Washington Sports Betting

Washington State sports betting is legal. In 2020, Washington lawmakers legalized sports betting at tribal casinos to give Native American gaming operators the go-ahead to launch retail sportsbooks. The first Washington sportsbooks opened in 2021.

Other Washington gambling options include card rooms, online horse racing betting, off-track betting parlors (OTBs), and the state lottery.

Legal Washington Betting Sites

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Washington Sportsbooks

The first Washington sportsbooks opened in Fall 2021, and multiple others have launched since.

Washington Sports Betting Apps

Two casinos have launched online sports betting apps in Washington State to date. Bettors can download Washington sports betting apps from anywhere in the state, but local laws require users to be physically located on casino property to place real-money wagers. The Washington online sports betting market is limited as a result, but it still offers increased convenience for casino guests.

BetMGM Washington App

BetMGM Sportsbook in Washington offers online sports betting for customers physically present at Emerald Queen Casino through a mobile app for iOS and Android.

The BetMGM Washington app is only available to customers while on casino property, but it offers several advantages:

  • Allows fans to view the odds and build bets from anywhere before submitting them at EQC Tacoma
  • The BetMGM WA app offers in-play betting (place wagers with live odds during games)
  • No need to stand in line to place wagers

The most important things to know about using the BetMGM Sportsbook app in Washington is that customers must register in person at Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, and may only place wagers while on casino property. Additionally, bettors should note that BetMGM Washington is a standalone mobile app, separate from the “main” app most users see in the App Store when searching for BetMGM by name.

  • iOS users can get install BetMGM in Washington by opening the App Store and searching for “BetMGM @ Emerald Queen Casino.”
  • Android users can install the BetMGM Sportsbook app as a direct download from the Emerald Queen Casino website here

Snoqualmie Casino Sports App

Snoqualmie Casino launched the first online sports betting app in Washington State near the end of 2021. It’s a very basic app for WA bettors without many features, but it provides the advantages of no waiting in line to place wagers, viewing the odds from anywhere in the casino, and convenient in-play betting.

Like all Washington State sports betting apps, the Snoqualmie Sportsbook app only offers real-money wagering to guests physically located on casino property. However, bettors can download the app from anywhere in the nation to view the lines.

Washington Sports Betting Law

The Washington legislature legalized sports betting in March 2020 with a bill authorizing tribal casinos to launch retail sportsbooks under the authority of the Washing Gambling Commission. Under the new law, each of Washington’s 29 Native American casinos may begin taking wagers on casino property once properly licensed.

Governor Jay Inslee signed the bill into law on March 25th, 2020. The passage of the law initiated the next phase, which is for Washington’s gaming tribes to renegotiate their gaming compacts with the state. Fifteen tribes reached agreements with the state in June 2021 and received federal approval in September 2021.

The passage of the law makes Washington the 21st state in the Union to legalize sports betting and the third state with sportsbooks controlled exclusively by tribal casinos. Other gaming interests such as cardrooms, race tracks and the state lottery were left out of discussions, and online sports betting in Washington is not authorized by the bill.

After the law took effect, a contingent of Washington State cardroom operators filed a lawsuit to strike down the law on the grounds that it unlawfully granted a “discriminatory” monopoly over sports betting to tribal casino operators. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in early 2023, but Washington’s cardroom operators have promised to pursue the case all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. Currently, it seems retail sportsbooks in Washington cardrooms are a long-shot over the near term.

Key points from the Washington sports betting law include:

  • Washington Gambling Commission to oversee legal sports betting and issue licenses
  • Tribal casinos with more than twenty years’ experience may apply for Washington sports betting licenses
  • Washington sportsbook may accept wagers on professional and college sports, the Olympics, and esports
  • Wagers on minor league sports prohibited
  • Mobile wagers may only be accepted from customers who are physically present on casino property

The full text of Washington sports betting law occupies WA Rev Code § 9.46.

Washington Online Sports Betting

Washington sports betting laws currently only permit on-premise sports wagering at authorized tribal casino sportsbooks. Online sportsbooks and mobile sports betting apps remain prohibited, but the legalization of retail betting has increased the odds that online betting in Washington State will come along as well at some point.

As lawmakers and residents grow comfortable with sports wagering at casinos, the likelihood of online sports betting increases as well. Additionally, the increased tax revenue from retail sportsbooks may whet the state’s appetite for the even greater revenue mobile betting would generate.

A Washington State University study conducted in late 2021 estimated the state’s retail sports betting industry is on track to become a $94 million industry over the next five years. That’s a sizable sum, but the same study also projects legalizing statewide online sports betting in Washington State would more than triple the industry’s potential to $322 million in revenue per year.

Washington Daily Fantasy Sports

There was a time when the legality of daily fantasy sports sites and apps in Washington State was open to debate. Some of the biggest daily fantasy sports sites accepted residents from Washington up until 2014. However, the gambling commission has since clarified its stance on fantasy betting and declared that fantasy sports contests in Washington State are illegal according to the 1973 Gambling Act.

The Washington State Gambling Commission website lays it out clearly:

In 1973, when the Gambling Act was first passed, 100-square sports pool boards were authorized.

The NCAA basketball “Final Four” tournament and the associated bracket pools increased in popularity after 1979 when ESPN aired the tournament on television for the first time. However, bracket pools, office sports pools, and fantasy sports have never been authorized as gambling activities in Washington State and are illegal.

The fantasy sports industry has demonstrated a willingness to take calculated legal risks in some states, but the risk is too great in Washington State. As a result, the nation’s major fantasy sites remain closed to Washingtonians until something changes in the law.

Currently, there are no active efforts to legalize daily fantasy sports in Washington State. SB 5169 introduced in 2017 and again in 2018 proposed classifying fantasy sports contests as games of skill. The bill offered no regulations or rules apart from providing a legal definition of “fantasy competitions” and exempting such competitions the state’s definition of gambling.

The bill failed to advance in both years and there have been no efforts to reintroduce similar legislation since. This leaves Washington one of the few states in which daily fantasy sports contests are clearly prohibited by law.

Washington Horse Racing Betting

Online horse racing betting, racetracks, and off-track betting facilities (OTBs) are legal and regulated in Washington. State law requires fans to be 21 or older to bet on horse races online and 18 or older to place pari-mutuel wagers in person at race tracks and OTBs.

Follow the link below for more about horse racing betting in Washington, recommended online horse betting sites, OTB locations, and more:

Washington Online Gambling

Online casinos and poker sites in Washington are prohibited by some of the strictest laws in the nation. Senate Bill SSB 6613 was passed in 2006 for the purpose of clarifying Washington’s stance on participation in unlawful internet betting.

The passage of this bill was alarming for the online poker community at the time because the law made it a Class C felony to participate in any form of unauthorized wagering over the internet. A Class C felony in Washington can result in up to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. This remains the most draconian online gambling law in the nation to this day.

The summary of the bill reads as follows:

The internet and telecommunications systems are added to the list of means over which a person is prohibited from knowingly transmitting or receiving wagers or other gambling information. The penalty for knowingly engaging in such illegal transmission or receipt is increased from a gross misdemeanor to a Class C felony. The Lottery Commission is prohibited from offering any game where they internet can be used to buy tickets or chances.

Nearly a decade later, nobody has ever been charged with a felony under this law. There appears to be no appetite or enforcement mechanism to identify and prosecute people who participate in unauthorized forms of online gambling in Washington State.

Even so, the mere existence of this law shows Washington has little interest in legalizing online casinos and poker sites any time soon. A number of offshore gambling sites that already break federal gambling laws have even decided to stop doing business in Washington due to the additional legal risk presented by the law.

Land-based poker and gambling games are legal at authorized locations throughout the state, namely tribal casinos. Live poker is permitted at licensed facilities under the following conditions:

  • No more than 5 betting rounds in any one game
  • Each betting round permits no more than 4 wagers in any one round
  • The maximum amount of a single wager does not exceed $40
  • Class F licensees may permit wagers of up to $100 each

Social gambling is permitted under Washington law as long as the players compete on equal grounds, the house earns no commission and the only money earned by participants is a result of their personal winnings in the game. RCW § 9.46.0269 has this to say on the matter:

“Player,” as used in this chapter, means a natural person who engages, on equal terms with the other participants, and solely as a contestant or bettor, in any form of gambling in which no person may receive or become entitled to receive any profit therefrom other than personal gambling winnings, and without otherwise rendering any material assistance to the establishment, conduct or operation of a particular gambling activity. A natural person who gambles at a social game of chance on equal terms with the other participants shall not be considered as rendering material assistance to the establishment…

A bill introduced in 2015 and again in 2016 attempted to authorize and regulate Washington poker sites failed to gain any traction, and no other real efforts have been made since. A hearing to discuss the issue of online poker was conducted in 2017, but nothing came of that effort either.

Washington State Sports Betting FAQ

Yes. Washington law allows tribal groups to operate retail sportsbooks at licensed casinos.

Washington State does not yet have statewide online sports betting or daily fantasy sports, but users can place wagers through their mobile devices at some casinos. The next closest alternative for statewide wagering is online horse racing betting.

Customers must be 18 or older to bet on sports at licensed sportsbooks. However, some tribal casinos restrict entry to customers 21 or older.

Yes. Washington law allows sportsbooks to offer wagers on esports events.

WA Rev Code §§ 9.46.0364-38 authorizes and regulates sports betting in Washington State.

The Washington Gambling Commission regulates sports betting throughout the state.

The national trend with legalization tends to include online sports betting, but it is uncertain whether Washington State will follow suit any time soon. Lawmakers have not indicated an urgent desire to authorize mobile betting apps.