North Dakota: status at a glance
| Online casino | Not authorized |
|---|---|
| Sports betting | Retail only |
| Online poker | Not authorized |
| Sweepstakes casinos | No ban found in our sources |
What the Attorney General says
North Dakota's Attorney General runs the Gaming Division, and its page states the rule in one sentence: "State law prohibits online gaming in North Dakota." The page then describes the single exemption, which lets state-licensed charitable gaming organizations provide online raffles, provided the system comes through a licensed distributor in North Dakota.
For a resident, that settles most questions. An online casino, an online poker room or a sweepstakes casino that accepts North Dakota players holds no North Dakota license, and the only online gaming the state describes as allowed is the charitable raffle exemption.
Charitable gaming, the core of the legal market
Most legal gambling in the state is charitable gaming, and the history explains why. A Legislative Council memorandum from August 2023 starts with the first legislative session after statehood. A push to bring in a lottery caused a scandal then and led to the state's first constitutional amendment, which outlawed lotteries and gift enterprises. That prohibition stood until 1976, when voters amended the constitution to let the Legislature authorize bona fide nonprofit veterans, charitable, educational, religious and fraternal organizations, civic and service clubs and other public spirited organizations to conduct games of chance, as long as the entire net proceeds go to educational, patriotic, fraternal, religious or other public spirited uses.
The Legislature acted in stages: temporary laws in 1977 and 1979, then the legislation of 1981 that became Chapter 53-06.1 of the North Dakota Century Code. According to the memorandum, the first games allowed were bingo, raffles, pull tabs, jars and punchboards. Sports pools on professional sports came in 1979, the game of twenty-one in 1981, draw and stud poker in 1987, paddlewheels in 1991, and electronic quick shot bingo, fifty-fifty raffle systems and electronic pull tabs in 2017. The memorandum adds that Chapter 53-06.2 was enacted in 1987 so that most charities can conduct horse racing under the pari-mutuel system, and that legalizing electronic video gaming was put to a special election on December 5, 1989 and rejected.
These are charity games, licensed to eligible organizations by the Attorney General. They are not an online casino market, and none of the memorandum's list is an internet license.
Tribal casinos and the lottery
The Gaming Division's page says it enforces the tribal-state gaming compacts that authorize tribes to run casinos on tribal land, and that it conducts random inspections at the state's five Indian casinos. It refers questions about the compacts to the Governor's Office. The page also notes that the North Dakota Lottery administers, regulates, enforces and promotes the state lottery, and that the lottery is separate from the Gaming Division.
Sports betting
The Gaming Division's page does not mention sports betting, and the charitable gaming history we read describes sports pools on professional sports as a charity game, not a sportsbook market. The retail sports betting entry in our status table comes from industry trackers; no regulator page we read mentions it. For the other states, the sports betting by state page has the comparison.
Sweepstakes casinos and offshore sites
Industry trackers list no specific sweepstakes casino law in North Dakota. The Attorney General's general statement that state law prohibits online gaming is the closest primary statement; we did not find a separate release about sweepstakes casinos. The legal questions that apply everywhere are on are sweepstakes casinos legal, and the states that have passed bans are on the banned states page. Offshore casinos hold no North Dakota license; the offshore casinos guide explains how they operate.
Getting help
The pages we read from the Attorney General and the Legislative Council do not name a state problem gambling line. The national line, 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738), takes calls from North Dakota. The Attorney General's page lists general inquiries at (701) 328-2210. More tools are on the responsible gambling page.
Frequently asked questions
Can I play at an online casino in North Dakota?
Not under a North Dakota license. The Attorney General states that state law prohibits online gaming, with an exemption only for online raffles by licensed charitable organizations.
What gambling is legal in North Dakota?
Charitable gaming licensed by the Attorney General, tribal casinos operating under compacts, and the state lottery.
Can a charity run an online raffle?
Yes, if it is a state-licensed charitable gaming organization and the system is through a licensed distributor in North Dakota.
Is online poker legal in North Dakota?
The state licenses no online poker. The poker the memorandum describes, draw and stud poker added in 1987, is a charitable game, and the Attorney General states that state law prohibits online gaming.