Maine Online Gambling Laws
While online gambling by playing casino games still isn’t legal, there are other forms of online gambling legal the state residents. It’s important to understand what types of online gambling laws apply to residents, and how they impact the ability to place bets with real money online.
For starters, Maine does not allow gamblers to play casino games with real money. Instead, gambling here is restricted to sports betting, Fantasy Sports, and horse betting online.
There are Maine casinos that allow you to bet in person and offer table games (which were legalized in 2012). With casinos in Maine fully operational, recent efforts to create tribal legislation to allow online casino gaming, and the state’s proximity to other East Coast states that do have legal online gambling (like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan), it’s not too far fetched to assume that new laws might soon make it fully legal to gamble online.
How Does Maine Regulate Gambling?
The Department of Public Safety has assigned the Maine Gambling Control Unit to help combat illegal gambling in the state and also to regulate other forms of legal gambling and games in the state. For instance, beano and bingo games are currently legal, as are other charitable events that accept real money bets to go toward certain organizations. These forms of gambling and playing are legal, just like other card games that also fall under “games of chance.”
It’s important to understand that these games are only legal if they are played and donated to a charitable organization. If players engage in them for personal gain, Maine gambling laws are violated and players can face legal consequences.
Games of skill, like Fantasy Draft Leagues and sports betting, are also legal. These types of games require some level of skill or strategy from the player, rather than just luck. This is why they are considered to be less risky and therefore allowed by state law. The Maine Gambling Control Unit also has oversight over these types of games to ensure fair play and prevent any illegal activity.
Lastly, unlike other states that combine lottery regulation with gambling control, Maine has a separate state agency in charge of overseeing the lottery. The Maine Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations (BABLO), an agency of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS), is responsible for regulating and monitoring all aspects of the state lottery, including sales, prize payouts, and promotional activities.
