Vermont Online Sports Betting

Vermont keeps it pretty simple with their gambling options.

Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) and Horse Racing betting are the sole legal online gaming options. Otherwise, casino gambling is not available, while everything else in which you can play for real money (i.e. the state lottery, poker and other charitable gambling) are for good will causes only.

Strangely, while horse racing betting at tracks is legal, no tracks exist in Vermont at which to bet, while a few OTB branches are available for horse racing betting in bars and taverns.

Given DFS is legal, online sports betting may not be entirely out of the question in Vermont in the near future, given the state’s lawmakers seem to have jumped on the sports betting legalization bandwagon with the introduction of a ‘Tennessee-like’ online sports wagering only bill (rather more something more along the model of NJ online sports betting sites) to the State House in June 2020.

Vermont is a traditional anti-gaming state but does allow gamblers legal DFS competitions, a state lottery, online horse racing betting and some limited charitable gambling options, including poker.

Vermont maintains an easy to manage 18-years-of-age age limit on all its legal forms of gambling.

Any future at all for Vermont Sports Betting is tied to developments at the Federal level. In the spring of 2018, the state of New Jersey won its legal court challenge against the Federal nationwide ban of betting-on-sports.

The Supreme Court decision thereby freed up Vermont and the legislators in the Green Mountain State, and granted them the ability to decide for themselves if they would prefer to take up legal sports betting or not.

Unfortunately, Vermont’s lawmakers have not yet found it in themselves to rule in favor of legal sports betting in the state. No legal Vermont sports betting options currently exist and it does not appear that Vermont sports betting will be introduced at any in the near future.

Vermont legislators have previously introduced bills to the State House to explore the possibilities of overall gambling expansion. However, following the comprehensive defeat of bill H.186, (which would have created the Vermont Gaming Commission to license, regulate and oversee sports betting and other gambling activities), there have been no serious attempts to legalize sports betting.

The gaming laws of Vermont are not conducive to sports betting and State Statute § 2133 that makes it an offense to play “cards, dice, tables or other game for money or other valuable in a common gambling house…” has set the tone. In an environment where gambling debts are considered unenforceable and people can actually sue to recover gambling losses, legal sports betting could take a while.

However, Vermont lawmakers have seemingly joined the push to legalize sports betting in 2020 or 2021 with the introduction of a pair of sports wagering legalization bills (S 213 and H 484) put forward for consideration in June 2020. Debate is expected to continue as soon as the legislature begins its next sitting session.

Vermont is currently an online sports betting-free zone.

Vermont state statutes make no mention of online gambling, meaning that additional legislation would need to be passed before the state could permit sports betting online.

The outcome of the twin sports betting legalization bills set in motion in June 2020 is eagerly awaited.

The great news for online sports bettors is the set precedent in Vermont for sports bettors to place bets online for horse and greyhound racing or online DFS competitions.

The precedent means placing a future legal bet in Vermont on the Patriots, Celtics or Red Sox is not out of the question.

Spurred on the recent status of neighboring New Hampshire to becoming a legal sports betting state, Vermont’s State lawmakers are looking to bolster their economy and prevent precious state revenue from leaving their state.

If finally accepted, the details of the proposed sports betting legislation in Vermont suggest a mobile-only and gambling industry friendly regulations;

• A proposed 10% tax on gross sports revenues for monthly payment.
• Another 10% tax on DFS revenues instead of the existing $5000 annual fee.
• No stated limit on licenses for online sports betting brands.
• Industry oversight by the Vermont Board of Liquor and Lottery.
• To ensure a successful uptake period, if a sportsbook operator might lose money in any given month, the losses can be used to offset future tax payments.

U.S. Federal lawmakers have uniformly decided that Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) competitions are not reckoned to be gambling. Federal Law has defined DFS to not be games of random chance, but much on the other hand, DFS is considered to be a game by which a player’s skill and learning is the primary factor in determining the result.

Excitingly, major DFS sites are now all legally accepting players from the state of Vermont for their real money competitions given the State Governor passing bill S.136 into law in June 2017. The bill provided a number of protections for consumers and operators;

• Minimum age of 18 to participate in DFS.
• Sports officials and athletes prohibited from participating in contests involving their sport(s)
• The use of computer scripts to gain an edge over other players is prohibited.
• Family members of DFS employees, and employees themselves prohibited from playing.
• DFS sites must keep player funds in a separate account.
•  DFS sites must submit to annual independent audits.
• DFS sites must register with the State of Vermont and pay an annual registration fee of $5,000 under Section 4 Act 70 (2017).

As a ‘next generation’ category of sports betting, eSports betting, once legalized, will evolve quickly in the State of Vermont into a trusted and ‘family-friendly’ form of betting that does not have an unclear illegal history.

What are eSports?

eSports, (i.e. ‘competitive gaming’), takes part in popular multi-player online video games like Rocket League, Fortnite, Halo and others. As the fastest single growth area in worldwide sports betting, the amount outlaid on eSports globally is expected to top $1 billion annually in 2018-19.

With its roots in the not widely known LAN gaming communities of the late ‘90s and early 2000s, mainstream sports respectability of eSports has followed. Players take part for slickly-run professional teams competing in global tournaments that offer big prize money and are attended by huge crowds in full stadiums and watched by millions of viewers online.

A wildly successful gambling scene has developed in eSports, with a full range of international bookmakers framing betting markets on the major network of global eSports tournaments.

Look for eSports betting markets to be included as some of the first legal betting markets framed by legal Vermont sportsbooks soon after sports betting laws inevitably pass the Vermont State Legislature.

Ironically, wagering at racetracks is one of the only legal forms of gambling in Vermont and the state’s last live track closed in 1991. Horse and Greyhound racing can only be conducted online in Vermont.

Trackside Betting

Racetrack betting in Vermont is legal, however incongruously, no live racetracks exist in the state.

Off Track Betting (OTB) in Vermont

OTB betting is not offered to residents or visitors to Vermont.

Online Horse Racing in Vermont

Interestingly, Horse Racing Betting online is somehow strangely not subject to the Vermont State Statute § 2141 that officially makes it a crime to win or lose money by gambling in the state.

Therefore, Horse Racing Betting Online is readily and legally available to residents of Vermont. Available online racebooks are all user friendly and easy to access online betting can be undertaken directly from your tablet, phone, other mobile device or home computer.

Online horse racing betting sites to visitors and residents of Vermont offer attractive odds on thoroughbred racing in the U.S. and all major horse racing venues worldwide.

Click Here for our list of online casinos licensed to operate in Vermont