Online Gambling Legal In Tennessee

  1. Is Online Gambling Legal In Tn
  2. Is Online Betting Legal In Tennessee
  3. Legal Sports Gambling In Tennessee
  4. Is Online Gambling Legal In Tennessee
  5. Online Gambling Legal In Tn
  6. Is Online Gambling Legal In Tennessee
  7. Is Online Sports Gambling Legal In Tennessee

Online gambling is not explicitly illegal in Tennessee. We don’t think that means that it is legal. In fact, based on a strict reading of Tennessee law, we think it’s possible that online gamblers are breaking the law every time they place an online wager. But remember – we aren’t lawyers.

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  1. Online gambling in Tennessee Tennessee has some of the broadest laws regarding gambling in the US. The language of its law banning gambling extends to “risking anything of value for a profit whose return is to any degree contingent on chance, not including lawful business transactions.”.
  2. Online gambling is legal in Tennessee when you use legitimate and reputable sites. Residents often assume that the land-based gambling laws in the state are also reflective of the laws for gambling online. This could not be further from the truth, as the Tennessee Code does not include any language on the Internet or gambling online.
  3. Tennessee online casino list: Legal casinos in 2021. Gambling in Tennessee: A journey into the past. The history of gambling in Tennessee can best be described as repressive to say the least. The Tennessee casino map has always been nonexistent, but that is just the beginning of a wagering history from a state that has seemingly done everything.

One state that carries a very grey area for casino gambling is Tennessee. Finding out if online casinos in Tennessee are legal was a difficult question to answer. These Legal Tennessee Online Casinos for players to enjoy, and represent the only option for legal casino gambling in the state. Tennessee has taken a harsh stance against land based casinos, so online casinos are the only option for this form of legal gambling in the state. Regardless of anything, players will always be able to turn to the question of are online casinos legal in Tennessee, see that the answer is yes, and play any casino game they desire, ranging from slots, to table games, and everything in between. There are many opportunities to be had, and plenty of money to be won, so fear not if you are a fan of casino gaming.

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Is Online Gambling Legal in Tennessee?
Home » US Poker Laws – State by State Reviews » Online Poker in Tennessee

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Online Poker in Tennessee
Last Updated January 6, 2021

There’s an old joke that the busiest poker room in Tennessee is in Tunica. The joke, of course, is that Tennessee has no poker rooms – Tunica is right across the border in Mississippi. That fact hasn’t stopped Tennesseans from developing a healthy appetite for poker, both in live rooms and at online poker sites.

With the reach of poker in Tennessee growing as each day passes, we decided to construct this central resource to serve as a Guide to Playing Online Poker in Tennessee.

Latest Updates Through for Online Gambling in Tennessee

Tennessee lawmakers have exhibited no desire to contemplate land-based casinos or any form of online gambling, poker or anything else.

However, Tennessee did join the ranks of states considering sports betting earlier in 2019. The proposed bill was debated and amended as it moved through the House and Senate, ultimately pushing the licensing fees and tax rates up significantly.

Governor Bill Lee decided to allow the bill to become law instead of signing it or vetoing it. He said that he didn’t believe that any gambling expansion – specifically online sports betting – was in the best interest of his state, but the original effort to pursue land-based casinos was removed from the bill. For that, Lee was grateful and resulted in a compromise.

With that, the Tennessee Sports Gaming Act became the law of the state on May 25, 2019. Mobile sports betting via licensed operators became legal.

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Even so, Lee said, “Let me be clear: Any future efforts to expand gambling or introduce casinos in Tennessee will assure my veto.”

Top Online Poker Sites in Tennessee

Here’s the deal with Tennessee online poker sites: There are dozens – possibly even hundreds – of poker rooms that welcome players from Tennessee. Telling them apart is basically impossible until you’ve played at each, but playing at each would take a whole lot of time.

Enter our list of the top online poker sites for Tennessee, all of which are legally regulated and licensed online poker operators:

Poker Sites Open to Players From Your State
Bovada$500 Bonus3-4 Day PayoutsAccepts Visa, Bitcoin, Wires
Ignition$2000 Bonus3-4 Day PayoutsAccepts Visa, Bitcoin, Wires
Intertops$600 Bonus5 Day PayoutsAccepts Visa, Wires
BetOnline$2500 Bonus5-7 Day PayoutsAccepts Visa, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Wires
Sportsbetting$2500 Bonus5-7 Day PayoutsAccepts Visa, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Wires

Is Online Poker Legal in Tennessee?

Answering the question of whether or not it’s legal to play online poker from Tennessee begins with answering some more fundamental questions about how Tennessee law defines and handles gambling. Let’s focus on those by walking through the basics of Tennessee gambling law.

Tennessee takes what amounts to an “any-chance” approach to defining gambling, which is to say that betting anything of value on anything that involves any element of chance qualifies as gambling.

Online Gambling Legal In Tennessee

Here’s the verbatim definition: “risking anything of value for a 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” (Section 39-17-501).

It is a misdemeanor to participate in illegal gambling, although the law says you must “knowingly” do so (Section 39-17-502).

The broad definition of “gambling device or record” (Section (39-17-501(3)) likely allows law enforcement to confiscate not only the equipment used for gambling, but also the money involved.

One charge of special note: Aggravated gambling promotion (Section 39-17-504). Most states assign a misdemeanor charge for participating in the business of an illegal gambling business, with felony charges reserved for larger operations or for the owners. In Tennessee, anyone who “knowingly invests in, finances, owns, controls, supervises, manages or participates in a gambling enterprise” risks a felony charge.

Special penalties are invoked when you’re involved in the operation of “lotteries, chain letters and pyramid letters. As the amount of money involved in the lottery escalates, so do the severity of the criminal charges you could face (Section 39-17-506).

Tennessee Gambling & Poker Laws Summarized

Type/CodeSummary
State Code Section(s)3.17; 4.36; 39.17.5-6
Definition of GamblingRisking anything of value for a 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, etc.
Definition of Gambling BetAnything of value risked in gambling.
Online Poker/GamblingIt is highly unlikely that legislators will consider any type of online poker or casino games in the foreseeable future.
Live PokerSince there are no casinos and racetracks are not allowed to offer table games like poker, players cannot legally play cash games or tournaments in Tennessee.
CasinosThere are no casinos in Tennessee, and there seems to be no desire to consider legalizing any gambling facilities outside of racetracks.
Sports BettingTennessee has not yet considered a sports betting bill as of mid-2018.
DFSLawmakers legalized daily fantasy sports contests via the Fantasy Sports Act in 2016.
Other Forms of GamblingHorse racing, limited pari-mutuel wagering, raffles and limited charitable gambling, lottery.

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What are the Chances that Tennessee Regulates Online Poker?

Somewhere between slim and none, and I’m pretty sure slim has a ticket booked on the next flight out. Gambling expansion just isn’t on the radar for Tennessee, and Internet-based gambling – considered by many to be a riskier form of the activity – stands an even narrower chance of being addressed by the state legislature.

Tennessee Gambling Facts

A pretty thin list, all things considered. The state has a complete lack of any casino-style facilities – nothing commercial, tribal or in a hybrid racino form. There are no racinos because there are no race tracks; pari-mutuel bets are not permitted under the law of Tennessee. There is also no direct exception for “social gambling.”

So what can you do legally? Your options come down to the state lottery, charitable raffles conducted by licensed organizations, or leaving the state (several neighboring states do offer more regulated gambling than Tennessee).

It comes as no surprise that a state with such a restrictive attitude toward gambling would choose not to regulate or license online gambling activity. While regulated land-based gambling options are simply meager, online poker in Tennessee will likely remain non-existent.

Some were surprised that the Tennessee legislature approved mobile sports betting in 2019, but it came with a threat from the governor to veto any other attempts to expand gambling in the state. This will likely be the last we hear from Tennessee in a while.

Famous Tennessee Poker Players

The most famous poker player from Tennessee is Chris Moneymaker. He started playing poker online at PokerStars in the early 2000s, which was where he won an $86 online poker satellite and transformed it into a seat into the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event worth $10,000. Not only did the full-time accountant travel to Las Vegas to play that tournament, he won it for $2.5 million.

Online

Moneymaker soon signed as an ambassador for the game and a member of Team PokerStars Pro, a job he continues to today. He still calls Nashville home, but he travels the world to play live poker for PokerStars and treks to Canada or South America to play online during PokerStars’ tournament series.

Kathy Liebert is actually the all-time top tournament money earner from Tennessee with more than $6.2 million to her credit. She has played for many years and now resides in Las Vegas, but continues to play competitively in live poker games.

Frank Kassela and Kyle Cartwright take up the next two spots on the money list, both listing significant accomplishments on their poker CVs. Kassela has won three WSOP gold bracelets to date, and Cartwright has one bracelet and numerous WSOP Circuit gold rings thus far in his poker career.

The top-ranked players from Tennessee, as of 2021, are as follows:

1. Kathy Liebert ($6.3 million)
2. Chris Moneymaker ($3.9 million)
3. Frank Kassela ($3.3 million)
4. Kyle Cartwright ($2.3 million)
5. David Diaz ($2.1 million)
6. Stanley Weiss ($1.7 million)
7. Ryan Welch ($1.7 million)
8. Jonathan Hilton ($1.4 million)
9. Robert Hankins ($1.2 million)
10. Allie Prescott ($934K)

Sources & Citations For This Article on Tennessee Online Poker