South Dakota houses many fans of casual gambling, and it unfortunately houses many would-be fans of casual gambling. For whatever reason, it has proven to be quite difficult to find straightforward information regarding online gambling in the state of South Dakota and this has scared some residents away. Well, LegalSouthDakotaGambling.com is here to finally pick up the pieces and set the record straight.
The rest of this page will look at the most popular forms of online gambling in the state of South Dakota and determine how both federal and state policies apply to them. Our biggest hope is that upon using this page as a resource, South Dakota residents will leave with a firm understanding of their rights and responsibilities when using a legal gambling site for South Dakota residents and precisely how they should go about it. Just to ensure we offer a complete resource, we will also recommend a superb venue for online gambling on this page as well. South Dakota gambling enthusiasts: read on, and find all the information you need.
More so than any form of gambling, there are many regulations concerning sports betting. Federal policies based on sports betting over the internet date all the way back to the days before the internet in 1961. This is when Congress passed the Federal Wire Act at the behest of then-senator Robert F. Kennedy. In an effort to cripple what was rampant, national organized crime, this law made it a criminal act for bookmakers to use “wired communications” (later ruled to include the internet) to transmit information related to sports betting across state lines.
If this law made life hard for bookmakers, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) passed in 1992 made it practically impossible. More than simply criminalizing the transmission of information over state lines, the PASPA criminalized the act of bookmaking in general except for in a few states. This is why it’s impossible to find land based sports betting in South Dakota, even though casinos and poker rooms are prevalent.
With this level of federal legislation in the books regarding sports betting, the state of South Dakota need not add too much. Again, players are free to do as they like and they can do so with no concern for their safety as long as they stick to legal online sportsbooks that accept South Dakota residents.
Our culture can tend to take online casino games for granted. After all, pop culture is so filled to the brim with images of high rolling gamblers that we can often take the legality of such acts for granted. Luckily, in the state of South Dakota, this means that there is very little reason to worry about it at all.
When it comes to federal policy dictating online casino games, there is only one law that South Dakota residents need worry about: the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) passed in 2006. As a last minute addition to the Safe Port Act, a homeland security bill, this law contains harsh words for any online casino that would attempt to set up shop in the state of South Dakota, but leaves players alone. In fact even going to the sheer letter of the UIGEA, mere players at online casinos have nothing to worry about. How then can legal online casinos that accept South Dakota players function under this law? The answer is that they do not. All legal web based casinos operate overseas, well outside the jurisdiction of federal law. This means that as long as these sites adhere to the laws of their native countries, they may do as they please.
South Dakota's gambling laws fall very much in line with this principle. While any residents who attempt to establish or operate their own online casino could find themselves in deep legal trouble, there are no penalties for merely signing up and playing with one. Casino fans in South Dakota may rejoice, in addition to the number of land based casinos in historic Deadwood, any online casinos that bring exciting action into your living room are free to use, as well.
Of all forms of gambling, poker is the most popular by a stretch of several miles. Unfortunately, there is also the most controversy over its legal status. Any poker fans worth their salt know about the UIGEA that passed in 2006. This act made all online poker rooms operating in the United States illicit operations, and indirectly led to the collapse of both Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker, tow of the most popular poker sites in the United States.
This has led many South Dakota players to believe that online poker is a criminal action all the way around, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Firstly, the UIGEA does nothing to punish the players of online poker, only those who make it available. For further proof, consider that even though this law shut US poker sites down, no members faced legal prosecution. This means that as long as players stick to legal South Dakota poker sites that do not fall under this bill, they may play poker legally with a legal business. The only question that remains is how to ensure that the poker site you are playing with does not fall under the UIGEA. Fortunately, the solution is simple: you must play poker with an offshore network. These legal online poker rooms for South Dakota residents are held accountable by the laws of their native country, and as long as they abide by those, they may legally provide South Dakota residents with all the poker action they could ever want.
When it comes to South Dakota state laws, they will find that they fall in line with the precedent set by the UIGEA. The state of South Dakota falls in line with federal policy, generally coming down hard on those who attempt to establish their own casinos within the state and discouraging illicit gambling, but allowing their residents to do as they please when signing up with legal poker enterprises.
Aside from mere legality, South Dakota residents will want to assure themselves that the venue they use to gamble is a safe investment to put their hard-earned money. Fortunately, this is the case with these businesses. The advantages of functioning legally are twofold. Not only are these businesses safe from the federal government imposing a shit down, their legal status and certifications from reputable international gaming commissions ensure that all financial transactions with these sites are secure and certified. As a bonus, these legal South Dakota gambling sites also ensure fair play and odds for all participants. This makes them a preferable alternative to illicit land based venues, and the fact that they can deliver action right into your living room means that they are also the most convenient method of legal gambling possible.
Of all the legal gambling networks available to South Dakota players, none carries the punch or reputation of Bovada. This legal gambling site for South Dakota residents has long been the gold standard of the industry, protecting their members from not only other inferior internet casinos out there, but from fraudulent account hackers and viruses that can lead to a hemorrhage of funds. No website, gambling or otherwise, has proven itself as a safe and valid investment as Bovada.
Speaking of funds, did you know that just for signing up with this gambling site you could qualify for all sorts of bonuses? Depending on whether you choose to sign up with their award-winning sportsbook, top notch, densely populated poker room or renowned casino, you can claim anywhere from 50% to 200% of your initial deposit back in the form of free bonus money. This helps get your bankroll started off on the right foot, and can lead to huge winnings that pile up throughout your Bovada career.