State gambling laws are complex and confusing and the law often has to be twisted to deal with newly regulated forms of gambling. This, however, is not an issue with Utah: Utah gambling laws do not exempt any form of gambling as all forms of gambling are illegal in the state. Utah online gambling is illegal in all forms. It is one of the few states that codified this into law. This includes poker, casino games, and sports betting. It is a misdemeanor to play at any unlicensed gambling site.

1. Is Online Gambling Illegal In Utah
2. Is Online Gambling Illegal In Us

Legal Online Casinos For Players In Utah

Legal Online Sports Betting Sites For Utah Residents

• Utah and Hawaii are the only two states where all types of gambling are illegal. There are no tribal casinos, poker rooms, and sports gambling and horse and dog race betting are both illegal. On the sports betting issue, that legality may change with a recent federal law overturned, but as of August 2018 nothing has happened on that front.
• The law makes any form of online gambling illegal within Utah’s borders. And the penalty is fairly stiff. Lawmakers agreed to make “playing poker or gambling in the state via the Internet a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000.”.
• No, there’s still no regulated online poker in Utah. In fact, if you were going to bet on which state is the least likely to legalize online poker, Utah would be the favorite. Utah is a very strict state when it comes to gambling and is only one of two states that has absolutely no form of gambling out there.

Legal Online Poker Sites For Residents of Utah

• Casino Gambling: Not Legal
• Tribal Gambling: Not Legal
• Poker: Not Legal
• Horse Racing Betting: Not Legal
• Dog Racing Betting: Not Legal
• Lottery: Not Legal
• Daily Fantasy Sports: Not Specified
• Charitable Gaming: Not Legal
• Social Gambling: Not Legal
• Online Gambling: Not Legal

Along with Hawaii, Utah is the only American state that bans all forms of gambling.

But Utah takes things a step further by progressively ensuring that their residents have no gaming options. In fact, House Rep. Jason Chaffetz even tried to get online gambling banned on a federal level in 2015.

Utah’s staunch anti-gambling stance has to do with their history.

In the 1840s, Brigham Young led a group from the Church of Latter Day Saints (a.k.a. Mormons) to settle Utah. The LDS Church frowns on any vice, including drugs, sex, and gambling.

Today, 65% of Utahans identify themselves as Mormons, and the majority is always against gambling when the issue surfaces on ballots.

You won’t find a legal commercial casino, tribal casino, or lottery in the Beehive State. Their laws even prohibit social/private gambling in homes.

Given what we’ve discussed, it doesn’t seem like there’s much to write about regarding Utah’s gambling laws. But you may be surprised to know that bingo parlors and poker rooms have sprung up around Salt Lake City, attempting to operate through legal loopholes.

What are these loopholes?

Find out as we cover what you should know regarding Utah’s gambling laws, along with some crackdowns by local law enforcement.

As covered in the introduction, Utah doesn’t have any legal forms of gaming. This means that the state doesn’t derive a single dollar from gambling.

The closest thing that Utah has a casino is Southgate Social Club, which serves dinner and free bingo cards.

When the Salt Lake-based business opened, they initially only gave bingo cards to those who ordered dinner. But since this meant that Southgate was profiting off the bingo games, the government forced them to offer bingo cards to non-diners as well.

Is Online Gambling Illegal In Utah

It’s hard to classify this as gambling because you can’t risk any money on Southgate’s bingo action. But in a state with 85,000 square miles and no legal casinos, racetracks, or poker rooms, this is the next best thing.

• Age Requirements: N/A
• Approximate Annual Gambling Revenue: $0
• Approximate Annual Gambling Taxes: $0
• Number of Commercial Casinos: 0
• Number of Racinos: 0
• Number of Tribal Casinos: 0
• Casino Regulatory Body: N/A
• Lottery National Rankings: N/A

Considering that Utahans have no legal gaming options, their best bet is to visit nearby states.

The good news in this respect is that Utah borders six states that offer legal commercial and/or tribal gaming. Below you can see these states along with where their casinos are in relation to Utah borders:

• Arizona – This isn’t a very good option for Utahans because most of Arizona’s casinos are in the center of the state (near Phoenix). Even still, this represents a possibility for those living on Utah’s southern border.
• Colorado – The Centennial State offers a couple of casinos in its southwest corner, near Utah’s southeastern border.
• Idaho – With nearly 10 casinos near its southern border, Idaho is an excellent place for northern Utahans to gamble.
• Nevada – Given Las Vegas’ close proximity to Utah’s southwestern corner and its wealth of casinos, this is the most-popular gambling destination for Utahans.
• New Mexico – The Land of Enchantment has two tribal casinos near Utah’s southeastern border, along with a cluster of gaming establishments beyond this in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe areas.
• Wyoming – With several casinos in its southwestern corner, the Cowboy State offers plenty of gambling for those in northern Utah.

Idaho and Wyoming have both stacked multiple casinos near Utah’s northern border so they can entice the greater Salt Lake City area.

Is Online Gambling Illegal In Us

Also featuring Provo and Odgen, this metropolitan cluster is home to over 1.15 million residents. And while this isn’t enough to support several largescale casino resorts, Salt Lake’s population is large enough to boost these casinos’ profitability.