Online gambling in the United States is fast becoming the next big domestic entertainment industry. Of course, after the overturn of the PASPA sports betting ban in 2018, that’s hardly surprising.
As states – now 30 and counting – have legalized local sports gambling (most of which comes with a legal online/mobile betting component), some states have also included legal online casino gambling and even legal online poker as part of their expansion packages.
While there are far fewer states with these non-sports gambling markets, online casino gambling – aka iGaming – is definitely picking up steam, as is online poker gambling.
So far, nearly 10 US states with legal online gambling offer the pair of pastimes in some form or another, though iGaming is slightly more available than Internet-based poker.
Still, with very few exceptions, legal domestic gambling is geofenced to the specific states where these markets have been legalized. Today, just three states allow for cross-border play – which is exclusively limited to online poker.
These states are Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware. That said, Pennsylvania could be prepared to pull up a seat at the felts, and according to the most recent reports, Michigan has just gone all-in.
Should PA join MI in this interstate poker compact, it would bring the US multi-state online poker count up to five.
And as with most things, once the ball gets rolling, it’s probably only a matter of time before several other states see the benefit and hop on the gravy train, too.
That said, you can expect this cross-border play – where pots are combined so payouts can be much bigger and far more compelling to far more players (think the Powerball or Mega Millions interstate lotteries) – to remain limited to online poker.
Thanks to the Federal Wire Act, interstate online sports betting is 100% off the table for the foreseeable future, but interstate online casino gambling is bound by zero federal restrictions.
However, the fact that no states with legal local iGaming have pursued pooling their online casino products by now probably means that there’s adequate financial rationale to keep iGaming limited to in-state play going forward.
There’s also those aforementioned cross-border lotteries to consider.
The long-established Powerball and Mega Millions brands have an incredible lobbying presence in all states where their games are played, and they have a very clear interest in keeping things like multi-state online slots and multi-state online blackjack games off the table.
Of course, legal online gambling isn’t limited to states where the pastime is authorized domestically.
Since the early 1990s, it’s actually been legal in the US to gamble at real-money online casinos, real-money online sportsbooks, legit online poker rooms, and even international horse racebooks [The 2022 Belmont Stakes is this Saturday! – Ed.].
And these sites are cross-border by default.
As a result, if you join an international gambling site, you can legally play all the traditional and modern casino games you expect, plus you’ll have a shot at winning the biggest possible progressive slot jackpots, massive online blackjack tournament payouts, huge online poker pots, daily horse racing exactas and trifectas, and more.
In other words, even as the legal online gambling industry continues to expand – and even as some of the momentum shifts from sports betting exclusivity to iGaming and poker – you’ll still almost always be better off going with a respected, reputable, and established offshore betting site.
The domestic gambling industry might be changing rapidly, but for longtime legal online bettors, the more things change, the more they stay the same.