Washington does not permit online gambling, although casinos and the state lottery provide real-money gaming. Horse racing betting remains one of the most popular forms of gambling within its borders; regardless of how or where a gamer chooses to gamble, they should always establish their gambling budget prior to starting any form of betting.
Any individual engaging in illegal online gambling in Washington faces a Class C felony, punishable by up to five years in jail and a $10,000 fine. Washington laws also forbid daily fantasy sports contests online.
Legality
Washington State remains illegal despite online gambling being a widely practiced pastime, though only tribal casinos can legally provide real money games and the state has one of the strictest casino gambling laws in the nation; even playing poker for real money online constitutes a class C felony! As a result, a number of offshore gambling sites avoid Washington altogether.
Things are shifting; more gambling sites are now accepting crypto as an instant-deposit and lightning-fast payout digital currency. Crypto casinos also protect players’ privacy by permitting anonymous transacting.
More people are beginning to recognize that playing poker for recreation is not only acceptable, but actually quite smart. This may eventually lead to legalized online gambling within their state – the lottery recently offering online wagering is already taking the necessary steps towards this end goal.
Payment options
Washington state boasts one of the strictest online gambling laws in the US, prohibiting all forms of online wagering as a Class C felony and permitting only land-based casinos to offer sports betting and charitable bingo games with no rakeback permitted as this constitutes professional gambling.
Good news is that several major sportsbooks have entered into agreements with tribal governments in Washington State to offer sports betting. You can now place wagers on NFL and college games through these sportsbooks and use the Action Network app for expert picks and live odds.
WA gambling sites generally offer several payment methods that make depositing and playing easier and safer, including credit cards, eWallets and bank transfers. Utilizing these payment options will result in faster, safer play with large bonuses often offered to their players – however before depositing money it is advisable to familiarise yourself with all available banking methods before depositing anything on a particular site.
Taxes
Washington state prohibits real-money online gambling and has made providing platforms where bettors can make bets on games illegal since 2006. As such, regulated casinos will typically not accept players from Washington and even social casino games are banned here.
Sports betting has now been made legal in Washington state due to a bill passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee in March 2020. While tribal casinos will initially benefit, other gaming establishments could potentially open their doors later. Although no tax is assessed on wagers at tribal casinos, cities, towns and counties can collect their own taxes from betting activities; this could increase revenue for local governments; it is unclear whether legal sports betting will encourage more online gambling or not; we’ll have to watch how other states with legal sports betting fare before making up our minds about ourselves about taking steps towards legal sports betting!
Regulation
Washington stands out among its counterpart states as one of only those which explicitly prohibit online gambling; however, tribal lands do allow sports betting. 29 federally recognized tribes may offer sports betting unless they amend their gaming compacts; Maverick Sports filed a lawsuit challenging this decision, potentially altering Washington sports betting rules in the process.
Up until recently, social casino gaming in Washington was illegal due to state legislation which makes it a Class C felony to provide platforms allowing players to purchase and use free-play chips for gambling purposes.
Washington state keeps an eye on online gambling through the Washington State Gambling Commission (WSGC) and Tribal Gaming Unit, two independent agencies within their borders that regulate and license gambling operations in Washington State as well as offering consumer protection services to online gamblers. Furthermore, these two bodies operate outside the Department of Revenue to provide oversight.