Is online gambling legal in Georgia?
Online gambling is not prohibited but not regulated in Georgia State Laws. Accordingly, online gambling is not offered by any commercial operators within the state. There are some offshore commercial operators which accept players from Georgia.
In 2019, $47.5m was wagered online from players in Georgia at offshore licensed and regulated casinos.
Other Georgia State Gambling Laws
Georgia has one of the most restrictive gambling laws in the US.
No commercial gambling is permitted under State Law, with strict penalties applicable to Georgia commercial operators. Prohibited commercial gambling includes: casino table games, gaming machines, horse and dog race betting, sports betting, and any form of pari mutuel wagering.
There are two casino boats permitted to offer gambling once in international waters. These boats offer casino table games and gaming machines. The minimum legal age being 18 years of age.
There are no Federally recognized native American tribes that are permitted to operate a casino in Georgia. This was challenged in court in 2017 and was unsuccessful in overturning the prohibition of any tribal casino being established in Georgia.
Georgia State laws permits Lottery games to be offered. This is restricted to the Georgia State Lottery, who therefore have a state monopoly. 35% of net proceeds are required to be directed to the Lottery for Education Account. The minimum legal age for participating in lottery games is 18 years of age.
Charitable gaming is permitted in Georgia. The Georgia Statute on Bingo requires licensing of bingo and raffle games, with charitable organizations defined as community and religious groups. The minimum legal age for participating in charitable gaming is 18 years of age.
Sports Betting remains illegal. There is proposition that sports betting could be legalized through the introduction of a sports betting bill to authorize the Georgia State Lottery to distribute mobile sports betting.
Daily Fantasy Sports is deemed a form of gambling. This was expressly confirmed by the Attorney General in 2017. As a result DFS is illegal. Do not misconstrue the legality with acceptance of play at DFS sites. DraftKing and FanDuel both accept players from Georgia, however this is technically in breach of the law.
Minimum Age for Georgia Gambling
The minimum legal age for all forms of gambling in Georgia is 18 years of age.
Georgia Future Gambling Laws
Although Georgia gambling laws are currently restrictive, there is momentum in government and with residents to change State laws. Recently, senators raised SB 403 that would see the Georgia Lottery as responsible for administering sports betting.
In early 2020, the Atlanta Motor Speedway requested gambling laws to be amended to allow them to build an integrated casino resort as an extension to the current facilities in Hampton.