[MD] Maryland Bingo, Casino and Sports Betting [2021]

Maryland offers several gambling options that include land based casinos and slot/VLT venues. Horse racing is available and legal, as well as bingo and lottery games. Online casinos and sports betting sites are offered by offshore providers that are regulated and licensed.

Sports betting remains illegal but has been raised and is nearing legalization with only a referendum required.

Online Gambling

• Online offshore operators accept players from Maryland
• There are no state regulated online onshore operators
• Maryland State Lottery holds monopoly on lottery products
• Commercial licenses awarded for land based casinos and slots facilities

Best 5 Maryland Online Casinos

There are online casinos there offer all the real money gaming action that Maryland players are looking for. They are currently available through various sites that are based offshore.

Nowadays the majority of sites are safe and secure to play at, but we strongly recommend to keep to our recommended list.

The best online casinos all use the latest SSL encryption technology, and feature secure payment methods that are common, trusted and processed by reputable financial institutions. These include: VISA, MasterCard, Amex, Bitcoin (BTC), direct wire transfers and many other methods.

Casino Bonuses are extremely important in selecting an online casino. We have therefore displayed some of the best casino bonuses that can be found whilst balancing other important criteria such as safety and security as previously mentioned. However, for ease of reference, we have listed them according to the size of bonus.

Without doubt, at the time of writing, El Royale Casino offers the best casino bonus deal. It is also one of the safest. Coupled with excellent customer service, El Royale is our top recommended online casino for Maryland players.

Live Dealer Online Casinos

Come and experience the exciting online casino gaming that uses Live Dealers instead of algorithms. Many new players to online casinos are unaware that Live Dealers are available and that they also have features that can only be found online.

So let’s discuss further online live dealer casinos.

Video Streaming – HD smooth streaming in multiple angles is delivered to your playing device. You get to see in real time the dealer, dealing the cards, spinning the wheel or rolling the dice. You can be confident that the odds are fair and transparent, as if you were at a Vegas casino.

Statistics – Along with fluid video streaming, you get to see trends and statistics. The online casino provides state of the art graphs and results that you can analyze.

Game Variety – All the Vegas table games can be found online. Blackjack, roulette, baccarat, sic bo, craps, war, pai gow and pai gow poker.

Choice of Live Dealer – Players have a choice of live dealer. If you want an American native English speaker, you can. If you want a Chinese Mandarin speaker, you can too, it’s flexible, and you can move from table to table.

Online Live Dealer Casinos are becoming extremely popular. If you are new, want to use live dealer odds rather than RNG, then try live dealer gaming.

Sports Betting

Online sports betting sites, however, do exist and they are based offshore. They accept Maryland bettors, with no precedence of any bettor being informed of a breach in law, let alone charged with a misdemeanor or felony.

Daily Fantasy Sports

Daily Fantasy Sports is growing fast in popularity. New to the gambling scene, it is considered a game of skill by many which requires bettors to create a fictitious team based on real players. The performance of the real sports players in real life determine how successful the fictitious team is. As a result, it truly is those with the most “skills” will win.

The two dominate daily fantasy sports providers is DraftKings and FanDuel. On this site, we do not actively promote daily fantasy sports as we understand that it is a game of “skill” which is being exploited by bettors who have the best risk modelling. That is, it isn’t nearly about how well you know your sport, the sport players etc, it is very much about who has the best statistical model and who has access to the most detailed sports player data.

As someone who may be a big fan of sport, and thinking that they would have a good chance of winning money in DFS, think again. You are pitted against statistical modelling experts who deliberately target games that mostly have new players to DFS. In fact, it has been alleged that those who are extremely good at DFS have been known to collaborate among themselves and not compete with each other. Thereby creating a sustainable winning formula shared by the experts.

We therefore want our readers to be aware that DFS is not what is appears to be. In fairness, DFS is legal in Maryland and many DFS onshore operators accept Maryland players.

Top 3 Maryland Online Bingo Sites

Maryland Bingo Legality

Maryland bingo laws are stipulated under Charitable gaming state legislation. These laws provide for the licensing of non profit organizations to operate bingo games. At present, these laws do not address nor permit online bingo by onshore operators. Accordingly, online bingo sites that do accept Maryland players are based offshore (which is the same as online casinos and sports betting sites).

The recommended online bingo sites all accept players from Maryland. They offer advanced features that include instant messaging, fun bingo games and protocols that ensures bingo participants play together in a civil enjoyable manner. Due to the social aspect of bingo, there is a cultural aspect to bingo which cannot be found with casino or sports betting. As an example, A LOT of acronyms form part of instant chat messaging. If you are not familiar with online bingo lingo, do not be afraid, learning it is one of the most fun parts!

Gambling Laws

• Onshore online operators are unlawful
• Land based casinos are authorized to operate slots and table games. Both thoroughbred and harness horse race wagering are lawful at licensed facilities, as is pari-mutuel and simulcast betting
• Charitable gaming is regulated at county level and charitable organizations may lawfully operate within 21 counties in Maryland

Legal Minimum Gambling Age

• 21 for casino gaming
• 18 for lottery, horse race betting, pari-mutuel wagering and bingo

Gambling Taxes

• Commercial operators retain 80% of revenues from table games and 33% of revenues from slots activity
• Lottery surplus is circulated to fund charitable purposes

Regulation and Governance

Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency

Gambling Legislation

Maryland State Code

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Maryland Gambling Market Developments

Background

• Maryland Statutes imply a broad prohibition on gambling, subject to certain limitations.
• Strict penalties are imposed for players breaching legislative provisions, as well as operators. Maryland is one of the few states in the US without tribal gaming;
• In a 2008 constitutional referendum, voters approved the installation of VLTs at five privately owned facilities. In a 2012 referendum, the legalization of table games was approved at land based casinos and at one privately owned facility;
• The state considered licensing and regulating interactive poker in 2012 for a short period before the matter was dropped.

July 2015

IGT announced, its wholly owned subsidiary, GTECH Corporation, have signed a five-year extension agreement with Maryland Lottery and the Gaming Control Commission, over the continued operation of the central monitoring system and control system for VLTs, at the state’s five licensed VLT facilities and also at MGM National Harbour; expected to open before the end of 2016.

August 2015

The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission have recommended the annual payout percentage from slot machines can be reduced to between 87% and 95%. The 5 state casinos had requested the annual payout be reduced to 85%.

February 2016

Senator Peters filed a bill to regulate daily fantasy sports and put the question of legalization to a public referendum. SB0976 seeks to have fantasy contests licensed and regulated by the State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency and proposes the contests be restricted to citizens over the age of 21. If the bill passes, the question of whether to legalize DFS will be included on the November referendum for the State’s voters to decide. The bill was submitted to the Senate Committee on Rules after its first reading.

Delegate Luedtke, introduced HB0930 which sets out definitions for fantasy sports contests and requires the State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency to regulate the games. The bill does not set out a specific regulatory framework, instead empowering the Gaming Control Agency to implement the necessary legislation. The bill was assigned to the House Ways and Means Committee following its first reading.

April 2016

The Maryland State Fairgrounds were permitted to continue operation of its off-track betting facility by a bill approved by the Baltimore County Council. The passing of HB 727 means that 2 bills opposing the expansion of gambling at the site will be dropped from the legislature, however a clause was included in the bill which indefinitely prohibits the Fairgrounds from developing a casino;

SB 0976 was dropped from the 2016 legislative session after it was not voted on by the full house by its respective deadline. Therefore, the question of whether to authorize DFS will not be included on the November referendum.

July 2016

State Comptroller Peter Franchot issued a number of proposals intended to regulate the operation of daily fantasy sports games.

The proposals include:

• a minimum participation age of 18
• a monthly deposit cap of $1000 (this cap may be opted out of if the player wishes)
• a ban on operators offering games on amateur or college sports.

January 2017

Peter Franchot enacted regulations to govern the operation of daily fantasy sports. The regulations were first introduced as proposals in July 2016 and were officially enacted on 2 January 2016. Operators are not required to hold a license to operate but are obligated to ensure the appropriate taxes are paid;

The President of the Senate Thomas V. Mike Miller confirmed that the legislature would not increase the tax on casinos. The Senate President was questioned during the Annapolis Summit at the start of the 2017 legislative session and stated he did not intend to raise or lower the casino tax rate in the 2017 session.

February 2017

House Delegates Jason Buckel and Kevin Hornberger introduced legislation to authorize sports betting in the state provided PASPA is repealed and state voters approve the measure. HB989 would establish a task force to study the implementation and regulation of sports betting in the state and entrust the licensing of the industry to the Lottery and Gaming Control Commission. The bill also proposes a 20% gross win tax on operators. The
House Ways and Means Committee began considering the bill following its introduction.

March 2017

House Delegate Eric Bromwell introduced legislation to prohibit the sale of lottery tickets via the internet. HB 0813 was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee for consideration;

HB0813, which proposed the prohibition of online lottery ticket sales was passed unanimously by the House. The bill progressed to the Senate Committee on Rules.

April 2017

The Senate unanimously passed HB0813 to ban the sale of lottery tickets through the internet. The bill was amended whilst in the chamber and therefore returns to the House for re-approval, if approved the bill will be presented to the Governor to be signed into law.

May 2017

Scientific Games were selected as the winning applicant in a competitive procurement process for an eight-year contract to supply and operate the state lottery’s central monitoring and control system.

February 2018

House Delegate Jason Buckel introduced HB1346 to authorize sports betting on professional and collegiate events at land-based gambling facilities provided PASPA is repealed. The bill would entrust the licensing and regulation of the activity to the State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission and would impose an initial license fee of $300k with an annual renewal fee of $50k

House Delegate Frank Turner introduced HB1014 to permit the Lottery and Gaming Control Agency to issue sports betting licenses to licensed video lottery operators and licensed horse racetracks provided a majority of voters approve the act in the November 2018 referendum.

March 2018

House Delegates Anne Kaiser and Jay Walker introduced HB1171 to extend the number of days a casino has to recoup lost gambling revenue from 2 (two) days to 7 (seven) days before it has to pay tax on the losses;

HB1014 to permit the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency to issue sports betting licenses to licensed video lottery operators and licensed horse racetracks was passed in the House with a majority vote of 124:14 and progressed for consideration to the Senate.

April 2018

Sports betting authorization bill, HB 1014 was dropped from the legislature following a majority vote against its passage in the Senate.

February 2019

Legislation was introduced to regulate sports betting within the state. House Bill 1132 would require the State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency to conduct sports betting platform, with commercial licences available to VLT operators and horse racing licensees, to operate under the lottery’s supervision. The revenue share would be 20% to the state and 80% to the licence holder. Initial licences would cost $300,000, with $50,000 annual
renewals.

January 2020

Legislators introduced two (2) competing bills to authorize and regulate sports betting in the state. The bills, SB 4 and SB 58 both have companion bills in the House and propose differing approaches to regulating the industry;

• SB 4 and its House companion HB 225 would permit retail and online
  sports betting via the state’s six (6) casinos and proposed a tax rate of 20% of gross win. HB 225 would also allow the state’s five (5) racetracks to offer retail and online betting
• SB 58 and its House companion HB 169 would permit retail only sports betting at the state’s casinos and racetracks and proposed a tax rate of 20% of gross win.

February 2020

The Senate gave its approval to a constitutional amendment that would ask voters in the state to decide whether to exempt gambling expansion proposals from requiring majority approval in future state-wide referendums. The bill progressed to the House for consideration.

March 2020

The Senate unanimously passed sports betting bill SB 4 by a vote of 47-0 that would legalize retail and online sports betting in the state. The bill advances to the House, where the legislature adjourns on 6 April

May 2020

Following approval in both legislative chambers, sports betting bill SB 4 passed into law without the signature of Governor Larry Hogan. Whilst the Governor opted to not sign the bill, he did not block its passage and therefore the question of whether to allow retail and online sports betting via the state’s six (6) casinos will be decided by state-wide referendum on the November ballot.

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FAQ

Is it legal to gamble online in Maryland?

Gambling laws vary for each type of game. Online games are not permitted to be offered by onshore gaming operators. As a result, online operators are based offshore at regulated and licensed jurisdictions. Maryland players are accepted by the offshore operators. In regards, to player legality, the laws neither explicitly declare online gambling as illegal or legal. As a result Maryland players can continue to enjoy playing online games.

What is the legal minimum age to play at online casinos?

Legal minimum ages vary from online casino to online casino, however their requirement is that the higher of the player’s jurisdiction the the online casino’s own legal minimum is taken to be the determine age limit. Therefore, for Maryland players the legal minimum age is 21.