Although gambling, both land based and online, is a popular pastime in Indiana, many residents who confess to an interest in the activity do not take part. While everyone is different and there is no uniform reason as to why, one of the most popular reasons is that the residents in question do not want to find themselves in legal trouble for gambling.
The good news for this large group of people is that it is in fact possible to gamble legally, whether in a sanctioned casino or from the comfort of home using a gambling site that accepts Indiana players. The following page will take an intimate look at both the federal and state policies that govern an Indiana resident’s right to gamble, and hopefully, fully educate and inform them as to their rights when it comes to gambling on their home state.
Just as with the federal laws governing gambling, the state of Indiana is much more concerned with prosecuting large, criminal organizations rather than individual players. We have pulled and analyzed all the important sections of the state code below.
IC 35-45-5-1 - Here we see that unlike in federal law, the state of Indiana does indeed define “gambling” as a crime. This sounds much worse than it is. Even though this is written into the state constitution, the state of Indiana never so much as issued a citation merely for gambling online to any otherwise honest residents. This law is included mainly as scare language in an attempt to usher residents towards sanctioned state casinos.
IC 35-45-5-3 (a)(1), (2), (3) - Here we see the bulk of the legal action in the state of Indiana when it comes to gambling. Although there are technical penalties outlined for participation in gambling, it’s really what the state calls “professional gambling” that will get the attention. This includes the facilitation of all forms of gambling for a profit. The “for profit” clause is important, because it legalizes private events like poker games so long as no one charges admission to the game.
IC 35-45-5-3 (a)(6) - We can see here that the state of Indiana does not mess around when it comes to pulling attention away from their state sanctioned casinos. Anyone found guilty of “professional gambling” will stare down felony charges. This goes for illicit land based and internet operations.
IC 35-45-5-10 - This chapter was included to go over one simple fact: there is sanctioned gambling in the state of Indiana, and it’s possible to not only gamble online with no legal interference, but it’s even encouraged to gamble on land in authorized riverboat casinos.
Look Up All The Gambling Laws In Indiana - Click Here
Wire Act – Before an Indiana player can even dive into the policies established by their home state, there are several federal policies to work through that govern affect every US citizen when it comes to online gambling. First, there was the Federal Wire Act Congress passed in 1961. This act was later ruled only to apply to sports betting, but criminalized the act of transmitting betting information across state lines nonetheless. Later, in 1992, Congress passed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) at the behest of then-NBA commissioner David Stern. This law outright prohibited any state governments outside of Nevada, Delaware, Montana or Oregon from offering sports betting at all, even if they did not transmit the information over state lines.
PASPA – The one common thread through all of these laws is that they do not target the users of online gambling sites, but rather the operators. This means that no matter what, it is legal for players to take part in online gambling; only the sites themselves are under any risk. Still, it’s not a great comfort to know that you’re gambling with an illicit operation, so how are these sites able to operate legally? The answer is simple, location, location, location. All of our favorite gambling networks operate offshore, well outside of both state and US jurisdiction. This means that in the eyes of the federal government, Indiana players can legally gamble with legal businesses.
UIGEA – The legislation all dealt strong (but not killing) blows to the online sports betting industry, but what about casino games and poker? Once the federal government realized they had left a window open for these websites to operate in the US, they passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006 to restrict these operations and make it unlawful for internet gambling sites to process Electronic Fund Transfers (or EFT’s.) This means that no gambling site can process payout via a credit card.
Despite how easily one may participate in legal gambling in the state of Indiana, there is one key exception to this rule of thumb. They must be over 21 years of age. For any players under 21 years of age, all these legal exceptions and clauses won’t matter a stitch. They will be subject to huge fines from the state of Indiana, as well as potential jail time if the offender is over 18. Underage gamblers are strongly advised to wait until they are of age to participate in gambling.
We have learned now that Indiana residents may gamble free from concern over legal prosecution. Even though the Indiana constitution is extensive in its gambling related literature, just so long as a resident avoids operating any gambling devices, they should be able to participate free from any legal interference. Using any of the favored gambling sites indexed on this page, they will be able to rack up dollars as well as fund afternoons from their computers or mobile devices all from the comfort of home.
See More: Online Casinos - Online Sportsbooks - Poker Sites