Many Montana residents have an interest in gambling, but they don’t want to make the long trip out to one of the tribal casinos in their home state. Who could blame them, really? The casinos are generally in remote locations, far away from the residential hubs spread throughout Montana. Luckily, we live in a world that grows a little smaller every day thanks to the magic of the internet.
Most players in Montana know somewhere in the back of their mind that they can access a legal gambling site for Montana players for real money, but they do not know what legal risk, if any that they are taking. The god news is that gambling online is legal, and for the rest of this page we will take a look at all the most popular forms of gambling as well as where they stand with regard to both federal and state policy.
No form of gambling is subject to more federal legislation than sports betting. Starting back in 1961 with the Federal Wire Act, Congress has long sought to penalize and root out bookmakers in the United States. The Wire Act decreed that using a wire communication tool for passing on betting information was a crime. While this law did not apply to bettors in the US at all, it did make it more difficult to find a law-abiding bookmaker.
If the Wire Act made an honest bookmaker hard to come by, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (or the PASPA) made it practically impossible. This law criminalized the act of bookmaking anywhere in the United States, even if the information did not need to travel over state lines. When the PASPA passed in 1992, four states were exempt. Of course, Nevada was one, and there was also Delaware Oregon, and, strangely enough considering the state has yet to sanction sports betting, Montana.
Even though the federal government sanctions sports betting in Montana, the state government prohibits it in their constitution. However, this law still does not apply to bettors. That’s why Montana residents who are interested in sports betting are forced to turn to legal online sportsbooks that accept Montana bettors and operate overseas, outside of US and federal jurisdiction. Until there is a shift in state policy that governs bookmaking in the state of Montana, this is the only option for sports fans in the state who crave a chance to put a little bit of money down on the outcome of a game.
Still, there are worse fates than betting in sports from the comfort of home.
The federal exempt, land based casinos in Montana are spread out and far between, but that doesn’t stop most Montana residents from enjoying their favorite casino games. Thanks to reputable gambling sites, thousands of Montana residents log on and enjoy fun games for real money every day of the week. However, what is the legal risk associated with using these sites? As luck would have it, it’s non-existent.
The only federal law that polices online casinos is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) passed as a last-second add on to the Safe Port Act in 2006. This law prohibited the facilitation of online casino games in the United States, but did not target the players of these games. This means that while a Montana resident who established and operated their own online casino would be in big trouble with the law, otherwise honest residents who just used such a site would not garner any attention.
The state laws in Montana follow a very similar template. While the state constitution defines the act of “gambling,” it does not criminalize it. This leaves the facilitation of gambling as the only major gambling related crime in the state, and means that Montana residents may log into legal Montana online casinos without worry. They also need not worry about law enforcement agencies shutting down their favorite casinos as all legal gambling sites that accept Montana residents operate offshore. This leaves them safely outside the jurisdiction of both federal and state policies that make the facilitation of gambling a crime..
Poker is by far the most popular form of gambling in the country, and many residents log on to online poker rooms for Montana players every day. It’s a good thing that they may do so with no fear of legal interference, because it is the only option for playing poker in the whole state of Montana.
Just as with casino games, the only federal law that applies to online poker is the UIGEA. While this law attacks the facilitation of online poker in a huge way, the federal government maintains no interest in prosecuting otherwise honest Montana residents who merely wish to play poker for real money. An understanding of this policy is key, especially in a climate that is wary of online poker. Following “black Friday,” the event that shut down many popular US poker sites after passage of the UIGEA, many Montana residents are wary of online poker sites. However, they may rest assured that all online poker rooms for Montana players reviewed on this site operate safely overseas, well away from the jurisdiction of any federal laws that could shut them down.
The state of Montana takes the same approach towards online poker that the federal government does. While it would be a major crime to operate an online poker room in the state of Montana, the use of one is not a criminal act. This means that poker fans in Montana are free to log into their legal poker site of choice and play to their heart’s content, racking in big prizes all the while.
When it comes to picking out a gambling site allowing legal gambling in Montana, legality is simply not enough. Players need to ensure that their website is safe for residents, as well. All of the sites listed on this page have been operating for over a decade. In that time, they have developed pristine reputations for paying out their players on time and offering fair play in all of their games.
For when you need to have access to the very best gambling site in the world, you can sign up with Bovada. Whether you’re looking for an award winning, reputable online sportsbook, a top-notch poker room featuring many games and a lot of traffic, or even one of the most complete online casinos featuring a great number of table games and slots, you’ll find it all under one roof in this excellent gambling site for Montana residents.
No gambling experience would be complete without real money on the line, and one of the reasons Bovada rockets to the top of every avid gambler’s list is how easy it is for players to manage their account with this Montana gambling network. Making a deposit is a simple matter, as players can use their major credit cards to move funds over in a matter of seconds. Collecting a payout is even easier. Most Montana players will receive a check at their front door within a couple weeks of requesting it, and then their winning can settle in where they belong – in the your bank account.