Analysis topic
Photo: Sasun Bughdaryan / UnsplashGambling law
These pieces read what the law says about whether an activity is gambling: sweepstakes, fantasy sports, prediction markets, day trading and bingo.
They also cover crypto casinos and Stake under the law in Australia, Canada and India. Each cites the statute, the regulator or the court record it relies on.
Every figure in these pieces traces to a document named at the foot of the page it appears on. Nothing here is a recommendation to gamble.
19 pieces, newest first
· 6 minAB 831, California's sweepstakes casino ban, and what it does to operators, payment processors and affiliatesAB 831, Chapter 623 of 2025, added Penal Code section 337o. Since 1 January 2026 it is a misdemeanor to offer an online dual-currency sweepstakes game in California, and to knowingly support one as a payment processor, geolocation provider, content supplier, platform or media affiliate. Stake.us and Pulsz exclude California in their terms; Chumba and McLuck keep it for free-play only. · 6 minWhat DraftKings Predictions, Fanatics Markets, Robinhood and Underdog prediction markets are, and which exchange is behind eachEach of these apps is a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant that sends trades to a separate CFTC exchange, not a licensed sportsbook. On 13 October 2026 Fanatics Markets listed 22 states and 4 territories with a minimum age of 21, Robinhood required 18 and blocked sports contracts for Maryland, Nevada and Michigan residents, and FanDuel Predicts said it is available in all 50 states. · 7 minIs Kalshi safe? What the CFTC orders, the member agreement and the rulebook say about your moneyKalshi runs a CFTC-designated exchange (since 2020) and an affiliated CFTC-registered clearing house (since 2024), and says customer deposits sit in segregated accounts. None of its documents read on 13 October 2026 claim SIPC or FDIC cover, its terms let it revoke access at its sole discretion, and outcome rulings by its own committee are final. · 6 minIs Polymarket legal in the US? What the CFTC, the states and Polymarket's own terms sayPolymarket runs two products. QCX LLC d/b/a Polymarket US is a CFTC-designated contract market, designated on 9 July 2025, open to verified US adults. The international site, polymarket.com, is run by a Panama-law company whose terms bar US persons from trading. Nevada sued all three Polymarket entities in January 2026, Illinois and Missouri ordered Polymarket US to stop offering sports contracts, and New York sued it on 24 September 2026. · 7 minPolymarket vs Kalshi, compared on regulator, who can use them, money rails, fees, settlement and state lawsuitsKalshi and Polymarket US are both CFTC-designated contract markets that trade in dollars; polymarket.com is a separate crypto platform, not CFTC-regulated, that blocks US trading. Both US exchanges face the same state gambling fights, including a New York suit against Polymarket US filed on 24 September 2026. · 8 minAre sweepstakes casinos gambling? The prize, chance and consideration test, the dual-currency model and the state bansSweepstakes casinos say free entry removes consideration, one of gambling's three elements. Six states disagree by statute: California, New Jersey, Montana and New York in 2025, Louisiana and Maine in 2026. Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, Maryland and Connecticut have acted through lawsuits, letters or settlements. Most states have no specific law. · 7 minCrypto casinos and Australia, from the Interactive Gambling Act, ACMA's blocking figures and the operators' own termsThe Interactive Gambling Act 2001 makes it an offence to provide an online casino to customers in Australia, with 5,000 penalty units per day. ACMA had blocked 1,296 illegal gambling and affiliate sites by August 2025. 12 of the 24 crypto casinos on the CryptoGuardz register bar Australia in their own terms, and 6 of those reserve the balance. · 8 minIndia's Online Gaming Act 2025, section by section, and what it means for offshore crypto casinosThe Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025 bans offering, advertising and processing payments for any online money game, skill or chance, from 1 May 2026. Offering carries up to 3 years or Rs 1 crore. Only 2 of 24 crypto casinos on the CryptoGuardz register name India in their own restricted lists. · 6 minIs bingo gambling? What US state statutes, charitable bingo laws and the UK Gambling Act sayIn law, bingo played for money is gambling. Texas's statute calls it "a specific game of chance", Ohio exempts only bingo run by a licensed charitable organization, and New York's Constitution allows it only for qualifying non-profits. In Great Britain, online bingo needs a remote bingo operating licence from the Gambling Commission. · 8 minIs crypto legal in India? The RBI ban, the 2020 court ruling, the 30% tax and FIU-IND registrationOwning and trading crypto is legal in India. The RBI's 2018 ban on banks serving crypto firms was set aside by the Supreme Court on 4 March 2020, gains are taxed at 30% under a 2022 amendment with 1% TDS on transfers, and since March 2023 exchanges serving Indians must register with FIU-IND or face blocking. · 7 minIs day trading gambling? What the SEC, FINRA, federal law and the published studies sayUnder US law day trading is not gambling: federal statutes carve securities trades out of gambling and bucket shop laws. Regulators still warn about it. The SEC says day traders "typically suffer severe financial losses", FINRA's required disclosure says "Day trading can be extremely risky", and a 2014 study found under 1% reliably profitable. · 7 minIs fantasy football gambling? What federal law, state regulators and the courts say about season-long and daily fantasyFederally, paid fantasy football is outside the UIGEA definition of a bet if prizes are fixed in advance, outcomes turn on skill across several real games, and no result rests on one team or one athlete. States decide the rest: Nevada and Texas's Attorney General call daily fantasy gambling, while New York licenses it. · 8 minIs Kalshi gambling? What the CFTC, the federal courts and the state regulators say about prediction marketsFederally, Kalshi is a CFTC-designated contract market, not a sportsbook. Several states say its sports contracts are unlicensed gambling. As of 9 October 2026 the Third Circuit sided with Kalshi in New Jersey, the Ninth and Sixth Circuits sided with Nevada, Ohio and Tennessee, and New Jersey has asked the Supreme Court to decide. · 6 minIs options trading gambling? What federal law, the OCC disclosure document, FINRA's rules and the loss data sayUnder US law options trading is not gambling: 15 U.S.C. 78bb(a)(3) bars state wagering and bucket shop laws from invalidating any "put, call, straddle, option". The rules still treat it as high risk: brokers must hand over the OCC risk document and approve each options account. India's SEBI found 87.7% of individual options traders lost money in FY26. · 7 minIs PrizePicks gambling? What state regulators, attorneys general and settlements say about pick'em fantasyIt depends on the state. California's Attorney General concluded in July 2025 that daily fantasy, pick'em included, is sports wagering under Penal Code 337a. New York's Gaming Commission settled with PrizePicks for $14,969,688 in 2024 and lists it as a permitted fantasy operator. Maryland bars contests based on a single athlete's performance. · 8 minIs Stake legal in Canada? The Criminal Code, Ontario's market, Kahnawake and Stake's own termsUnder Criminal Code section 207, only a provincial government may conduct and manage online casino games in Canada. Stake holds no provincial registration and is not on iGaming Ontario's list of 49 operators. Its terms, read 9 October 2026, bar Ontario by name and leave the other provinces off the list, putting legality on the player. · 7 minPlayAlberta and Alberta's new iGaming market, from the iGaming Alberta Act and the government's own releasesPlayAlberta is the online gambling site run for the Government of Alberta, with revenue going to the province's General Revenue Fund. Bill 48, the iGaming Alberta Act, created the Alberta iGaming Corporation and made AGLC the regulator, and the regulated market for private operators opened on 13 July 2026 with 22 sites, reaching 31 by 14 September. · 6 minIs Stake legal in India? What the 2025 Act, the state laws and Stake's own terms saySection 5 of India's Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025 prohibits offering online money games, and section 7 bars banks from processing them. Stake's own list of 45 prohibited jurisdictions, read on 4 October 2026, does not name India, and clause 4.5(b) puts the legal risk on the player. · 6 minIs Stake.us legal in my state? What the terms, statutes and court filings sayClause 2.1 of the Stake.us terms excludes 22 states, including California, New York, Connecticut and Montana, which have passed sweepstakes bans. Florida, Ohio, Virginia and Minnesota are not excluded, and each has a lawsuit or appeal against the operator on file.