Best Tennessee Online Casino Sites

Are Online Casinos Legal in Tennessee?

Real money casino gambling is banned in the state of Tennessee. Despite the launch of legal sports betting in Tennessee in November 2020, there are currently no plans to approve Tennessee online casinos.

So, while Tennesseans can place sports bets on the likes of the Memphis Grizzlies and the Nashville Predators at sportsbooks including BetMGM and DraftKings, casino gambling remains strictly off-limits within state lines.

Tennesseans who are hoping to play real money games like blackjack and roulette at a Tennessee online casino must instead head to a part of the United States where online casinos are legal. Unfortunately for residents of Tennessee who have a hankering for mobile slots and table games, no neighboring state has legalized online casino gambling either. On the plus side, though, land-based casinos are well within traveling distance.

Playing at a Bricks-And-Mortar Casino

There are no land-based casinos in Tennessee, a situation that reflects Gov. Bill Lee’s famous disdain for gambling. Indeed, the governor only reluctantly allowed sports betting to become legal, with the bill becoming passed without his signature and operators still limited to running online sportsbooks only.

If Tennessee does ever legalize casino gambling in the future, it seems probable that the state will adopt the same online-only approach for casinos as it has for sports betting. All this isn’t to say that Tennesseans have no options at all when it comes to gaming. Many gamblers plan trips to the brick-and-mortar casinos which reside in neighboring states.

A popular option is Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, a tribal casino offering 150,000 feet of gaming in North Carolina. There’s also Southland Casino Racing in West Memphis, Arkansas, a commercial casino offering classic table games, over 2,000 slot games, and live greyhound racing. Or, you could make the jaunt over to Missouri to visit the Century Casino Caruthersville, a picturesque riverboat casino with overnight RV camping.

Timeline of Gambling Regulation in Tennessee

While online casinos in Tennessee are currently illegal, our experts continually review the situation and will keep you informed as it develops. In the meantime, let’s look at how Tennessee gambling regulations have progressed between the early 1800s and today:

1804 – The state’s first legal gambling opportunity is a horse race in the riverside town of Gallatin. The popularity of horseracing in Tennessee starts to grow, and several racetracks and jockey clubs soon open.

1906 – The Tennessee General Assembly votes to ban betting on horseracing after over a century of legal wagering.

2004 – The Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation sells its first ticket. It has since raised almost $6 billion for educational initiatives in the state.

2010 – The Tennessee Nonprofit Gaming Law comes into force. It is a direct attempt to provide relief to flood victims in the state and permits charitable organizations to hold legal raffles. Bingo, however, remains prohibited.

2016 – Gov. Bill Haslam signs a bill legalizing cash-based daily fantasy sports. This makes Tennessee the third state to enact such legislation, overriding the opinion of the attorney general, who just weeks previously stated that DFS should be considered illegal under state law.

2019 – Gov. Bill Lee allows the Tennessee Sports Gaming Act to become law without his signature. Tennessee thus becomes the 19th state to legalize sports betting and the first to launch it in an online-only format.

2020 – Legal sports betting arrives in Tennessee on November 1. Sports bettors in the Volunteer State can register and bet on sports online for the first time.

For more updates on online casino gambling in Tennessee, be sure to check back with Compare.bet.

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1. Tennessee will allow sports betting no later than Nov. 1, per report