Online Casinos in Florida

Florida Licenses No Online Casino

Florida's gambling offence is written without reference to medium. Section 849.08 of the Florida Statutes provides: "Whoever plays or engages in any game at cards, keno, roulette, faro or other game of chance, at any place, by any device whatever, for money or other thing of value, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083 ." The words "at any place, by any device whatever" are the point: Florida does not treat a game played on a phone differently from one played at a table.

What is lawful in Florida is lawful in named places. The Florida Gaming Control Commission's own list of legal gambling activities runs: "Pari-mutuel wagering on live and intertrack horse and jai-alai activities at licensed racetracks and jai-alai frontons.", "Casino gambling, including slots and table games, on certain Indian tribal lands.", "The Florida lottery games.", "Poker and Dominoes played for money, but only in a licensed cardrooms" and "Slot machine gaming at one of the eight licensed pari-mutuel facilities located in Miami-Dade or Broward Counties." There is no state online casino licence in Florida, and this site does not point readers at operators that are not licensed where they are.

Online Sports Betting Exists, but Only Through the Tribe

Florida's online wagering position is unusual and is the thing most often got wrong. The Commission answers the question itself. Asked whether a person can legally place online wagers on sports, it says: "Generally, no. Unless you are placing a wager through sportsbooks operated by or in conjunction with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, you are most likely placing an illegal wager." It gives the same answer for fantasy sports, and it addresses the specific trap of apps that are licensed elsewhere: "Many online sportsbooks operate in multiple jurisdictions. Many will be accessible to Florida residents. They may even be licensed by other states. But that does not matter in Florida."

So Florida is not a state with an open, multi-operator online sportsbook market, and it is not a state with an online casino market either. A Florida reader who can open one sports betting app should not read across from that to online slots or table games.

Tribal Gaming Is Not a State Online Licence

The casinos in Florida that offer slots and table games beyond the two-county pari-mutuel facilities are tribal, and the Commission's role in respect of them is oversight of an agreement rather than licensing: "FGCC’s Division of Pari-mutuel Wagering regulates pari-mutuel racing and games, cardrooms, and slot machine gaming, and oversees the compact between the State of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida." A compact is an agreement between a state and a tribe about gaming conducted by the tribe. It is not a state licence, and it is not an online casino licence.

Sweepstakes Casinos: Why No Status Is Recorded

Florida law contains a sweepstakes provision, and it is the provision most often misread as authority. Section 849.094 governs game promotions, defined as follows: "“Game promotion” means, but is not limited to, a contest, game of chance, sweepstakes, or gift enterprise, conducted by an operator within or throughout the state and other states in connection with and incidental to the sale of consumer products or services, and in which the elements of chance and prize are present." That is a consumer-protection rule about prize promotions run alongside the sale of products, enforced in part by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the section itself says that it "does not apply to actions or transactions regulated by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation or the Florida Gaming Control Commission". The Commission's own list of legal activities includes "Bingo, sweepstakes, and drawings for chance, if they comply with state law.", which is a statement that such things can be lawful if they comply, not a statement about dual-currency casino products.

No Florida statute, rule or official statement addressing online sweepstakes casinos specifically was found for this page, so no sweepstakes status is recorded rather than one being inferred in either direction. Sweepstakes casinos and real-money casinos are separate products and neither is presented here as a licensed version of the other.

Who Regulates

One body holds the state's gambling powers: "The Florida Gaming Control Commission is a five-member regulatory body that is responsible for exercising all regulatory and executive powers of the state with respect to gambling, including pari-mutuel wagering, cardrooms, slot machine facilities, oversight of gaming compacts, and other forms of gambling authorized by the State Constitution or law, excluding the state lottery." Its own summary of what it does is that "The Florida Gaming Control Commission (“FGCC”) regulates certain legal forms of gambling in the State of Florida and enforces the state’s criminal gambling prohibitions.", and its stated purpose is to "Preserve and protect the Integrity of gaming activities through fair regulation, licensing, effective criminal investigation, and enforcement."