1. Legal sports betting in Georgia is a hot topic, to nobody’s surprise. With teams like the Falcons, Dawgs, Hawks and Atlanta United, there are a lot of chances to bet on sports in Georgia. Georgia’s gambling laws, however, focus on penalizing operators of illegal sports betting outfits and not on players placing bets with illegal bookies.
2. As can be expected in a state with stringent land-based gambling laws, Georgia does not have legal online gambling. However, due to the relative recency of online gambling’s arrival on the scene, there is no specific law banning it either. So, Georgia residents can find options in out-of-state (and probably out-of-country) sites.

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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.

There’s been strife over the years to bring casinos and horse tracks to Georgia, but a bill to legalize online sports betting could provide a path to legal wagering in the Peach State.

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.

An Overview of Gambling Laws in the State Of Georgia

Georgia is not a gambling-friendly State – in fact on a scale of restrictions and punishments for those organizing the games, this State sits just behind Utah and Hawaii in the ‘Least Gambling-Friendly State’ league. Residents do have a lottery, and can gamble on charity bingo games or even enter poker leagues with no player buy-ins. For casino or betting Georgians will either need to cross State borders or go out to see on one of two Casino cruises that operate in International waters off of the coast. This guide to Georgia gambling laws has all the information you need.

First below, you will find a quick-fire history of the gambling legislation of Georgia. On this page is will read more like a chronology of when things were banned than anything else. After that there is a game-by-game guide, which outlines the different options for different forms of gambling. Next you will find a timeline and snippets from the current legislation – followed by a summary and look into the future at the bottom of this page.

Georgia Gambling Laws – A Brief History

This has always been a conservative State, and the history of gambling is one of crack-downs and reigning in of unlicensed operators. The first gambling was from the heyday of Southern lotteries which were in the 1800’s – lead by southern neighbor Louisiana. In 1878 Georgia passed a law banning the sale of lottery tickets, and it would be more than 100 years before a modern State lottery was set up – the first draw taking place in 1993.

While many surrounding States legalized horse and / or greyhound race betting via pooled or Pari-Mutuel machines – Georgia stood firm. It would be 1976 before the first limited carve-out was instigated. This was for charity bingo and raffles – and is tightly licensed even today.

What you will find in this State is a history of residents finding a way to gamble regardless of what the State does. This included online gambling and poker, which like in many States is not specifically banned – but is assumed to come under the wide anti-gambling remit of the State. There have also been some more creative efforts.

The most successful of these are ‘cruises to nowhere’ which take place from the Georgia coast. You get into a ship, sail out to international waters – where you can legally gamble. There are currently 2 such boats operating.

After South Carolina banned Video Poker machines – a flood of these devices found their way to Georgia. A loophole in the law involving payouts via tickets meant that they were legal – at least in the opinion of the operators. The government lost no time on this one, pushing through some legislation which made the machines completely illegal in 2002.

Like in other States, internet cafes have appeared which are used as quasi-casinos. These underground establishments provide gambling to a lot of people. In 2011 they caught the eye of the State prosecutors – who have been busy cracking down on them ever since.

With the Republican senate voting (narrowly) in 2012 to establish a casino which would pay for education, there is some hope for the future. That particular bill was not signed, though there is hope for both casino and horse racing over the next few years. The consensus among experts is that internet gambling is not on the cards any time soon.

An Overview of Which Gambling Games Are Legal

Casino Games: No, though there is some hope on this front with a small majority of Republican senators in Georgia voting to allow a casino to be built – with profits funding the community college program. This was put on hold by Governor Nathan Deal, who said a bigger majority was needed. You can enjoy casino cruises from Georgia which sail out to international waters in order to host gambling games.

Online Casinos: No, there is nothing explicitly banning internet gambling in Georgia, however the general definitions of bets and gambling devices are wide enough that it is assumed they cover this.

Live Poker: No, you can‘t play poker for money, however there are bar poker free-entry games and leagues where prizes can be won without having to pay an entry fee. The bars add the prizes, and make their money back from the additional drinkers in their bars.

Online Poker: No, it is not expected that Georgia will join the list of States regulating online poker at any point soon.

Sports Betting: No, unlike other States there is not even pari-mutuel horse and dog racing allowed. Since this kind of racing can‘t take place on boats the only options are to travel West to Arkansas or South to Florida.

Lottery Betting: Yes, there has been a lottery since 1992, which has proven to be very popular among residents.

Bingo Games: Yes, charity bingo games and raffles are permitted in Georgia.

Georgia Gambling Laws – Key Statutes and Legal Timeline

While the history of gambling goes way back to the Southern Lotteries of the 1840’s – more recent legislation has been almost completely anti-gambling. The State code criminalizes the act of betting and owning a ‘gambling device’ even if that device has never been used for gambling.

Here are the key parts of the current State legislation:

[su_quote cite=”Chapter 16-12-20″ url=”http://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-16/chapter-12/article-2/part-1/16-12-20″]”Bet” means an agreement that, dependent upon chance even though accompanied by some skill, one stands to win or lose something of value…[/su_quote]

This is the very strict part covering Gambling Devices:

[su_quote]Any contrivance which for a consideration affords the player an opportunity to obtain money or other thing of value, the award of which is determined by chance even though accompanied by some skill, whether or not the prize is automatically paid by contrivance;[/su_quote] (the code goes on to mention specific machines)

The one silver-lining in an otherwise extremely tough anti-gambling code is that the individual players caught gambling are only guilty of a misdemeanor. Those organizing or earning money from illegal gambling activity are treated far more harshly.

Here is a timeline of key gambling legislation events in Georgia:

1976: A constitutional amendment legalizes Bingo for non-profit organizations with strictly limited terms and prizes not exceeding $1500 per day or $3000 per week.

1992: Georgia Lottery created, with the first draw taking place on June the 39th 1993. Profits from this are used to enhance education funding in the State.

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2000: Legal loophole sees the proliferation of Video Poker machines throughout the State, this is abruptly closed in 2002.

2011: Crackdown on Internet cafes which were set up as gambling outlets announced.

2012: The Senate vote to establish a casino with the intention of funding the community college program. This follows a model already working well in neighboring Arkansas. The bill was not signed into law by Governor Nathan Deal, who reportedly wanted to see a larger majority in favor before proceeding.

Georgia Gambling Laws – Summary and Future Outlook

Things are difficult for Georgia residents, with very few options for gambling that do not involve either playing bingo or leaving the State borders. Tentative steps towards opening a State casino still face opposition – though momentum does seem to be building faster for horse racing.

This State will likely be the last to embrace online gambling – possibly only ahead of Utah. One thing is for certain in GA, the residents are creative, and will come up with some way or another of staying ahead of the law and enjoying the online games.

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Useful Resources:

Early History of The Southern Lotteries (covers several States)

Charity Gambling Laws

GA Code (Need to drill down to find the gambling laws, only the main URL works for visits)

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Summary Of Laws