Online Casinos in Maryland

Maryland Does Not License Online Casino Play

Maryland's gaming law says expressly which commercial gaming the State permits, and online casino play is not among it. Subtitle 1A of Title 9 of the State Government Article, the subtitle that created Maryland's casinos, provides that “Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, any additional forms or expansion of commercial gaming other than as expressly provided in this subtitle and Subtitle 1E of this title are prohibited.” Subtitle 1A covers video lottery terminals and table games. Subtitle 1E covers sports wagering. There is no third subtitle for internet casino games, and that omission is not a gap in the drafting — it is the operative part of the sentence.

The casino gaming Maryland does authorise is tied to a licensed building. Only a licensed operator may offer it: “Only a person with a video lottery operation license issued under this subtitle may offer a video lottery terminal and table games for public use in the State under this subtitle.” And the statute defines the person doing the playing by where that person is standing: ““Player” means an individual who plays a video lottery terminal at a video lottery facility licensed by the Commission.”

Online Sports Betting Is Licensed Here. Online Casino Is Not.

This is the most useful thing to understand about Maryland, because it is easy to assume that a state with legal betting apps also has legal casino apps. Maryland's online authorisation is written for sport and only for sport. Subtitle 1E defines a class of licensee for it — ““Mobile sports wagering licensee” means a sports wagering licensee who is authorized to conduct and operate online sports wagering.” — and directs the Commission to “issue not more than 60 mobile sports wagering licenses to any applicant who meets the requirements for licensure under this subtitle.” The subtitle's grant of authority is equally specific: “This subtitle authorizes a sports wagering licensee to conduct and operate sports wagering in the State as provided in this subtitle.”

What may be wagered on is fixed by the definition: ““Sports wagering” means the business of accepting wagers on any sporting event by any system or method of wagering, including single-game bets, teaser bets, parlays, over-under, moneyline, pools, exchange wagering, in-game wagering, in-play bets, proposition bets, and straight bets.” Slots, blackjack, roulette and live dealer tables are not sporting events, so no Maryland licence reaches them online. No online casino is licensed in Maryland, and this site does not point readers towards operators that are not licensed where the reader is.

Gambling Outside the Licensed Forms Is an Offence

Title 12 of the Criminal Law Article is the general gambling law Subtitle 1A's prohibition sits on top of. Section 12-102 makes it an offence to “receive, become the depository of, record, register, or forward, or propose, agree, or pretend to forward, money or any other thing or consideration of value, to be bet, wagered, or gambled on the result of a race, contest, or contingency.” Keeping or managing a gaming device or a place for gambling is a separate offence under 12-104, where “A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment for not less than 6 months and not exceeding 1 year or a fine not exceeding $500 or both.”

Maryland also tells its own enforcers how to read the title. Section 12-113 provides that “The Office of the Attorney General, the State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission, the Department of State Police, local law enforcement units, and the court shall construe liberally this title relating to gambling and betting to prevent the activities prohibited.” The same section makes the Commission's view decisive on whether a device is lawful: “A decision by the State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission shall be the final determination as to whether a gaming device being operated in the State is:” a legal device, and operated lawfully.

An Online Sweepstakes Prohibition Was Proposed and Did Not Become Law

Maryland has legislated on neither side of the sweepstakes question. In the 2025 Regular Session the General Assembly considered Senate Bill 860, whose synopsis reads “Prohibiting a person from operating, conducting, or promoting online sweepstakes games or supporting the operation, conducting, or promotion of online sweepstakes games; requiring the State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency to deny certain license applications and revoke certain licenses under certain circumstances; prohibiting the State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission from issuing a license to certain persons or allowing the person to commence or continue operations under certain circumstances; etc.” The Senate recorded “Third Reading Passed (47-0)” and the bill went to the House, where it was heard and taken no further.

Because no enacted Maryland law and no Maryland regulator statement addresses the sweepstakes model, this page records no sweepstakes status for Maryland at all rather than inferring one from the real-money position. A sweepstakes casino and a real-money casino are different products under different rules, and neither is a licensed substitute for the other. Whether a particular sweepstakes operator accepts players from a given state is tracked as data with a source and a verification date, not written into prose that would go stale.

Regulator and Minimum Age

Gambling in Maryland is regulated by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission, supported by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, which states on its own site that it publishes “data on Maryland's casinos, including monthly revenue reports, along with records of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission's meetings, and information on licensing, procurement and additional forms of gaming that the MLGCA regulates.” The Commission's remit includes table games directly: “The Commission shall regulate the operation of table games in accordance with this subtitle.”

The minimum age for the gambling Maryland licenses is 21. A video lottery operation licensee “shall ensure that intoxicated individuals and individuals under the age of 21 years are not allowed to play video lottery terminals or table games”, and for sports wagering the statute bars a licensee from accepting a wager from an individual who “is under the age of 21 years;” or who “is not physically present in the State;”. A mobile licensee must use “the use of geolocation technology to verify a bettor's geographic location;” to enforce that.