Ohio's Top Online Sports Betting Site from USALegalBetting

The early history of Ohio, as one of the Mississippi River States’ was of crack-downs and prohibitions. As in many States, the first relaxation after the prohibition era in the first part of the 20th century was for horse-racing in 1933. Remote betting and then later, electronic lottery games would eventually be permitted at the racetracks – a thriving form of gambling today.

Charitable gambling for veterans, volunteer firefighters and education groups came more than 50 years later in 1975.

A longer wait ensued for casinos. In 2009, an amendment led to the licensing of 4 huge casinos (one for each of the biggest cities complete with poker, table games and massive slots halls).

The Buckeye State’s State House has even approved an online gaming and sports betting legalization bill in June 2020. That bill must now go to further up the legalization chain for final approval before Ohio can enjoy fully blown sports wagering.

Betting on Sports in Ohio

The doors were pushed ajar for the possibility of introducing Ohio Sports Betting in May 2018 when the landscape of the American sports betting scene altered in the blink of an eye.

That month, the U.S. Supreme Court of 2018 found against the generation-long Federal nationwide ban of sports betting as the state of New Jersey prevailed in their court case to show cause that the ban was illegal and against state’s rights. Every state (including Ohio) can now legally rule choose for themselves if they want to begin legal sports betting or not.

Whilst sports betting is not yet legal in Ohio, the snowball of change is gathering impetus and legal sports betting could arrive in Ohio within a matter of months, not years.

The Buckeye State’s legislators have already agreed on safe passage of the sports wagering legalization bill H 194 fast-tracking it through the Ohio House Finance Committee and the equally fast passage on the House floor only a day later in June 2020.

Betting on the Cleveland Browns or Cincinnati Reds could be potentially be only a few months away. We will provide updates as they come to hand.

For now, sports bettors in Ohio have the option of playing legal DFS competitions for real money, or legal betting on horse or greyhound betting to fulfil their sports betting needs.

Ohio’s Online Sports Betting Laws

The Buckeye State of Ohio does not currently offer online sports betting for either its visitors or residents.

Online gambling laws at the Federal level have made online betting legal, however, each state is required to pass legislation to regulate and license operators. Under H 194 mentioned above, the introduction of Ohio sports betting would potentially tax sports betting net revenues at a 10% rate, with the proposed revenue raised for the State Budget to go directly to education and college scholarship funds for the state’s student body.

The bill could make potentially make sports wagering at casinos, racinos, veterans and fraternal halls a reality, and include with it the legalization of online sportsbooks. The Ohio Lottery Commission are expected to oversee licensing and regulate the nascent sports wagering industry.

When Ohio finally passes online gambling laws of its own, we’ll update you with recommendations for the best online sportsbooks (and even the best online casinos for that matter).

Ohio’s state lawmakers have not yet drafted any legislation on the online sports betting or online casino topics. Consequently, until then, legal online sports betting options exist for Ohioans in real money DFS competitions and horse and greyhound racing betting.

Online Fantasy Sports in Ohio

Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) competitions have been legislated under Federal law that they are not gambling games and that they are actually defined as games of skill, based on the player’s skill being the primary factor in influencing the outcome.

In what is great news for DFS players in Ohio, the State Legislature passed HB 132 in December 2017 making DFS 100% legal for play in real money competitions in Ohio. The strange news coming out of the decision was that all forms of DFS, except fantasy Horse Racing was deemed legal in Ohio. The other main points decided were;

Minimum age of 18 to play.
Consumer protection measures are required put in place by operators.
Maximum licensing fee possible is $10,000 per year, and;

No additional state taxes charged to operators.

Esports Online Betting Laws

In the next few months as Ohio’s State Legislators reform and adopt legal sports betting options in the State, eSports stands at the forefront as one of the new generation sports betting options that is unsullied by an illegal sports betting past, as the Buckeye State goes through the uptake-period of legal sports betting.

eSports explained

eSports take place in organized tournaments, as players challenge each other’s skills in multiplayer video-games. A very 21^st century activity, eSports have been around as long as multiplayer video games have. However, with the current unprecedented improvements in technology and online streaming services and the role of international sportsbooks for betting purposes, have seen eSports surging in prestige and crowd/viewership numbers.

Many games are played competitively on the eSports tournament calendar, however, the first-person shooters (FPS) like the Call of Duty franchise, real-time strategy games like Starcraft II, sports games like FIFA and multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games such as League of Legends and Dota 2 are all among the fan favorites. With every tournament, crowd numbers swell and the prizes get richer.

Sports bettors are never far away when there is big money to be made. Global bookmakers regularly frame betting markets on the major network of international eSports tournaments.

eSports should be available for your gambling pleasure within the next few months at your favorite and soon-to-be legal Ohio sportsbook.

Horse Racing in Ohio

In the Buckeye State, the Ohio State Racing Commission (OSRC) administers races, animal welfare, the tracks themselves and the licensing of horse racing and horse racing betting.

Horse and Greyhound racing betting is available track side, online and a network of off-track betting locations supplies horse racing betting facilities.

Trackside Betting

Horse racing betting is permitted in Ohio at any of the state’s seven horse racing tracks. A law passed by the State Legislature (Chapter 3770 of the Ohio State Code) in 2011 allowed tracks to install video lottery terminals (VLTs) which are quite similar to slot machines. When visiting any Ohio racetrack to watch live horse races, you can also try your luck at the VLTs. These expanded racetracks have come to be known as ‘racinos’.

Horse racing tracks in New Mexico are also permitted to host slot and video poker machines in addition to their racing betting options.

Off Track Betting (OTB) in Ohio

OTB betting is offered at a well-established network of multiple designated OTB locations through the state of Ohio.

Online Horse Racing in Ohio

In Ohio, it is possible to place horse racing wagers online without any fear of punishment under the state law.

Ohio’s visitors and residents are offered superb online odds on all major horse racing venues worldwide and thoroughbred racing venues in the U.S. directly from their tablets, phones, smartwatches, other mobile devices or home computers, all 100% legally.

Click Here to read about Ohio’s Top Online casinos and gambling laws