Similarly, six years previous in 2011, the Department of Justice declared that the Wire Act, which was written decades before the internet as we know it came into existence, applied only to bets on sports events and races – paving the way for states to pass their own laws on US online casinos and US online poker.įurthermore, as state law supersedes federal law, should it afford more rights to the individual, it’s now best understood that each state can legalize online gambling for its own residents if it so chooses. However, in 2018 the Supreme Court ruled that PASPA was unconstitutional – which became an almost instant catalyst for numerous states to begin legalizing sports betting. In part due to legislation such as the Interstate Wire Act of 1961, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA), and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA), it was long presumed that sports betting and online gambling was generally illegal in the US under federal law. Much like issues such as welfare, real estate, and taxation, the legality and regulation of online gambling varies from state-to-state. How Much Money Can You Make Playing Poker?.
