Legal Sports betting
Let’s face it – if you’re a red-blooded American, you’ve had an interest in sports, at least at some point. It’s no surprise – well over 90% of US residents claim an allegiance to either a professional or a college team. This means that at some point, you’ve probably howled at the television in excitement or disappointment, and you’ve probably been in your share of arguments concerning your own favorite team. Chances are, you’ve at least had a passing interest in how to put your money where your mouth is, and if you’ve found this page, chances are that you don’t live near Vegas, and need some viable alternatives.
This page and indeed this entire website will go on to show you several key factors for legal betting in the USA – namely, that betting on sports is legal, safe, and a whole lot of fun. We will go on to show you some of our very favorite online sports betting venues and answer some of the most popular questions associated with them. We are not professionals by any means, just avid sports bettors with a great interest in sharing what we’ve learned in our years of practicing the hobby with anyone who stumbles on this page. Read on and see what great options await you for yourself!
In order to answer this question adequately, it’s necessary to break sports betting into two categories, land based an online. When attempting to bet on sports on land, there is really only one place in the country that it can be done: Nevada. This is because federal laws keep a tight stranglehold in the business of sports betting in that all those who facilitate it for profit are held to stringent penalties. This makes land based betting in the US incredibly restrictive.
So what does this mean for players? From a legal standpoint, they are not affected. This is because the laws that govern legal US sports betting never target players; they strictly target bookmakers. This means that even if you’re standing out in front of the white house lawn and you place a bet with the world’s dumbest illicit bookmaker, you’ll walk away scot-free while they will be facing steep legal penalties.
How then does this apply to legal online sportsbooks that accept US players? We have already established that the act of betting on sports is legal, and that only the facilitation of these bets can be legally prosecuted. Bearing this in mind, if US players are careful to use only US sports betting sites that operate offshore, they can use a website that is safely outside of the jurisdiction of both federal and state laws when it comes to betting. This means that they are legally betting with a legal enterprise, which is a winning scenario any way you slice it.
Although the affect these laws have on legal sports betting is clear, (it’s legal to participate but illegal for any facilitators to make betting available) there are several laws that contribute. We explain both federal and state laws here in this passage below.
Federal Law - Three major acts govern sports betting both online and on land. The first and most prominent was the Federal Wire Act of 1961. This law made it illegal for bookmakers to use wired communications (including the internet) to place bets. This effectively banned all interstate sports betting. If that law made life for bookmakers hard, the PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) of 1992 made it practically impossible. This act criminalized the mere act of bookmaking in all but a few exempt states, which is why you can find land based sports betting in Nevada. Finally, the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) of 2006 made it impossible to deliver winnings from betting via an EFT. (Electronic Funds Transfer) You’ll notice that none of these laws ban the actual act of betting, and this is by design, not accident. These laws seek only to target large organized crime syndicates, not otherwise honest citizens who merely wish to place a bet in their downtime.
State Laws – While the federal laws concerning sports betting are the real meat and potatoes of everything that US players need to know, they should all know that they are also subject to one of a unique set of 50 laws that govern each state. The most important thing to know is that state laws follow the template of federal laws in that they do not prosecute those who merely bet while they heavily punish those involved in bookmaking. Still, most players want to read up and stay educated on the betting policies in their individual states. We can say with confidence that residents of all 50 states that have legal sports betting may legally use the online sportsbooks we recommend on this page.
Betting Age – We attempt to communicate clearly that the act of betting on sports is indeed legal, and the only trick is finding a legal venue. As with all rules, an exception proves this one. A player must be above the betting age. This age varies from state to state, but is always between 18 and 21. All those 22 and over are safe, but anyone under that age should check with their state’s betting policies to ensure that they are over the legal betting age and are not taking an unnecessary risk when betting in Vegas or online.
Read More: U.S. Sports Betting Laws
Now that we know sports betting is legal for USA players, the trick is finding a good venue. The following sports betting sites for US residents all cater to the interests of a US fan base. These safe betting venues all utilize top of the line security software for their players, ensuring that financial information stays safe, and that money deposited into these sportsbooks might as well be kept in a locked vault. When you’re confident about the legality of a site and the safety of your money, all that’s left to look at are the rewards. These sites all have plenty, and make excellent homes for all those interested in betting on sports online.
Of all the legal online sportsbooks for USA players, this one stands out a head and shoulders above the rest. If you’ve had even a passing interest in betting on sports in the past, Bovada probably sounds familiar and with good reason. This sports betting site has been serving US players for over two decades, which puts them in service since just about the dawn of the internet. This should help put any prospective bettor’s mind at ease. After all, in an industry as competitive as online sports betting, sites that do not pay out their members reliably or who offer a product anything less than one of the very best do not last long.
If you don’t believe us, Bovada welcomes the opportunity to show you for themselves. When you first sign up and make a deposit with Bovada, you will be eligible to bet with not only the money you deposited, but also an additional 50% of your deposit all the way up to $250. This gets your bankroll started on the right foot, and allows you to make some daring bets to get yourself acclimated without putting any of your initial money at risk. We’re sure that this will only be your first deposit of many once you get used to the great service at Bovada!
Although they are one of the newer sports betting sites that accept USA residents, BetOnline has quickly established a reputation as one of the tops in the industry after only ten years of service. In this time, they have built a reputation as one of the most steady and reliable online sportsbooks in the industry. They provide quality service to all of their members as well as a comprehensive sportsbook that couples with one of the most secure financial servers found on the entire web.
The best part about an account with BetOnline is the ease of access. When you bet with BetOnline, you carry your sportsbook around right in your front pocket thanks to one of the best mobile sports betting apps that we’ve ever seen. You can place bets, manage your account or even request a payout from anywhere in the world you have a solid phone signal and your smartphone. This miracle of modern technology has made it so that their users never need to worry about firing their computers up for the purpose of making a bet again – they need only access their smartphone the moment they wish to place a bet and push a couple of buttons. For a legal bookmaker you carry in your pocket, remember to bet online.
We get it – you can come up with a better name for a US sports betting site in your sleep. Hear us out though – this is one of the best US friendly online sportsbooks you’ll ever have the pleasure to come across. After more than ten years of service to US players, this sports betting site is ready to take flight and take their service to the next level. No site provides more discretion or security, and they take a special sense of pride in how easy it is for loyal members to move money in and out of their SportsBetting account.
If you’re worried about what happens after the honeymoon period is over, rest assured that no online sportsbook is as good at taking care of loyal members as they are. When you make a deposit into SportsBetting, you’ll find that not only is all the money you deposited ready for betting within seconds, but that you received an extra 25% of your deposit all the way up to $1000. This is not a mere sign up bonus either – SportsBetting members are eligible to receive this bonus as long as they keep their account active, making this one of the best long term deals in the business.
| LEGAL SPORTS BETTING | Details | BONUS REWARDS | PLAY NOW! |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bovada Sportsbook | review | Collect Up To $250 / 50% Match | |
| BetOnline Sportsbook | review | 25% Match Up To $1,000 - "FIRST" | |
| SportsBetting | review | Bonus To $1,000 / 50% Match - "SB50" |
One of the best ways to make money in the US based only on your sports expertise is through daily fantasy sports played for real cash prizes. You’ve probably noticed these commercials playing between the quarters of your favorite games, and you probably know that they’re growing in popularity. There’s also a good chance that you have some questions as to their legality and how they actually function.
Since these daily fantasy contests are games of skill with cash prizes according to the law, they are legal in the United States, and daily fantasy sites operate legally within the continental US. This is a drastic change from the status of sports betting, and helps explain why we’re seeing so many commercials for daily fantasy sites.
Making money on these fantasy games can sound complicated, but is gets easy with practice. For a given day of a league year, players have a “salary cap” in which they can sign players to their team for a day. More prominent stars who guarantee strong performances have higher dollar values than those perceived as a bigger risk. Once you assemble your team, however they perform in real life determines their point value for the day. If your team scores within the top range of points, you will usually win a cash prize. Anyone who has played fantasy sports in a traditional, yearlong format should be familiar with this scoring system.
Read More: Daily Fantasy Sports Sites That Accept U.S. Players
As an interesting twist on making money from sports that doesn’t involve the straight up outcome on games, daily fantasy games for cash have become all the rage for sports fans looking to make a few bucks from their sports expertise. All that remains is finding a venue that provides a safe and legal outlet for playing daily fantasy games for cash, luckily there are several top-notch options for US players to take advantage of.
Our very favorite daily fantasy site to play on is DraftKings. You’ve probably heard something about their massive tournaments for huge prizes, or massive qualifying tournaments that can lead to millions of dollars in prizes. Let’s set the record straight on one thing: it’s all true. We’ve been happy members at draft kings for several years now, and we can tell you all kinds of stories involving optimal lineups, and even trips we’ve won to the Playboy mansion all for knowing our fantasy baseball.
What we like most about DraftKings is the speed of their legal sportsbook payouts. We hate waiting for our cash prizes, which is why receiving a check of all our winnings mailed directly to our front door in 14 days or less is such a wonderful breath of fresh air. Playing with DraftKings is made even better by the fact that many users have the option to get paid through PayPal which is the fastest way to get money from the site.
If you like sports and have watched any on TV at all, you’ve probably heard of FanDuel. This premiere daily fantasy for cash site was the first great innovator, and they’ve turned their head start into one of the most reliable sites on the web when it comes to winning big bucks playing fantasy football, baseball, hockey or basketball. The FanDuel interface is the best, and assembling an all-star team is a breeze with little to no experience. Making money is a breeze on FanDuel, as long as you have the smarts.
Speaking of making money, the weekly free rolls at FanDuel make it easier than ever. If you’ve made a deposit at all in the past week, you’ll be eligible for that week’s free roll tournament. Admission to the tournament costs nothing, and you can win your share of up to $1000 in cash prizes. There is no easier way to make something from nothing using just your knowledge of sports!
| Legal Fantasy Sports | Learn More | Bonus Rewards | Find Out More |
|---|---|---|---|
| DraftKings Fantasy Sports | review | Up To $200 | |
| FanDuel Fantasy Sports | review | Up TO $200 |
We’ve gone over how all of the sites indexed in this page are both legal and provide safe sports betting for US players, but we have yet to go into what sets them all apart from each other. This section outlines some of the best qualities to look for when deciding on a sports betting site. When done well, these parameters can truly elevate a US sports betting site into one of the best in their class. If executed poorly, they can be the site’s undoing.
Deposits and Payouts – Making winning bets or assembling a winning fantasy lineup doesn’t mean anything if you can’t move money in or outside of your account with ease. Rest assured that every sports book and daily fantasy site listed on this page offers options that make this process a breeze. Through legal sportsbook deposit methods that include major credit cards, money orders, or other convenient means to payout methods usually delivered in the form of checks, money should flow freely from your sports betting or fantasy sit to bank account.
Bonuses – Just as land based sportsbooks in Nevada will reward regular use with perks and free drinks, your online sportsbook or daily fantasy site should follow suit. While a website can’t get you drunk, they can offer several options when it comes to free play and bonus money to use for betting risk free. Every website is different, but be sure to remember to check out the promotions page for chances to earn bonus money, free play, entry to limited, profitable tournaments and other excellent opportunities. Any sports betting site worth their salt will provide ample incentive not only to sign up, but also to keep betting.
Sign-Up Process – Remember this: if the sign up process takes more than a couple minutes or they ask for any more personal information than necessary to start up an account and allow you to make a deposit, there is a good chance you are not playing with a reputable website. Remember to have your guard up, and NEVER to freely offer information like your social security number. Diligence is always necessary; remember to check for verified credentials like those that the sites listed on this page have.
Mobile Betting – A surefire way to tell for sure whether your site is adapting with the times or is sticking in the mud is the quality of their mobile page. A good mobile site indicates a site that updates frequently, leaving itself less susceptible to crashes or security breaches. A sportsbook or daily fantasy site with no mobile accessibility is sometimes a sign that the page is growing cobwebs and is not a good place to trust with your money, or at the very least, that they show little interest in meeting their customers’ needs.
Customer Service – A good product or service needs to make itself available to its customers no matter what time, day or night. All of the sites listed on this page offer 24-hour support by both phone and online chat. This means that should you ever encounter a problem, you won’t miss a chance to bet at any point in the day. If a sports betting site you encounter provides worse customer service than your cable provider, it’s time to get back on the market.
It’s our great hope that all US residents will learn that legal betting in the USA is not only attainable, it’s downright easy – and accessible for everyone. Whether you decide that straight up betting or fantasy tournaments are more your style, there are plenty of prizes for you to win from anywhere in the country, even if Las Vegas is a distant destination.