Licensed online sportsbooks in New York include FanDuel Sportsbook, BetMGM Sportsbook, and Fanatics Sportsbook. Along with New Jersey, NY is one of the biggest states in the country for sports betting in terms of the amount wagered each month. With an especially high 51% tax rate on revenue, the state raised more than $2 billion from sports betting within a little over two years of making it legal in early 2022.
Online sports betting, lottery couriers and horse racing are legal in New York. Online casinos, online poker and sweepstakes casinos are not. Prediction markets are the open question: the state is in court with both big platforms.
This page tracks what New York law allows right now, what changed in the past year and where you can play legally. Legal status last checked on 4 November 2026.
New York gambling laws at a glance
| Type | Status in New York | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Online sports betting | Legal | Live since January 2022 through state-licensed mobile sportsbooks. You must be 21. |
| Lottery | Legal | Tickets are sold in person, or online through licensed courier services. |
| Horse racing | Legal | Online horse betting is allowed through licensed betting accounts. |
| Daily fantasy sports | Legal | Upheld by the New York Court of Appeals in 2022. |
| Retail casinos | Legal | Commercial and tribal casinos and racinos. Resorts World New York City added live table games on 28 April 2026. |
| Online casinos | Not legal | The 2026 bill (S2614) died when the session ended in June. Nothing can move before the 2027 session. |
| Online poker | Not legal | It was part of the same bill and died with it. |
| Sweepstakes casinos | Banned | Chapter 605 of the Laws of 2025, signed 5 December 2025, effective at once. |
| Prediction markets | In court | The state says Kalshi and Polymarket run unlicensed gambling. No court has ruled on the merits yet. |
Is online gambling legal in NY?
Certain types of online gambling in New York are available right now. After years of debate, lawmakers finally legalized sports betting in the state, and in early 2022, the first online sportsbooks in NY went live. The state soon became a top US sports betting market, and by September 2026 the State Comptroller reported that sports betting had become New York's second largest source of gaming revenue.
Besides sports betting, there are a few other forms of legal online gambling in NY. The New York Lottery is hugely popular, and while the lottery itself doesn’t sell tickets online, you can use online lottery couriers to purchase tickets by proxy. Online horse betting is also allowed in NY.
Meanwhile, you won’t find online casinos in New York for real money. A bill to legalize online casinos and poker died when the 2026 session ended in June, so the earliest a new one could pass is the 2027 session. Sweepstakes casinos, which used to fill that gap, have been illegal since December 2025, and in September 2026 the Attorney General announced an $8 million settlement with VGW, the company behind Chumba Casino and LuckyLand Slots.
What changed in New York gambling law
- 5 December 2025: Governor Hochul signed the sweepstakes casino ban (Chapter 605). Fines run from $10,000 to $100,000 per violation.
- 28 April 2026: Resorts World New York City opened live table games, the first of the three downstate licences awarded in December 2025 to do so.
- June 2026: the online casino and poker bill (S2614) died without the Governor's backing.
- 9 September 2026: the Attorney General announced the $8 million VGW settlement, the first large action under the sweepstakes ban.
- 24 September 2026: the Governor and Attorney General sued Polymarket in state court as an unlicensed gambling operation. The case moved to federal court the same day.
Where you can bet legally in New York
Daily Fantasy Sports
Daily fantasy sports contests are legal in New York, and the state’s Court of Appeals upheld the law that allows them in 2022. Operators need a state permit and pay a 15% tax on gross gaming revenue, which goes to the Lottery’s education fund. The full list of permitted operators is in the FAQ below.
New York Casinos
New York is home to a number of retail casinos, including commercial casinos, tribal venues, and racinos. Slots and table games are available at most locations, while racinos also feature video lottery terminals operated by the state lottery. Resorts World Casino in Jamaica is the state’s largest casino with more than 6,000 games available.
As an alternative, New York casino fans can access Parimutuel Powered Games on sites like Horseplay and GiddyUp. These platforms offer casino-style games with a unique twist, where outcomes are determined by the results of real horse races.
New York Lottery
The New York Lottery allows you to play scratchers, state-based draw games, and multi-state draw games like Powerball and Mega Millions. The lottery is one of the biggest in the US, and in fact was the first in the country to break the $10 billion mark for annual revenue. NY lottery tickets must be purchased in person or from online couriers like Jackpot.com. You can also set up a subscription and prepay for a certain number of tickets for future draws.
Horse Racing
Horse racing is legal and especially popular in New York. The state is home to Belmont Park, the venue that hosts the third leg of the Triple Crown, as well as the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs where the Travers Stakes happens. In addition, Yonkers Raceway is the Yonkers Trot site. There is online horse betting in New York, too, including at sites like FanDuel Racing.
NY Online Poker
Online poker for real money is not available in New York, nor is it available via the sweepstakes model found at some sites available in other states. There is, however, the option to travel to Pennsylvania or New Jersey, where you can legally play at different online poker sites like WSOP and PokerStars. You can also play poker in person in NY at several of the state’s casinos.
How we check New York's gambling law
We check every row in the table above against primary sources: the New York State Gaming Commission, the Governor's and Attorney General's announcements, the State Comptroller's reports and the bill and court records themselves. We don't take legal status from other gambling sites. When something changes, the table and the timeline change the same week. Read how we work in our review process and editorial guidelines.
Responsible gambling in New York
If gambling stops being fun, the NY HOPEline is free, confidential and open 24 hours a day: call 1-877-8-HOPENY (1-877-846-7369) or text HOPENY (467369). You can also ask the Gaming Commission to exclude you from licensed sportsbooks and casinos. More help is on our responsible gambling page.
New York gambling FAQ
Daily fantasy sports was made legal in New York in 2022 when the New York Court of Appeals deemed DFS constitutional in the Empire State. Days later, a bill amendment emerged to potentially bring more DFS operators to the state. Here’s a current list of permitted “interactive fantasy sports” operators in NY:
- Boom Fantasy
- DataForce, LLC
- DraftKings
- FanDuel
- For Players By Players
- MastersFantasyLeagues.com
- RealTime Fantasy Sports
- SharpLink Gaming Ltd
- Synkt Games, Inc. d/b/a letsRUMBL
- Yahoo
Daily fantasy sports operators pay a 15% tax on gross gaming revenue. That money goes directly to the New York Lottery fund to provide aid to education to New York’s public schools.
Either 21 or 18, depending on the activity and the venue. You are required to be 21 years old in order to play at one of the commercial casinos in upstate New York. However, tribal casinos, racinos, and lottery games only require players to be 18. The rules of the house apply when it comes to retail sports betting, but online sports betting requires players to be 21.
There are several types of gambling that are legal in New York. They are:
- Casinos – commercial and tribal
- Racinos – racing/simulcast/video lottery terminals
- Lottery
- Off-track betting
- Online horse betting
- Retail sports betting
- Online sports betting
- Daily fantasy sports
Not for real money. New York has not legalized online casinos, and the 2026 bill died in June. Sweepstakes casinos, which some sites marketed as a free-to-play workaround, have been banned since 5 December 2025.
When it comes to taxes, the simple thing to remember is, “If in doubt, fill it out.” While online gambling operators will automatically withhold winnings for taxes, you may still have a few obligations to satisfy. Visit the PlayNY how to report taxes page for all the information you need.
Get started with New York online gambling
Online sports betting is the only real-money online gambling New York allows, and the lottery and horse racing can also be played online through licensed services. Everything else on the internet that offers casino games for money is operating outside New York law. Start with our New York sports betting guide, and check the table at the top of this page before you sign up anywhere.
