Online Casinos Maine

Q: 👮 Are Maine online casinos legal?

No, there are no legal online casinos in Maine . The state is making baby steps towards gambling legalization, so we don't know when Maine would legalize online casinos . We promise to keep you updated on the situation, so pay a visit to this page once in a while, if you're a gambling enthusiast.

Welcome to article dedicated to the legality of gambling in the state of Maine. Currently, online gambling in Maine remains unregulated, so there are no legal online casinos in Maine just yet, however, there are a number of other forms of gambling that are available in the state.

This page will provide you with details regarding the history and the current online gambling situation in Maine, as well as information on when to expect for it to expand. You can also find information about the land-based casinos and other legal forms of gambling available in Maine.

Maine gambling laws checked by experts
Discussion of current Maine online gambling regulations
The future of online casinos Maine

0 Legal Online Casinos
0 Legal Land Based Casinos
0 Legal Social Casinos
0 Legal Bingo / Lottery Games

Maine gambling history Popular games in the USA

Responsible Gaming
Maine Gambling Control Board

Maine Online Casinos: Laws

There are currently no laws regarding online gambling in Maine, so it is not illegal to do it, but there is simply no real money online casino in Maine. Maine players tend to use offshore websites to gamble, but they’ll hopefully get legal Maine online casinos soon. You can track the progress of various Maine bills to see if online gambling legalization is on the map.

Online Gambling Maine

As already mentioned, online gambling in Maine is neither legal nor illegal, but unregulated. While it’s not a crime to gamble online, it is illegal to set up an online gambling platform in Maine. For now, the only type of online gambling Maine allows is fantasy contests.

This is likely because fantasy contests require skill rather than chance to achieve success, so many states don’t consider them to be a type of gambling at all. Other legal, albeit offline, games include various casino games, bingo, and lottery. People can also bet on horse races.

Maine’s History of Gambling

The history of gambling in Maine could be said to have started in the 1990’s when the state gradually began allowing various types of gambling. Maine gambling legislation first looked into the creation of tribal casinos in 1993 and the legislative actions extended to the early 2000’s, alas to no avail.

Then in 2003 an act to legalize gambling was enacted, which allowed for commercial casinos to open, although the creation of each one had to be approved by the state. The same year owners of racetracks were allowed to put slot machines in their respective establishments. There are no Maine online gambling laws, so the fate of this industry cannot be yet predicted.

Gambling History of the USA

The United States made gambling illegal with the ratification of the 18th Amendment in 1919. The amendment was repealed in 1934, but there were other federal acts, which complicated the matter. That is until 2018, when the Supreme Court struck them all down and allowed for individual states to regulate gambling themselves. So far, only five states have legal online gambling. Here they are:

New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement
Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board
Delaware Division of Gaming Enforcement
West Virginia Lottery
Michigan Gaming Control Board

The Wire Act of 1961

The Wire Act of 1961 made it illegal for businesses to accept bets from interstate or foreign betters via wire communications. The law is still in place, and many legislators argue it applies to online gambling despite the Internet not existing in the 1960’s. The Wire Act might negatively affect future Maine online gambling laws, although five states already have perfectly legal online gambling industries.

Black Friday 2011

Black Friday refers to Friday April 15, 2011 when the US government charged PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker with violating federal gambling laws, as well as bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling. The operators immediately suspended their operations in the US. Some of these vendors, however, have returned and opened branches in states where online gambling is legal, which might happen with Maine online casinos.

Popular Online Casino Games in Legal US States

Despite the fact there is no real money online casino Maine, we predict that players from the state would find online games to be very lucrative once Maine legalizes online betting. For now, we would have to hold on with any rankings on the best Maine online casinos, but we can still share some more insight into which games would potentially be popular once online casinos become available in the state. Our predictions are based on research into the attitudes of players from the five states where online gambling is legal.

We will tell you more about each popular game in the following sections, and we’ll make predictions as to which version of it would be popular in Maine. Without further due, here are the most popular games in states with legal online gambling industries:

Blackjack
Roulette
Slots
Poker

Online Blackjack in Maine

Since there are currently no Maine online gambling laws, there are none restricting blackjack in particular. There also hasn’t been specific discussions around online blackjack as the game is usually grouped with other games as ‘online gambling’.

If the state of Maine decides to legalize online gambling, we suspect that a popular version of blackjack called ‘Blackjack Fortune Spinner’ will be played. The Fortune Spinner feature is a fortune wheel, which multiplies a player’s side bet when they get a blackjack. This game is gaining popularity in legal American sites, so we believe it’d be a common type of online blackjack in Maine.

Online Roulette Maine

Roulette has become one of Pennsylvania’s favorite online games ever since the Keystone state legalized online gambling. This is why we believe online roulette in Maine will be just as popular, although we don’t know when that could happen.

Some legal online operators in the US offer a live roulette using a real dealer who takes wagers and spins in real time! These games are streamed on the casino website, and sometimes even on YouTube. This type of online roulette became increasingly popular during the COVID-19 pandemic as players missed going to the casino.

Online Slot Machines in Maine

It’s no surprise that slot machines are having a field day on legal American gambling sites. Slot machines remain the most popular type of gambling across the world, and online slots are becoming increasingly sophisticated with time.

If online slots in Maine appear any time soon, we believe we know which one would take one of the top spots in the state – Gonzo’s Quest. This online slot machine has beautiful graphics, complex mechanics, and interesting bonus features. It’s already really popular with American players who live in states with legal online gambling.

Online Poker Maine

Black Friday devastated poker players across the United States, but recent legalization efforts in various states are attempting to repair the damage. Legislators realized that Americans simply love poker and they would always find a way to play it, so it could as well be legal. Some states even consider legalizing poker and no other online casino games.

Online poker in Maine will bring a lot of tax revenue to the state, which will be needed right now. We suspect that the most popular type of poker would be Texas Hold’ Em where players are dealt 2 cards with 5 community cards laid on the table. The goal is to make the best overall combination.

Land-Based Casinos in Maine

While legal online gambling in Maine is restricted, there are two legal land-based casinos in Maine – Hollywood Casino Hotel & Raceway Bangor and Oxford Casino. You can see their details in the table below. There have also been attempts to open tribal casinos, but the state argued that the Maine Indian tribes were excluded from the U.S. Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.

Maine Land-Based Casinos Overview

Fred Williams Author and Casino Expert

Hollywood Casino Bangor	🍒 800 slot machines, 🃏 20 table games
Oxford Casino	🍒 1000slot machines, 🃏 30 table games

Comparison of Land-Based and Online Casinos

Once all forms of gambling in Maine are legalized, I bet you’d wonder whether you should visit a land-based or an online casino. To be fair, it all depends on your personal preferences. Some people prefer the glitzy atmosphere of a physical casino and their free refreshments. Live dealer games also pop up in players’ arguments for land-based casinos.

However, as we mentioned earlier, there are now live dealer games in online casinos as well. Indeed, online casinos have become increasingly sophisticated, and they are only going to improve. Also don’t forget their welcome bonuses!

Online Casinos in Maine: A Pipe Dream?

Since Maine has no specific gambling laws, it’s hard to predict when one can expect the state to legalize online gambling. It might be a long time before Maine online casinos pop up, but we promise to keep you updated on it.

The Future of Gambling Maine

Many legalization efforts in Maine fall on deaf ears. For instance, sports betting was legalized in both chambers of Maine’s senate, but it has been opposed by the governor and it’s also considered low-priority in comparison to other legislations.

Tribal casinos are yet to be green-lit as well, so the gambling situation in the state is quite murky. Maine online gambling laws are still non-existent, thus it’s not a crime to gamble online, but we know you’d prefer online casinos based in the state.

Conclusion – Online Gambling in Maine

Considering the slow-paced progress of other types of gambling laws in Maine, we suspect it might take some time before players can enjoy a legal online industry in their state. This is evidenced by Maine’s treatment of sports betting, which should have been legal years ago. There are no legal online casinos Maine, and players can only bet at offshore casinos.

It’s impossible to predict when Maine would legalize online gambling.

Fred Williams Author and Casino Expert

Gambling in Maine

FAQs About Maine Online Gambling

Thank you for reading our article dedicated to online and offline gambling in the state of Maine. We hope the information in this article was exhaustive and that it answered all your questions, but in case it didn’t, below you can also find the most popular questions regarding gambling in Maine.

👮 Are Maine online casinos legal?

No, there are no legal online casinos in Maine. The state is making baby steps towards gambling legalization, so we don't know when Maine would legalize online casinos. We promise to keep you updated on the situation, so pay a visit to this page once in a while, if you're a gambling enthusiast.

🤔 What is the penalty for online gambling in Maine?

As already said, Maine has not regulated online gambling yet, there are simply no laws forbidding it. The state does not recognize partaking in a game of chance (read casino games) as illegal, so there are no legal consequences as this is not a criminal act. This is why some players from Maine use offshore websites to gamble online.

📍 How do I spot a fake Maine online gambling site?

If you come upon a website marketing itself as being based in Maine, don't visit it again. There are exactly zero legal online casinos in Maine, so any operator branding itself a Maine casino is at best not sincere and at worst – a scam. Make sure to always check the website for appropriate licenses.

⚖️ What forms of gambling are legal in Maine?

While the future of online gambling in Maine is unpredictable, there are a few types of gambling the state allows. You can easily buy lottery tickets, which are sold in many stores. You can join a bingo game or set up a fantasy team. You can play at one of the Legal Social Casinos with no real money, or be old-fashioned and go to one of the two land-based casinos in the state.