Kentucky Online Sports Betting

Gambling laws in Kentucky do not yet extend to legal sports betting, however, its apparent that the state’s legislators have taken it upon themselves to change that since sports betting became legal in the USA in May of 2018.

As in many other states, sports betting taxes appear to be the major hurdle for Kentucky’s lawmakers to overcome before the sports betting legalization can occur.

In the twin state government bills of late 2017/early 2018, BR 155 and House Bill 536 have both sought Kentucky gambling laws to allow sports betting, a $250,000 licensing fee for operators, appoint the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission as the government agency in charge of regulating sports betting and set up a 20% tax on the betting handle.

However, given that a gambling friendly state like Nevada has 5% tax for operators or New Jersey who has a 13% tax on Operators, state legislators have wisely foreseen that a 20% state will make it impossible for any operator (state-backed or otherwise) to turn a profit.

While both bills have been seen by gambling industry experts to be a little naïve, it seems like the Kentucky State Legislature have at least begun the conversation․

Given that neighboring Tennessee passed a law for online sports wagering without any heritage of casino gambling, there is great hope that Bluegrass State lawmakers can be committed to passing a bill in the near future (based on the outcome of the legislative debates on either of March 2020 bills – HB 137 or SB 24 – that were postponed due to the global pandemic) by which Kentucky can control and profit from legalized sports betting.

Online Sports Betting is currently illegal in the state of Kentucky and nor does it appear that Kentucky will embrace liberal online casino laws anytime soon.

Back in 2008, Kentucky seized more than 140 poker and gambling domain names without notice. Kentucky remarked that the sites in question accepted bets from players within its state lines in total disregard of Kentucky state law.

Conversely, the state of Kentucky accepts some forms of online gambling as legal. Online DFS and the online state lottery and horse and greyhound racing online betting options are completely legal for Kentucky’s residents-and-visitors.

Any desire to change the current state-of-affairs on legal Kentucky online sports betting and online gambling as a whole could change, once legislators potentially hand the issue of legal sports betting onto to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission for administration and implementation.

As the issue unfolds and legal online gambling may potentially become available in Kentucky soon, we’ll keep you up-to-date.

Federal lawmakers in their wisdom have decided that Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) competitions are skill-based events, not gambling on a game that is determined by random chance. Much like sports betting, each state is permitted under Federal law to decide their own position on the legality of DFS competitions.

Major DFS sites operate in Kentucky (legally accepting players from the Bluegrass State) due to the prevailing interpretation of Kentucky gambling law being favorable to DFS. The next step for Kentucky’s legislators is to achieve concrete legal clarity with the passage of DFS legislation.

Kentucky’s Lawmakers attempted to do exactly that with Bill HB 414 introduced in February of 2017. Although the bill was ultimately unsuccessful, it was only 3 votes shy of the required number to pass the DFS legalization bill into law. Consequently, it appears that DFS legalization is only a matter of legislative months and just a few votes away.

Until then, DFS sites are still accepting players from Kentucky under the implicit legal understanding that the games are not officially considered illegal and DFS continues unabated in the Bluegrass State meanwhile.

Legal eSports betting in Kentucky may well establish new betting markets for the state’s residents and visitors with a brash new style of sports betting (once legalized and regulated), undamaged by a previous embargoed past.

The ‘eSports’ Phenomenon Explained

Professional-level video game play at the highest level (i.e. eSports) has transformed into a global betting phenomenon. An ever-increasing number of international sportsbooks now offer competitive betting markets across all the major network of global eSports tournaments, as eSports betting grows quickly worldwide on the back of the vast improvements of live video streaming technology.

eSports are frequently played in a team-format in worldwide tournaments, and like the same way that football, baseball, basketball and hockey are different types of sports; Dota 2, StarCraft, Call of Duty, FIFA 18 and Overwatch, are the NFL, NHL, MLB, College Football and NBA sports of the eSports world.

Upon the legalization of sports betting in Kentucky, we anticipate that eSports betting will be in the first collection of new betting types available.

Horse Racing in Kentucky boasts a rich heritage and the sports continues to be one of the state’s most revenue-rich generating industries. Home of the world-renown Kentucky Derby, the big race and all other Kentucky horse racing is administered by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

Kentucky’s residents and visitors have legal horse racing betting options through online horse racing betting sites, track side and off-track betting facilities.

Trackside Betting

Kentucky has 7 thoroughbred (including the famous Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs racetrack) and standardbred horse racing tracks as well as numerous county fair tracks that each host an annual race day.

Off Track Betting (OTB) in Kentucky

The State of Kentucky has network of 6 off-track betting locations where bets can be placed on all races in Kentucky and nationwide.

Online Horse Racing in Kentucky

Online racebooks available to Kentucky residents all have minimal initial deposit requirements and provide online wagering convenience easily from your PC, smartphone, tablet or other mobile device. Visitors or residents of Kentucky over the age of 18 have 100% legal access to online horse betting sites offering betting options on all the big races in Kentucky, nationwide in the U.S. and major worldwide racing events.

Visit our page on Kentucky’s online casinos and gambling laws for reviews of the states best online casinos