No matter if you love lottery, horse races, video poker or sports betting – online gambling offers convenient wagers from the comfort of your home. While it has gained ground across the country, that doesn’t necessarily make it legal in every state – some states have outright banned online gambling; any violation could incur fines; but many are actively working towards changing this and offering legal gambling within their borders soon enough.

State lawmakers may be concerned about social issues like rising crime rates or compulsive gambling; but others see online gaming as an opportunity to increase tax revenue. New jersey was one of the first states to legalize regulated online gambling in 2009 and currently leads in terms of handle. As a result, other states such as Pennsylvania and Nevada quickly followed suit and have since introduced various iCasino games; plans exist to release sports betting apps sometime later this year.

New york is also looking to establish itself in the world of iGaming, although they have not launched online casinos just yet. Illinois, too, is poised to pass legislation enabling them to open iGaming services within its borders – perhaps joining other states that offer legal online casino sites in due time.

Georgia, Florida and Wisconsin have also legalized online gambling due to having existing land-based casinos or cruise ship casinos; as these states see the potential of additional revenue streams from online gambling. However, poker, scratch-offs and daily fantasy sports (DFS) remain in a legal gray area as they do not fall under their respective state’s gambling laws.

Utah and Hawaii remain as the only two states without legalized online gambling, not even permitting any forms of in-person gambling. This is due to federal authorities restricting individual states’ rights to regulate gambling despite recent attempts by the Department of Justice to expand this through reinterpreting the Wire Act of 1961.