Casino gambling laws are pretty restrictive in Wisconsin. All 22 casinos of Wisconsin’s casinos are located on Indian reservations and there are particular laws as to what players can and can’t gamble on.
There are 11 tribes and following the Federal Indian Gaming Regulation Act of 1998, they went into negotiations with the state, the result being games like blackjack and poker being allowed.
Pari-mutuel betting came here in 1987 but since then there’s been a steady decline in racetracks (both horse and greyhound). The last one in Wisconsin closed its doors in 2009. Online gambling? Maybe 2020.
While Wisconsin has many legal gambling opportunities, unfortunately, online sports betting is not one of them. Along with the rest of the country, the idea has picked up steam as of late. However, betting on sporting events is strictly prohibited by the state’s constitution and, therefore, will require a lot of work by lawmakers to pass. As for now, sportsbooks either online or on-land in Wisconsin remain a longshot at best. Let’s see what gambling laws happen in Wisconsin in 2020.
Tribal Casinos have been operating in the state of Wisconsin for decades now and are quite popular. There are no restrictions put on these establishments so finding all the casino games players love is not a problem. Potawatomi Hotel and Casino is by far the most popular and it is located in the heart of the city of Milwaukee.
You can find live poker at several of the state’s casinos as playing poker is not illegal in Wisconsin. It is illegal to operate an online poker site so the market remains an unregulated one by the state. For this reason, all online poker in Wisconsin is played via off-shore sites.
The Wisconsin lottery has been alive and well since 1988 and remains very popular to this day. All the big games are available such as Mega Millions and Powerball. There are scratch-offs, daily drawings, and pull-cards, as well as plenty of online games available on their website.
While wagering on fantasy sports in Wisconsin is not illegal, it has not to be deemed legal either. DFS sites such as DraftKings and FanDuel are allowed to operate without the burden of state regulation. This, of course, hurts the players but keeps the product alive. Legislation to regulate the industry is still pending but should finally make its way through in 2019.
Wagering on horse racing is only available online these days in Wisconsin. There were as many as five tracks operating in the state up until 2009. While it does not appear any of these tracks will reappear anytime soon, online wagering is the next best thing as races from around the country are able to be wagered on.
10 Biggest cities in Wisconsin for online gambling: