Is Online Gambling Legal In Nc

Posted onby

Is Online Poker / Gambling Legal in North Carolina?

The 1992 law at issue in the case bars state-authorized sports gambling with exceptions for Nevada, Montana, Oregon and Delaware, states that had approved some form of sports wagering before the. Sports gambling in North Carolina is legal through licensed offshore hosts, at tribal casinos, and will soon be legal through state-regulated services. NC bettors can wager on a number of domestic sports leagues, teams, games, and events.

North Carolina is one of many southern states which take a dim view of gambling. Most jurisdictions in the deep south have harsh anti-gambling laws. Mississippi and Louisiana cut out exceptions for casino gambling along the rivers and seaside, while Kentucky (and others) have sizable parimutuel gambling establishments. Despite being considered a little more progressive than neighboring states and having the Research Triangle of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, little indicates North Carolina has a permissive attitude towards gambling.

North Carolina gambling laws are enforced with a strict eye towards organized gaming activity like slot machines, video poker, racing bets, and lotteries besides the official state lottery. North Carolina law enforcement also focuses on what are called 'Monta Carlo Nights', which is one of a half-dozen names these events have throughout the USA. Also known as millionaire parties or Las Vegas nights, these are poker events organized by companies, undocumented nonprofits, and other organizations who don't have a license for gambling.

In North Carolina, law enforcement of gaming statutes is handled by the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. The specific office which handles enforcement is the Alcohol Law Enforcement Division of the DPS. These agents are sometimes known by the acronym 'ALE'.

Playing Poker & North Carolina Law

We know North Carolina's gambling law is fairly severe in general, but what about poker? Are there ways that poker players can participate in cash games and tournaments for real money while still staying within the boundaries of North Carolina law?

Our first goal is to determine whether or not North Carolina considers poker to be a form of gambling. The definition for gambling employed by North Carolina, found in Section 14-292, focuses on 'games of chance.' What the definition does not provide is any additional standards for separating games of skill from games of chance.

While this sounds like good news for poker players, many of whom would assert that poker is not a game of chance, law enforcement in North Carolina has been quite active in raiding 'illegal' poker games. The position of the state, then, is that - despite the lack of clarity in state law - poker is to be considered gambling in North Carolina.

Given that fact, poker played for real money is only legal when it occurs in ways specifically permitted by North Carolina law. The major exception: Regulated casinos like Harrah's Cherokee are free to run poker rooms.

What about social gambling? States such as New York and California have carve-outs for private poker games conducted among friends, but North Carolina law has no such provision. Home poker games are an apparent violation of state law regarding gambling.

As for charitable poker, that's a tougher answer to come by. The state has sent conflicting signals about the legality of charity poker games in North Carolina. And while some forms of charitable gambling are clearly legal, poker apparently exists in a bit of a gray area. If you have any questions about the legality of a charitable poker game, your best course of action is to contact the NC Dept. of Public Safety, which is the agency responsible for charitable gambling.

North Carolina Slot Machines and Video Poker Machines

The Tarheel State's slot machine laws are strict and wide reaching. Special distinctions are made not just for owning and operating slot machines, or even for manufacturing these devices. People also face penalties for the possession, storage, transport, or even giving away of slot machines. If a person in North Carolina does almost anything involving the slots, they are subject to fines or jail time.

Video poker machines get similar treatment. A set of 2007 laws make all forms of video poker gaming illegal inside North Carolina. The definition lawmakers give to 'video poker' is large by any standards. This includes video bingo, video keno, video lotto, playing cards, video craps, pot-of-gold games, and eight liners. Obviously, traditional video poker games are outlawed, but so are video games involving any chance matching of numbers, words, symbols, or pictures. If these games involve 'the random' or do not depend on the dexterity and skills of the players involved, these are illegal. One exception is the fact these video gaming machines require payment for activation, so it appears to read that free games are legal.

More NC Gambling Laws Banned

Beyond slots, video poker, banned lotteries, the North Carolina DPS, and poker nights, other forms of casino gambling are banned. While North Carolina has no current law which outlaws online gambling, North Carolina is one of those on the short list of US states which might one day attempt a ban on Internet gaming in their state. Southern states tend to give additional power to governments to enforce laws against immoral behavior and North Carolina is no different.

Learn About Other State Laws

North Carolina Native American Casinos

So you might think North Carolina is totally 'anti-gambling'. That isn't entirely the case, though the only permitted gambling halls are two Indian casinos associated with the Cherokee Nation. The first of these is Harrah's Cherokee Casino and Hotel in Cherokee, North Carolina, which can be reached at 1800-427-7247. The second Indian casino is the Cherokee Tribal Bingo hall, which is also in Cherokee. This establishment can be reached at 828-497-4320.

Gambling

State Lottery Information

North Carolina's state lottery is called an 'education lottery'. This means the money is earmarked for educational spending, which is a common way to convince the electorate that some form of gambling isn't immoral. The North Carolina Education Lottery is a member state in both in the Powerball lottery and Mega Millions lottery. Among the local games offered by their state lottery are Carolina Cash 5, Pick 4, and Pick 3.

Also see:

North Carolina is now extremely close to having legal sports betting after the legislature passed a bill on Monday.

Is online gambling legal in nc

The House voted to authorize North Carolina sports betting at two Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian casinos by a vote of 90-27. The bill to add sports betting to Class III games offered by the Cherokee now heads to Gov. Roy Cooper‘s desk.

Another bill to create a North Carolina Gaming Commission and task it with studying NC sports betting is in the Senate for concurrence, which it could get as soon as Tuesday. It was withdrawn from consideration Monday to give the Senate more time to go through language that hadn’t previously been vetted

Passed by the Senate in April, S 154 was pushed for by Rep. Kevin Corbin and Sen. Jim Davis, who have Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort and Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel in their districts.

“I’ve been a champion for expanding gaming opportunities for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians for years,” Davis said. “They’ve been a great economic generator for the Western region of our state, and I’m happy to play a small part in the good they do for this region.”

How sports betting in North Carolina got done

Davis had S 154 on a path to be the first sports betting bill passed by a state this year. But a week after the bill’s Senate passage, H 929 was introduced by Rep. Harry Warren and complicated matters.

As the bill calling for a study advanced through the committee process, House representatives were confused about what to do with legislation attempting to authorize NC sports betting when a study of it was pending.

Warren and Davis ultimately made a deal to support each other’s bills, facilitating passage for both. Warren added language to his bill codifying that the gaming commission will not have the authority to oversee or regulate tribal gaming.

Moving at an accelerated pace

Davis agreed to shepherd the gaming commission bill through the Senate next week and provided Warren with a vehicle to accelerate the process. S 574 started as Davis’s bill related to modifying the definition of physical therapy, but its companion bill in the House is the one that moved.

Warren repurposed S 574 with the gaming commission language, allowing it to go right to the Senate floor for concurrence rather than starting from scratch in the second chamber.

“There was no time before the session ends to put it through the committee process,” Warren said. “We needed to get this done now in order to give the commission time to do the sports betting study.”

Let’s NC what’s out there …

Davis’ S 154 only permits NC sports betting at the tribal casinos with no mobile or online wagering.

The North Carolina sports betting study, which would also look at steeplechases, is meant to analyze the impact the statewide authorization of sports betting would have on NC, as well as the Cherokee Nation and its gaming activities.

“I’m trying to put the horse in front of the cart to establish a committee and have it do a study that would be able to report to our existing Joint Legislative Lottery Oversight Committee on the impacts and feasibility of expanding and allowing sports betting in North Carolina,” Warren said.

The initial report would be due in February 2020, with a final report set for that April.

Amendment to ban college betting attempted on NC bill

When S 154 was up for passage Thursday, Rep. Julia Howard attempted to add an amendment to prohibit wagering on all college games.

Davis and Corbin opposed the amendment. They argued that, in a state where college sports are hugely popular led by Duke and the University of North Carolina, removing college wagering would eliminate more than half of the betting expected at the tribal casinos.

House leadership pulled the bill off Thursday’s agenda to give members time to work out the issue, and the sponsors were able to get the amendment withdrawn by Monday’s vote.

Why North Carolina needs a gaming commission

Warren’s bill takes all current forms of gaming in the state, including lottery, boxing, bingo and raffles, and puts them under the oversight of one commission.

“The bill doesn’t expand gambling at all,” Warren said. “What it does is organize current gaming activities in the state, bring them all under one roof and make it easier to regulate them by streamlining the process.”

While the bill doesn’t expand gaming, Warren contends that the commission is necessary to handle possible future gambling expansions in the state, including sports betting:

“North Carolina is growing very rapidly the last few years and they’re moving from states that offer more gaming activities than we do. At some point, there will be petitions made to expand the types of gaming we’re doing, in particular with sports betting, and I think it’s critical we act now to establish a gaming commission that will be experienced in how to vet and regulate any type of activities the General Assembly might elect to expand into.”

Daily fantasy sports left out of final NC bill

When first introduced, Warren’s bill instructed the new commission to regulate daily fantasy sports. The final bill removed that portion.

“The bill as it was initially would have legitimized daily fantasy sports, and various members on both sides of the aisle weren’t willing to go there without more discussion,” Warren said. “I didn’t want to hold up the bill because the important thing is to establish this commission.”

Warren agreed that DFS was better left to another time, as this bill was not meant to expand on any legal gambling allowed in the state.

“Fantasy sports will continue to operate in the state,” Warren said. “We just haven’t decided to address it yet.”

What’s next for NC sports betting bills

Davis and Warren are confident their bills will get by Cooper’s desk without a veto. In North Carolina, the governor has 30 days to act on legislation.

The final version of the commission bill left out video lottery terminals (VLT) as the third area of study, with the governor in mind.

Warren indicated that, during the committee process, he heard Cooper didn’t like the inclusion of VLTs and might veto the bill if they were included.

Party politics increase the possibility of a veto. Cooper is a Democrat while both chambers of the legislature are led by Republicans. However, as evidenced by the votes, there is support from both parties.

“I expect the governor will sign the bills,” Davis said. “They are not controversial and we have strong bipartisan support.”