Wager at Your Own Risk

All that said, it’s highly improbable that an individual sports bettor will run into any legal problems by opening an account at a reputable online gaming website and placing wagers, accepting payouts, etc. The issue is that the feds still might be sniffing around the gaming website itself or some of its support services, especially payment facilitators. The federal government isn’t stupid. They can easily track financial transactions around the world and they always know where the money’s going. But the sports gambling sites know this and many have ensured that they are operating in a manner that will sufficiently insulate them from any legal problems brought by the U.S. government.

If the site where you’ve sent your money gets targeted, chances are you won’t be able to get your money back, regardless of how much you’ve won or lost. Once the account gets shut down, you’re likely going to be entirely out of luck.

In trying economic times such as these, seizing millions of dollars at a time from companies operating within gray areas of the law is probably time well spent for the Department of Justice. If you’re serious about opening an account with an online sports book, it’s advisable to do some research in advance and visit one of the many reputable sports gambling forums on the Internet. Get a recommendation on which sites have been most stable and have managed to steer clear of prosecution. At that point, placing bets and gambling online should be pretty easy and quite safe.