Gambling in Nevada – Best Gambling Sites and Legal Status

Nevada Gambling Law Overview

Casino Gambling: Legal
Tribal Gambling: Legal
Poker: Legal
Horse Racing Betting: Legal
Dog Racing Betting: Not Legal
Lottery: Not Legal
Daily Fantasy Sports: Legal
Charitable Gaming: Legal
Social Gambling: Legal
Online Gambling: Legal

In 1931, Nevada became the first state to legalize casino gaming. Since then, they’ve built a massive gambling empire that features over 320 casinos across the state.

This means that you’ll never have to look far when searching for a gaming option in the Silver State.

But even Nevada has its limits because they’re one of only five states that doesn’t have a lottery. And while pari-mutuel wagering is legal in Nevada, they don’t have any active racetracks.

We also found some antiquated language in the state criminal code that spells out problems for law-abiding gamblers.We’ll discuss this in the Legal Status section, but let’s first review Nevada’s gambling industry.

Transition to Legal Status of Gambling
Efforts to Legalize a Lottery
Legal Status of Gambling in Nevada
Vegas Transforms to Enternainment Destination
Where Can I Gamble in Nevada?
The Millennial Gambling Dilemma
Online Gambling Options in Nevada
Nevada Gambling FAQ
Sharing Online Poker Players With Delaware
History of Nevada Gambling Laws

While more and more states are offering legal casinos, none come close to generating the same kind of gambling revenue that Nevada does.

Casinos across the state haul in over $11 billion per year from gambling alone. According to UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research, almost $6.4 billion of this amount comes from the Las Vegas Strip.

Nevada’s other big sources of gambling revenue are as follows:

Washoe County = $809.6 million
Boulder Strip = $788 million
Downtown Vegas = $564.6 million

Nevada has one of the lowest gambling tax rates in the world. They levy a 6.75% tax on gaming revenue, along with another 1% in fees (7.75% total).

Due to this ultra-low tax rate, Nevada earns less tax revenue that other states like Pennsylvania and Indiana, which generate far less gaming revenue.

But the Silver State also collects another $2 billion on resort taxes and fees, meaning casino resorts generate over $2.8 billion in annual tax money. And this doesn’t even begin to measure the impact of casinos employing 170,000 people throughout the state.

Nevada Gambling Stats & Key Info

Age Requirements: 21
Approximate Annual Gambling Revenue: $11.1 billion
Approximate Annual Gambling Taxes: $860 million
Number of Commercial Casinos: 324
Number of Rancinos: 0
Number of Tribal Casinos: 0
Casino Regulatory Body:Nevada Gaming Control Board
Lottery National Rankings: N/A

Transition to Legal Status of Gambling

As you can see in the stats box, Nevada has 324 casinos at the time of this writing.

The Venetian is the largest of these casinos, offering 3,400 slot machines and 160 table games over 120,000 square feet.

The MGM Grand is the biggest in terms of space, spanning 170,000 square feet and offering 2,500 slots and 170 table games. Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa is also significant, offering 2,700 slot machines across 87,000 square feet.

What’s amazing is that these are just a few of the numerous large casinos found on the Vegas Strip.

Legal Status of Gambling in Nevada

In statue 463.0129, Nevada states how important casino gambling is to their economy and that strict regulations are needed to protect this industry.

They’re not kidding about the strict regulations either. NRS 465.088 states that the max penalty for a felony gambling conviction is a 1-6 year prison sentence and $10,000 fine.

Discussed in sections 465.070 to 465.085, these punishments are reserved for serious offenses like cheating in casino games, point shaving (sports betting), and dealers/managers working with players to cheat.

You’re guilty of a misdemeanor if caught gamblingbeyond licensed activities in Nevada. NRS 463.0153 defines gambling as follows:

“… to deal, operate, carry on, conduct, maintain or expose for play any game as defined in NRS 463.0152, or to operate an inter-casino linked system.”

NRS 463.0152 lists the following as examples of gambling:

Baccarat
Beat the banker
Big injun
Big klondike
Bingo
Blackjack
Chemin de fer
Chinese chuck-a-luck (dai shu)
Chuck-a-luck
Craps
Fan-tan
Faro
Monte
Pai gow
Panguingui
Poker
Roulette
Seven-and-a-half
Slot machine
Twenty-one
Wheel of fortune
Any banking or percentage game
Any other game or device approved by the commission

The big problem with this list is that only 10 of these games are actually found in casinos. You’ll need Google to figure out what the other half of these outdated games are.

You can definitely tell that this section was written decades ago, and the modern gambler will have no idea what big injun, big Klondike, and cluck-a-luck are.

While this list may be useless, it’s easy to stay on the right side of the law thanks to all of Nevada’s casino options. We’ll discuss these more below along with Nevada’s other forms of legal gambling.

Casino Gambling

While Nevada has transformed itself into an all-around entertainment destination, their brick-and-mortar casino industry still represents a large chunk of the state’s tourism.

324 casinos are spread throughout Nevada, with Las Vegas housing over 100 casinos itself.

Other casino hubs in the Battle Ready State include Reno, Laughlin, and Carson City. Reno is the most notable of these because it has 20 casinos along with ski resorts and other attractions.

What’s fun about Nevada’s casino industry is that you can find slot machines virtually anywhere, whether it be an airport, bar, gas station, or restaurant.

The only major Nevada town that’s banned gambling is Boulder City, which is located less than 30 miles from Vegas. Boulder City was built to house Hoover Dam workers, and they outlawed gambling to protect the dam workers’ income.

Charitable Gaming

This state has liberal charity gambling laws, allowing civic, educational, fraternal, humanitarian, patriotic, and religious groups to hold gaming fundraisers.

These nonprofit organizations can offer bingo, lottery, raffle, and casino night events to raise money. But all of the proceeds must go to the designated charity or cause.

Daily Fantasy Sports

In 2015, the Nevada Attorney General’s office wrote a 17-page paper detailing how daily fantasy sports (DFS) constitutes gambling. They then asked industry leaders DraftKings and FanDuel to vacate the market because they’re unlicensed operations.

Nevada issued their first DFS license to USFantasy, with operates through casino sportsbooks.

As reported by Engadget, USFantasy’s games don’t work like normal DFS. Instead of having a limited salary cap, USFantasy players choose athletes at a certain position and bet where they’ll rank at that position.

Engadget noted that this feels more like horse racing than traditional DFS.

Horse Racing

Horse racing is legal in Nevada, but they don’t have any active racetracks. The only live racing is performed at the state’s fairgrounds on a limited basis.

The large majority of Nevada’s horse racing industry centers on off-track wagering. You can find simulcast betting at many casinos throughout the state.

State Lottery

Along with Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, and Utah, Nevada is one of only 5 states without a lottery.

Many attempts have been made to instate a lottery over the years, but Nevada’s casino industry has always opposed such measures.

When the state first legalized gambling, they wanted to focus on casinos. And this line of thinking continues decades later.

Live Poker

Nevada is home to the largest concentration of poker tables in the world. Over 500 poker tables are found in Las Vegas alone, while the state features over 730 tables.

Vegas has several famous high stakes poker rooms, including the Bellagio (Bobby’s Room), Aria (Ivey Room), and Wynn Poker Room.

Sin City also hosts the annual World Series of Poker (WSOP), which is the biggest poker tournament series on the planet.

Held every year from May to July, this event draws over 100,000 poker players and offers more than $200 million in prize money.

Social Gambling

NRS 461.0152exempts social gaming from Nevada’s gambling definition with the following passage:

“[Gambling] does not include games played with cards in private homes or residences in which no person makes money for operating the game.”

No state constitution offers a more clear-cut indication of social gaming’s legality than this.

The key is that the host or person operating the game doesn’t profit in any way, including serving food and drinks.

Sports Betting

Nevada is one of only four states where sports betting is legal. And they’re the only state that offers full-blown sports wagering.

Nevada was grandfathered into the Professional Sports and Amateur Protection Act (PASPA) in 1992, which bans sports betting on a federal level. Given that the Silver State already featured sportsbooks, they were allowed to continue doing so.

The only other American state that currently offers sports betting is Delaware, which is limited to NFL parlays. Meanwhile, Nevada has full-service sportsbooks that offer action on a wide range of sports and bets.

Nevada sportsbooks handle $4 billion in annual bets, winning over $220 million of this amount.

Tribal Gaming

A little-known fact about Nevada’s gaming industry is that they also feature two tribal casinos. These include the Avi Resort and Snow Mountain Smoke Shop.

Both casinos are on native reservations, and they don’t have to pay taxes to the Nevada government. But the downside is that these casinos must deal with intense competition from numerous commercial gaming venues.

Where Can I Gamble in Nevada?

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