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Question

So is online sports betting actually legal here or not? getting mixed answers

ok so i moved from jersey to texas for work in september and my app just stopped letting me place bets the second i crossed state lines. friend swears its "legal nationwide now" since that supreme court thing but clearly thats not true?? i tried googling and got like 40 different answers and half the articles were from 2019. can someone just explain how this actually works because im confused as hell. EDIT: ok wow didnt expect this many replies. so basically its state by state and texas is just cooked. thanks everyone lol
Asked by mkelly_route9
17 answers
Best
147
notquiteapro
your friend is half right. the 2018 supreme court case (murphy v ncaa) killed the federal ban, but all it did was hand the decision to each state. so its legal in like 38-ish states now depending on how you count, and texas is not one of them. neither is california. thats why your app geolocked you the second you hit the state line, they use gps + wifi triangulation and its pretty strict about it. i had the exact same thing happen driving from ny to pa, app just kicks you out mid parlay. what i do now is keep an account with a legal book in each state i actually spend time in. My Bookie worked fine for me when i was betting in jersey and the KYC was painless, ssn + license photo and i was in within like 10 min. but none of that helps you in texas unfortunately. your options there are basically wait for the legislature (they meet every 2 years, next session 2027) or drive to louisiana/new mexico which people genuinely do on saturdays during football season.
77
d_ferraro88
can confirm the drive across state lines thing, it's a whole culture. i live in dallas and there's a gas station in shreveport that i'm pretty sure stays in business purely off texans parking there to place bets on sunday morning. 3 hours each way lol. and yeah the geolocation is no joke, i've been denied sitting like 200 yards from the border because the app couldn't get a confident fix.
3
quietstormz
fwiw the list changes constantly. missouri went live at the end of last year after voters passed it by like 7000 votes total. so it's not static, states keep flipping. the holdouts that people think will never move are california (tribal gaming politics, the 2022 props got absolutely destroyed at the ballot), texas, and a few of the deep south ones. utah and hawaii are basically never happening.
59
brendan_v
the point about having a separate account per state is real. i travel for work and i've got accounts in 4 states. one thing that surprised me is your account often follows you fine if the operator is licensed in both, you just can't bet while physically standing in a non legal state. deposits and withdrawals usually still work, it's placing the wager that gets blocked.
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sarah_in_the_burbs
also worth knowing legal ≠ same rules everywhere. some states ban betting on in state college teams (jersey did this for years), some ban college player props entirely, ohio and a bunch of others cracked down on that after players started getting harassed on twitter. so even within "legal" the menu looks different depending where you are.
30
gone_fishin_47
honestly the part nobody warns you about is the tax side. legal book = they send you a W2-G and report it. i had a decent year in 2023, up maybe 4k net, and then found out you can't just net your wins and losses on federal unless you itemize, and my state doesn't let you deduct losses AT ALL. ended up paying tax on gross winnings while my actual profit was way lower. felt like getting robbed by paperwork. nobody mentions this when they're advertising the "bet $5 get $200" stuff.
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23
TheresaK
That's genuinely a bad situation and I'm not going to pretend it isn't, but it depends heavily on your state. I'm in Pennsylvania and I can deduct gambling losses against winnings on the state return, so my situation is way less painful than yours. Also if you're at the volume where W2-Gs matter, keeping a session log is worth the twenty minutes a month. My accountant basically told me the recordkeeping is what saves people, not the tax code.
25
lowkey_capper
for anyone reading later: regulator depends on your state. jersey it's the DGE, nevada has the gaming control board, colorado has its own division, etc. if you ever have a dispute the state regulator is who you complain to and they actually do respond. that's the main practical difference from offshore, there's a phone number of a government agency behind it.
17
mbaker_2
38 states + DC + puerto rico is the number i saw last time i checked. three of those are retail only though (mississippi basically, you have to be physically on casino property for online to work).
10
j_ortega_
one more wrinkle: the prediction market thing. kalshi and robinhood are offering what are functionally sports contracts under a federal CFTC license, and they're live in states where sportsbooks aren't. several state regulators have sent cease and desists, there's active litigation. i wouldn't build my life around it but it's why some texans are betting on their phones right now legally-ish.
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flatline_pete
idk about the "just use a legal book and everything's fine" energy in this thread. i've had a legal, licensed, state regulated book limit me to $12 max wager on nfl sides after i went like 14-9. so it's legal in the sense that they're allowed to take your money and legal in the sense that they're allowed to stop taking it the second you're any good. what exactly is the consumer protection here
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8
notquiteapro
limiting sucks and i've been limited too, but that's a separate complaint from legality. offshore books limit as well, they just also might not pay you. the difference is that when a licensed book holds my $3,200 balance i can file with the state and they have to respond within a set window. i did that once over a voided parlay and got paid in 11 days. nobody is coming to help you if a site in curacao decides your account is "under review" forever.
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just_here_lurkin_
wait so if i'm a texas resident but i drive to louisiana, can i even open the account? or do i need to be a resident there? this is the part i never understood
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3
d_ferraro88
residency doesn't matter, location does. you can be a texas resident with a texas license and open an account with a louisiana licensed book, you just have to be physically inside louisiana to place the bet. same reason tourists can bet in vegas. you'll need your ssn and a valid ID for KYC but they don't require an in state address at most books. some do ask for proof of address though so check before you drive 3 hours.
3
old_school_hank
skeptical of the "38 states" figure people keep repeating tbh. every article i read says something different, one said 30, another said 39. feels like people are counting retail only and tribal compacts differently to make the number look big. is there an actual authoritative list anywhere or is everyone just guessing
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quietstormz
you're right that the number moves depending on definition, but it's not guessing. the discrepancy is basically: do you count states with retail sportsbooks but no mobile (mississippi, north dakota's tribal setup), and do you count DC/puerto rico. mobile online only, it's around 30-31 states. add retail and you're near 38-39. the AGA keeps a map and each state's gaming commission publishes its own licensee list, that's the actual source. if a state regulator's site doesn't list an operator, that operator isn't licensed there, simple as.
2
mkelly_route9
OP here, quick update since a few people asked. i ended up not doing the border run thing, seemed like a lot of gas money to lose $50 on the cowboys. kept my old account alive so when i fly back to jersey for holidays it still works, and honestly i've bet less overall which my wife is thrilled about. also the tax comment above genuinely scared me straight lol. appreciate everyone who explained the state by state thing without being condescending about it

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