The Very Best Legal Online Sportsbooks
Living in the Land of the Free, we Americans have many options when it comes to legal online sportsbooks. Instead of making a trip to a state that has land-based bookmakers, you can stay home and sign up with a safe internet betting site. If you are used to playing the odds at land-based sites, you might be pleasantly surprised at what America’s best online sportsbooks have to offer. Not only can you bet on all the major sports and games, but also you can save boatloads of money by using bonuses and promotions that save you up to 50 percent on your deposits. Fun features like mobile betting and live play make it easy to take your wagering action on the go.
This page will focus primarily on the legal issues surrounding sports betting in the United States. We will tell you exactly what your options are for both land-based and online sports betting. We will give you a rundown of the foremost sports betting laws in the US, and how they affect the average American player. We will tell you about the age requirements of sports wagering sites, and we will go over some other safety issues. We will also give you short list of quality online betting sites that accept players from the US. Let’s start out by dispelling any legal misconceptions.
Yes, in America you can legally bet on sports as long as you are using a safe site. They are out there, but you have to know where to look. It is true that many betting sites are not trustworthy and do not operate within legal channels. The first thing to know is that sports betting sites are not allowed to operate within the United States unless they are located in Delaware or Nevada. You have to be a resident of either of these states in order to use their online sportsbooks, although anyone can use land-based sportsbooks. The reason that you will only find sportsbooks in two states is a law called the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, known by the acronym PASPA.
PASPA dates back to 1992, and was created in order to cut down on criminal activity centering on sports betting. The main problem was that organized crime syndicates were getting very powerful and setting up underground bookmaking operations. PASPA was a way to offset this unlawful activity. Unfortunately, one side effect of PASPA was that it made online sportsbooks scarce in the United States. Even so, some great online betting sites operate outside of the United States, and are therefore not governed by the same laws that regulate sportsbooks within US boundaries. In addition, US law does not include any provisions that make it a crime for an individual to join one of these sites.
Is It Safe To Wager At Online Sportsbooks?
Yes, because US law does not affect online sportsbooks that function overseas, these online sportsbooks are safe. The target of PASPA and other betting laws is not individuals, but criminal organizations who set up bookmaking operations and make huge profits. We only recommend safe sportsbooks that have gaming licenses. These sites have to answer to a gaming commission, which regulates all betting operations and makes sure that everything is by the book. Millions and millions of people use these sites to bet on everything from sports to politics and entertainment. We’re talking about regular people making football bets, not a bunch of people smoking cigars in the back of a pizzeria writing down names in a little black book.
If you have never used an online sportsbook before, you might be surprised at what you find. Internet betting sites offer all of the same things as land-based books, with a few added touches. Although you won’t find the seedy neon Vegas atmosphere of an actual casino, you also don’t have to contend with annoying drunks bothering you when you’re trying to make a bet, or the throngs of tourists, or the thugs and hoodlums waiting outside to snatch your winnings. You can just sit back, relax, have a few beers, watch the game live using the live in-game betting feature, and just chill. Here are a few of the best online sportsbooks for US players.
Best Legal Online Sportsbook for High Rollers!
Bovada is a thrill-packed sports betting site that has everything you could want in a sportsbook. This includes about two dozen sports and games to bet on, wager types and odds ranging from regular to exotic, and sportsbook bonuses that will save you wads and wads of money. Best of all is Bovada’s exquisite reputation. Its millions of members can rest easy knowing they are betting safely and that Bovada is overseen by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. Players can breathe a sigh of relief in knowing that Bovada is a safe and legal site.
Bovada was founded in the early ‘90s, just as the internet was beginning to revolutionize society. It was one of the very first betting sites to go fully online. Now, more than twenty years later, it is one of the largest sites in the industry. It operates in Canadian territory, so the United States laws that regulate sports betting are not applicable. Anyone in the United States can join Bovada, unless you happen to live in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, or Nevada. There is no fee to sign up. Age requirements are always between 18 and 21, so be sure to check your state code for the fine print.
Online Sportsbook Legal For Players in 50 States!
BetOnline has had 25 years to perfect their sportsbook. In that time, their membership has skyrocketed into the millions, and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. It’s easy to see why BetOnline is so popular. What other site gives you such a great combination of sports to wager on, payment and funding methods, and wager types? When you factor in all of BetOnline’s bonuses and other features, you start to get a sense of what makes this site so special. Additions like mobile and live-betting raise the game to new heights of convenience. Best of all, BetOnline is legal and safe!
BetOnline has all of its ducks in a row when it comes to safety and legality. Since it operates out of the Republic of Panama, it does not have to abide by US betting law. Statutes such as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) and the Wire Act make it so online sportsbooks must function overseas in order to be legal. The bottom line, though, is that BetOnline is legal. Moreover, it is a regulated site with a fully functioning gaming license. This means that a gaming commission oversees the site, making sure it always follows every aspect of the law.
Age laws in the United States can be tricky, because it changes from one state to another. The bare minimum age requirement for an online betting site is 18. If your state has no specific age laws, 18 is the default, and you will not be able to sign up with a site if you do not meet this requirement. In some states, however, the age is a bit higher. Many states set the bar at 21, and other states are more vague about it. Alabama, in true rebel fashion, is the only state with an age requirement of 19. If you are not sure what your state age law says, look it up on the web or contact a local government representative. European online sportsbooks experience no such restrictions.
Although land-based sports betting can be a lot of fun and probably should be experienced at least once in a lifetime, a lot of it is the novelty of being in a brightly lit, glitzy casino and watching the drunk people fall over themselves. The free drinks are nice, but if you want to get comps, you might have to stand around at a slot machine for a few hours. For most people, it’s just easier to stay home and bet online. When all is said and done, it’s about wagering and making money, plain and simple, and you can do that just as easily from your home computer as you can driving to Las Vegas. In some ways even, internet betting is even better than land-based betting.
For one thing, land-based casinos don’t offer all the great bonuses that the best online sportsbooks offer. When you sign up with an online sportsbook, you can get a welcome bonus of up to 50 percent off just for signing up! Think you’ll find that deal in Vegas? Think again. Another nice thing about online sportsbooks is that there are so many different sports to pick from. Heck, it’s not just sports. You can wager on politics, entertainment, even competitive eating! And if you want an already convenient activity to be even more convenient, you can use mobile betting, which lets you use the sportsbook from your cellphone. These are just a few of the ways in which online sportsbooks leave land-based sportsbooks behind in the dust.