Washington, D.C – the capital of the United States. A district full of politicians, lawyers, and lobbyists gambling on their political futures. However, where does the District stand on actual forms of gambling?
Within the last couple of years, the District has locally regulated Washington D.C. sports betting sites.
It is important to remember that Washington, D.C. is not a state – as a district, it operates under different sets of laws than many of the traditional states. It is also a very small geographic region of the country, with the majority of its population commuting from other surrounding states. This, without question, has impacted the District’s position on gambling as a whole over the years.
Top Washington DC Betting Sites for 2023
Sports Betting in D.C.
Let’s start with the topic that has seen the most movement in the last couple of years. Residents of Washington, D.C. had a ringside seat for the final round of the battle between the state of New Jersey and the professional sports leagues in the U.S.
The Supreme Court heard the final arguments from both sides, deliberated and ultimately changed the shape of the gaming industry altogether by ruling to repeal PASPA in May 2018. This allowed any state to be able to draft sports betting legislation and to finally be able to offer legal sports betting to its constituents.
The District of Columbia decided to get into the act soon after the Supreme Court decision and became one of the first states to approve sports betting. This was an amendment to the Lottery Act for D.C. and would make the Lottery the group overseeing sports betting in the district.
In 2019, Mayor Muriel Bowser signed off on a bill in January locally regulating sports gambling. However, because of the unique government structure of the District, the bill needed to gain approval from the US Congress to become law. Sports betting passed in the capital in May of 2019, however no local sportsbook of any kind opened until May of 2020.
Washington D.C. Sports Betting Sites
All residents of Washington D.C. that simply have to make some online wagers can turn to the many regulated and offshore-based sportsbooks that are still accepting players from the United States.
Here is a list of the best DC Betting options available:
Horse Betting in D.C.
There are no horse tracks in Washington; however the closest track is only 40 minutes outside the city. This gives horse betting fans one of their only local options for betting on the ponies. All land-based OTB betting shops are also illegal in D.C., although with the sports betting expansion, it is always possible that this will change in the future.
Online Horse Betting
In some states where there is no land-based pari-mutuel wagering, companies like betOnline have been able to use their foreign license to allow bettors the opportunity to bet on their favorite horses or tracks.
Best Online Washington DC Racebooks
Casino Gambling in D.C.
As with most forms of gambling, casinos are prohibited in D.C., aside from charity-type events that exist all over the district. While there are casinos in neighboring states, with the closest being 90 mins drive away, it is more of an excursion than many players are interested in taking. There is no discussion that we know of regarding the addition of a land-based casino inside the D.C. borders.
Online Casinos in D.C.
Even though the sports betting bill passed in 2019, there has been no mention of adding online casino or poker into the mix. This is shocking given the amount of lobbying from residents to locally regulate these types of games.
However so is the amount of money that Sheldon Adelson has spent in D.C. pushing to prohibit online gambling. With the change to sports betting law and the repeal of PASPA, the needle is definitely moving in the right direction. Online casino games may be available soon to residents.
For now, anyone who is hoping to play some slots on their phones is relegated to playing at offshore-based casinos. These sites have a large number of daily players from the U.S.
