Are Bookies Illegal in the US?

The question of whether or not bookies are illegal in the USA has changed over the last year, because this used to be a hard no that bookies were illegal, however now with the United States’ recent law changes that allow each state to determine if they want gambling to be illegal in their specific state, the answer is not always a no.

So the legality of being a bookie will now be determined based on what state you live and operate in.

Follow the Law

Even if you are lucky to be living in one of the states where it is legal to gamble and operate a gambling business, it would still be wise to contact your local attorney to make sure you are following the laws of your state correctly. Just because a state may allow gambling and bookmaking doesn’t always mean you can just start a bookie business overnight, because there might be certain licenses that you may need to operate legally. However, each state has its own specific rules and laws about this, so even if two states allow legal bookmaking, it does not mean that both states have the same laws regarding bookmaking.

In addition, the laws are constantly changing for each state, and even though a specific state may be illegal now for gambling and booking action, they may have plans shortly to change the laws and allow legal gambling. So again, the best course of action is to always check with your local attorney, who can help assist you with your specific state’s laws and regulations on gambling and being a bookie.

If you are located in one of the lucky states where being a bookie is legal, then the next step would be to get set up with your professional sportsbook website. These sites can quickly and easily be set up by getting started with one of the various pay-per-head companies. These companies allow people to start their bookie service at a very affordable price, and provide a fully inclusive website with thousands of sports betting options to offer players every day.

A PPH Site is your Best Ally

The beauty of using a pay-per-head site is that they post all the lines for each sporting event each day and update the odds on each event 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. They handle all the ins and outs and technical stuff concerning bookmaking, which makes it easy for just about anyone to become an agent and book action on sports.

This means that you as the bookie do not even need to know much about sports or gambling; however, the more you know, the better. Instead, all you need to know as a bookie is that there are just people who want to gamble. This is easily done by using word of mouth and speaking to all friends, members of your family, people from your work, classmates, social media friends, and acquaintances and asking if they would like to gamble.

Once you start getting the word out, you will be surprised by how many people actually do have an interest in making wagers. Then the sky is the limit; the more people you have making wagers with you, the more money you will end up earning over the long term.

So check with your local attorney and see if sports gambling and booking action is legal in your state and if it is getting set up with the best pay-per-head site today: AcePerHead.com, so you can start earning money as a bookie.

Is Online Betting Legal in the United States?

The legality of sports betting has been and is a complex issue, as the legal precedence has changed over the last couple of years. For a while, there was a federal ban on sports betting from 1992 to 2018 under the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). The PASPA Act did grant immunity to four states: Nevada, Delaware, Oregon, and Montana. Eventually, the state of New Jersey challenged the legality of PASPA, and the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in late 2017. This led to the eventual repeal of PASPA on May 14, 2018, as the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to repeal it. However once PASPA was repealed, the legality of sports betting was a decision made by each state. Currently, online sports betting is a state-wide issue rather than a federal law issue, so it is important to be aware of the laws in the state in which you reside.

In short, the legality of sports betting is now determined by the state you live and operate in, not by the federal government. So are bookies illegal in the USA? It depends solely on your location.

Modern Law

Because the states determine the law, it is vital to know where each state stands on the issue of sports gambling. Because even if you reside in a state where sports gambling is legal, if you participate in it within the borders of a state where it is illegal, you are violating the law and being charged. If you are unaware of the law in the state you are visiting, either contact an attorney or look it up on a federal website (.gov). Being aware of state laws will help any individual avoid such a situation.

Law of the Land

As mentioned, each state in the USA has its own set of rules for sports gambling, below is a description of the current law in each state, summarized in short. These descriptions are the law as of today, and in some states are still subject to change.

• Alaska: Sports betting, including horse racing, is currently illegal and will be for the foreseeable future.
• Alabama: Sports betting is projected to become fully legal in 2022, for now, horse and greyhound racing is legal at several tracks in the state.
• Arkansas: General sports wagering is projected to be legalized by 2022, for now only horse and dog racing is legal.
• Arizona: Sports betting is projected to be legal by 2021, for now only Horse and dog racing is legal at licensed places in the state.
• California: Online horse race gambling is legal, but general sports gambling is not set to be legalized until 2022.
• Colorado: Sports betting is predicted to become regulated in 2021. Currently, players can bet on horse races.
• Connecticut: Sports betting is legal, but not regulated so it is not 100 percent safe.
• Delaware: Sports betting was legalized and regulated in 2018.
• Florida: Sports betting is likely to be regulated in 2021.
• Georgia: Sports betting will be regulated after 2022, there are no current legal betting options.
• Hawaii: Sports betting is not legal and will not be for the foreseeable future.
• Idaho: Sports betting is set to become regulated after 2022; wagering on horse racing is currently legal.
• Illinois: Sports betting is now legal; the first legal bet was made on March 9th, 2020.
• Indiana: Sports betting is legal.
• Iowa: Sports betting is legal.
• Kansas: Sports betting is projected to be legal by 2021.
• Kentucky: By 2022, all sports betting is projected to be legal. Horse race wagers can currently be made.
• Louisiana: Horse racing online is available, but sports betting, in general, will be regulated after 2022.
• Maine: Sports betting will be regulated after 2022; online horse race bets are legal, however.
• Maryland: Sports betting is projected to start in 2021. Horse race wagers are legal.
• Massachusetts: Ready to launch
• Michigan: Sports betting was legalized in 2019.
• Minnesota: Sports betting is estimated to be legal in 2021, and horse race betting is allowed.
• Mississippi: Regulated betting has existed since 2018, but more legislation is expected.
• Missouri: Sports betting is expected to be legal and regulated by 2022.
• Montana: Horse race betting is allowed, but sports betting is not expected to be legal until after 2022.
• Nebraska: Sports betting is projected to be legal after 2022.
• Nevada: Sports betting has been legal for a long time, as this state was immune under the PASPA Act.
• New Hampshire: While horse race betting is legal, sports betting is not expected to become legal until after 2022.
• New Jersey: Sports betting is legal and regulated.
• New Mexico: Sports betting is projected to become legal after 2022.
• New York: Sports betting is legal, but limited by the state to their commercial casinos.
• North Carolina: Sports betting is not projected to become legal until after 2022.
• North Dakota: Horse race betting is legal, but sports betting is not expected to be legal until 2022.
• Ohio: Horse race betting is legal, but sports betting is not, however, it is expected to be by the end of 2021.
• Oklahoma: Sports betting is not legal, but will be addressed by 2022.
• Oregon: Sports betting is legal and regulated by the state.
• Pennsylvania: Sports betting is legal.
• Rhode Island: Sports betting is legal here.
• South Carolina: Sports betting will not be legal for the foreseeable future.
• South Dakota: Sports betting is not currently legal, but horse race wagering is legal.
• Tennessee: Online sports betting is legal.
• Texas: Sports betting is not legal, but horse race bets are.
• Utah: Sports betting is not legal.
• Vermont: Sports betting is not legal.
• Virginia: Sports betting is not allowed, but horse race bets are legal.
• Washington: Sports betting is not legal, but horse race wagers are.
• West Virginia: Sports betting is legal.
• Wisconsin: Sports betting is not legal.
• Wyoming: Sports betting is not legal, but horse race wagers are.
• Washington DC: Sports betting is legal.

This is the current law of the land. Are bookies illegal in the USA? Not necessarily, and if you are lucky enough to live in a state where sports betting is legalized, you should try Pay Per Head sites, such as AcePerHead.com.

Is AcePerHead Legal?

Companies like Ace Per Head offer an exciting and fresh approach to sports betting. Take a moment to read about AcePerHead in the online sports betting space.

Best Services

Now, let’s get into companies like ours. We are not exactly a sportsbook or online casino. Rather, we are the best source that can help people to set up their online legal sportsbooks.

So, how exactly does that work? Someone with a sportsbook looks to hire a pay per head company to have them help with things such as customer service and more for their sportsbook. They can even have access to some of the technology that helps a sportsbook run better.

Once they get that, the goal would be to have bettors place bets on that sportsbook software. When that happens, the bookie would give the pay per head company a cut of the action.

In the pay per head model, this would typically mean that the bookie pays a certain amount of money for every person who bets on their platform in a certain time frame. Most companies would charge as little as $3 to $10 per active player.

So, say that 200 people bet on the sportsbook software in two weeks. In that case, the bookie would have to pay the pay-per-head company $2,000 for the help they provided by referring those people.

Legal Online Gambling

So, how does one have legal online gambling? The simple answer is to have an operation where it is legal to do this.

As stated above, it is legal to have someone be referred to a sportsbook as long as gambling is legal in that state. When it comes to us, our answer for this is that we do not have our operations in the United States or Canada. Instead, our headquarters are based in Costa Rica.

So, how does that work in terms of legality? Let’s take a look at some of the online gambling laws of Costa Rica.

If you look at the link above, you will notice that in Costa Rica, you do not need a special license to conduct online gambling. It is not illegal to participate in online gambling, as there is no active law that prohibits this in Costa Rica.

The main thing that you need to operate in this country is a commercial license. After that, make sure that you have a corporation based in Costa Rica, a permit from the Ministry of Health, and a permit for the land that you are using in Costa Rica.

Benefits of Using This

One thing you may be wondering is: what are the benefits of going this route? Well, for one thing, you do have a little more legal protection when you know that you are working with a partner who has a completely legal operation going on. The last thing you should want on your plate when you are first starting is more legal headaches for your company.

Also, you have the benefit of having a team behind you that may even be able to keep you out of other possible legal trouble in the online gambling industry. At a minimum, they will make sure that your online sportsbook and/or casino continue to function properly and legally.

Consider a Pay Per Head Service

This is everything that you need to know about this pay per head service. If you had concerns before reading this article, hopefully, this showed you that using this software is possible to conduct legal online gambling.

Just remember what locations legalize gambling in your home country and consider where it is legal to have gambling operations.

Do you want to try out our services? Create your package with us today.