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Last updated: July 14, 2019 – Their hasn’t been much gambling news in TN lately, but the Senate and House did pass a bill to regulate and legalize daily fantasy sports (DFS) betting. The bill was signed into law by the Governor on April 27, 2016, and DFS operators are now paying a $50,000 license fee and are taxed 6% on revenues from Tennessee players. The state lottery set another record in sales for the 12th consecutive year. Total sales were $1.657 billion in 2016 (latest numbers released). State officials are working on some proposals that would authorize casino gambling, they are still doing studies, since it’s currently not allowed. Since Tennessee doesn’t offer any commercial or tribal casinos, the increase in lottery and charitable gaming revenue has only helped open the eyes of state officials for gambling expansion.
Online Poker in Tennessee – Estimated Date of Legalization: 2021-2022
The State of Tennessee is pretty strict when it comes to gambling in general. A perfect example is most states have Indian casinos or horse race tracks where you can gamble legally, but Tennessee has neither.
Even with that being said, there are no specific laws stating it is illegal to play poker on the internet. Go to our homepage to learn more about what online poker sites accept players from the USA. This article is intended to focus just on the state of Tennessee.
Section 37-17-501(1) of Tennessee Code Annotated defines “gambling”:
“Risking anything of value for profit whose return is to any degree contingent on chance, or any games of chance associated with casinos, including but not limited to, slot machines, roulette wheels and the like.”
As you can see they take a hard stance on casino forms of gambling, and still consider poker a game of “chance” rather than “skill” which is a very debatable topic even to the top government officials. Tennessee has been known to raid higher-stake poker games when it reaches a certain level but there are no known records of fining or arresting those who play poker online, at least no records we could find.
Tennessee Online Poker Debate
A large debate for Tennessee officials about legalizing online gambling is the concern of whether or not their State Lottery revenues would decrease. The reason this is such a hot topic is because the Tennessee Lottery contributes a lot of money to educational programs and scholarships, $3.9 billion to be exact since its inception in 2004.
The President of the University of Memphis, Shirley Raines, is highly against legalizing gambling on the internet which could cause a decrease in funding for HOPE Lottery Scholarships. Raines states, “We are looking at the legislation now, as well as trying to research states where both (online gaming and lotteries) are allowed. We are not in favor of online gambling because we believe lottery revenues, which fund Hope Scholarships, would decrease.”
On the flip-side of the coin, you have representatives like Steven Cohen (D-Tenn.), who has cosponsored a bill with 26 other reps that believe making poker legal on the web would not hurt the state lottery one bit, and in return would draw new additional revenue to the state. Cohen also played a significant part in establishing the Tennessee Education Lottery when he was a Senator. Cohen mentions:
“Legalizing online poker would not weaken Tennessee’s Lottery because online poker caters to a different population of gamblers. But it is ultimately up to the General Assembly to decide whether online poker will be legal and how revenue from online poker would be utilized in Tennessee. Should online poker be approved, I would encourage the General Assembly to use that revenue to strengthen the Lottery Scholarship program to include more students.”
This debate will only continue to grow as bills and laws get written and passed to officially legalize poker on the internet, and do away with all the current gray matter on this subject. It would be nice to have everything in black and white, and each year it seems we get closer and closer to that wish.
Legal Forms of Gambling
State Lottery – The Tennessee Constitution forbids lotteries, but it was amended to allow for the state-run lottery. The Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation, their website is pretty flashy but well updated with current information, and runs the state lottery which is consisted of a board. The board may choose the types of games used by the lottery, which may include online games, instant lotteries and other traditional lottery games. However, video lottery is prohibited.
Charitable Gaming – The Tennessee Charitable Gaming Implementation Law allows for 501(c)(3) organizations to operate an annual game of chance. All organizations must be approved by two-thirds vote of the General Assembly. Approved types of games include:
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- Raffles and Reverse Raffles
- Cakewalks and Cake-wheels
Unapproved games include:
- Bingo
- Pull-Tabs
- Punch-Boards
- Video Lottery Games
- Casino Games such as Slot Machines and Roulette
Tennessee has probably some of the more strict rules and policies on charitable gambling. Some of these rules include; an organization is only allowed to conduct one event per year, a 501c3 must be active for at least five years to qualify, and only two organizations can have an event at the same location in a given month. Pretty strict rules if you ask me. In the 2014 fiscal year, charitable gaming in Tennessee grossed $8.3 million.
Specific State-by-State Laws
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Tennessee does not tolerate many things, and gambling, quite frankly, falls right underneath the list of things the state does not take too kindly to. Nowadays, finding a game of blackjack or poker is incredibly difficult unless you choose to play online. That is because the state of Tennessee does not have one single brick and mortar gambling location. Unlike other Southern states that are, in word, against gambling at casinos, the state of Tennessee walks the walk and is not the place to go if you are trying to play casino games.
As for the status of online casinos in the state, well, that is a different story. Right now, there are hundreds of online casinos that offer their services to citizens of Tennessee. Despite the state’s harsh stance on gambling, the fact of the matter is that it is completely legal to play online. As for future changes to state law, those do not seem to be coming anytime in the near future, so gear up for the long—haul.
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Legal Status of Online Casinos & Gambling — Tennessee
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Though you may know that Tennessee is generally opposed to gambling, you can rest-assured knowing that you will face absolutely no issues when it comes to playing at online casinos. Despite many people over the years thinking that Tennessee law enforcement is just waiting around for people to get online and begin playing games, the fact of the matter is that no one has ever been arrested for having played at an online casino in the state. Even though Tennessee is as conservative as US states come, they are not known for prosecuting those who gamble at casinos online.
What would be illegal, however, is if you were to own and operate your own online casino within the state. That is illegal under Federal Law and would land you in some trouble. Fortunately, most every casino that exists for online players in Tennessee is based offshore, in other countries. Initially, it may seem like these sites are difficult to trust, but this could not be further from the truth. The reality of the matter is that whether the casino in question is based out of Costa Rica or Curacao, they are highly trustworthy. Review after review online has shown that players in Tennessee have no shortage of places where they can play real money casino games online. Other than that, you will have no issues when it comes to playing your favorite casino games online. Even though these sites are not regulated by the state, they are reputable, with great customer service staffs, and are easy to deal with. So long as you put in some time to do research, you will have no issues when it comes to dealing with Tennessee online casinos. The lack of regulation can scare some people off; but it shouldn’t. As was just mentioned, a bit of research will quickly help you differentiate between the best and most trustworthy online casinos and the ones that should be avoided. Nowadays, you will find that the number of trustworthy online casinos out there far outnumber casinos that are shady or otherwise not able to be trusted.
Legal Status of Brick and Mortar Casinos — Tennessee
As it stands now, there is no place in Tennessee where you can go and gamble. This was not always true, but nowadays you cannot even go to a horseracing track and place bets. Even some of the most conservative Southern states allow horserace betting, but such is not the case in Tennessee. Back in the day, in the 1980s, you could gamble at the hundreds of bingo halls located all over the state due to a loophole that existed. This loophole made bingo legal so long as the proceeds were going to charities. Well, after some investigation, the FBI determined that almost none of these bingo halls were giving to charities and they were subsequently shut down. As far as brick and mortar casinos like the ones you will find in Las Vegas, they simply do not exist in Tennessee. This is not something that looks like it will change anytime soon, either.
Since then, placing a live bet in the state of Tennessee could not be any more difficult. Instead, you see citizens who are looking for live casino play cross over state borders in order to find what they are looking for. This is something that will continue to take place until Tennessee completely revamps their laws. Something you might think might be coming in the near future seeing as the state is absolutely hurting for additional sources of revenue. Legalized gambling—no matter the form—has the potential to bring in millions of dollars in annual tax revenues for states like Tennessee. In the US, states like Tennessee are in dire need of additional revenue streams, so it continues to perplex millions as to why legalized gambling is simply not being discussed. While we sit around and wait for lawmakers to take action, you can rest-assured knowing there are plenty of online sites where you can gamble for real money and play just about every type of casino game under the sun.
Tennessee Online Casinos & Gambling FAQ
- Abbreviation: TN
- State Motto: Agriculture and Commerce
- Capital City: Nashville
- Population Estimate: 6.7 million (16th)
- Website: http://www.tennessee.gov/
Can I play online poker in Tennessee?
Believe it or not, most people venture to online casinos in order to play online poker. Ever since US law enforcement cracked down on the game a few years ago, people have been looking for reputable places to play. While those places do exist, they are not as abundant as they were back in 2010. Now, you need to sift through casinos who offer poker as an afterthought in order to find the sites that specialize in the game.
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How many different methods of deposit are there?
In most cases, you will find no more than two different ways by which you can fund a player account. The first and most common method is by way of a debit or credit card. The second most popular options is via a direct bank transfer. Both methods of deposit afford you the ability to begin playing almost instantly, so you should encounter no issues.
Will legalize online casinos ever become a thing in Tennessee?
Though we do not claim to be experts on the legal workings of Tennessee, the early thought is that hell will freeze over before Tennessee lawmakers approve of an intrastate online casino network. It simply isn’t in the cards. Not only have no bills been introduced to the state government, the citizenry of the state seems to generally oppose gambling as well. So, until things change dramatically, the online casinos that exist in Tennessee now are your only betting options.