Online Casino Gambling in Nebraska

Nebraska restricts commercial casinos, and racinos, however, is home to three Tribal Casinos. Recent attempts to approve commercial casinos had not yet been successful until Nebraskans voted by a 60-40 majority in November 2020 to expand gambling options in the state. Land-based casinos and sports betting has been given the green light with five new commercial casinos set to open between 2023-2025 while the wait for retail sports betting continues (likely to begin in 2023-2024), although anything like online casinos in NJ remains off the table for the time being.

Currently, Nebraska’s main forms of gaming include the State Lottery, Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) and video bingo-and-keno type machines (similar to slots), found throughout the state’s bars, nightclubs, and racetracks.

Nebraska offers three Tribal Casinos and a number of restaurants and other establishments that serve alcohol, as well as convenience stores are allowed to operate keno drawings. This is as close as the state’s residents will get to having commercial casinos within the state borders of Nebraska until the five pending projects open for business sometime after 2022.

The three tribal casinos operate under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The Tribal casinos are allowed to offer limited gaming options like slot machines, keno, bingo, and live keno.

The slots deliver random results like any other slots. Unlike the Vegas-style slots (which determine results through a random number generator), Nebraska’s slots results are however, based on bingo cards.

Nebraska is not required to specifically prohibit online casino play as any form of gambling remaining unlicensed and unregulated is automatically considered illegal in Nebraska.

Given Nebraska’s strict gaming laws, our advice to the state’s gamblers is straightforward and clear;

We accordingly advise all Nebraska’s online players to meanwhile stick to DFS real money online betting options ONLY (not illegal in Nebraska) and to keep clear from playing ANY online casinos (either off-shore or U.S-based online casinos) until legalization of online casinos takes place in the state.

The game of Poker was once so popular in Nebraska in the 1800’s, that one of most favorite forms of poker, (Omaha) was named after that city in Nebraska. Those days are now long gone and playing poker for real money is now strictly prohibited.

Poker Rooms

In Nebraska, Poker games and tournaments that are free to enter and not award prizes are legal, as they are not considered to be a form of gambling. However, any form of poker game that involves stakes money is considered illegal and no poker rooms exist in the Cornhusker State. That may change when Nebraska’s new commercial casinos open, beginning in 2023.

Online Poker Laws

Online Poker is strictly prohibited in Nebraska. Please see the above section ‘Online Casinos in Nebraska’ for full details.

• It is estimated that legalized sports betting in Nebraska could potentially generate almost $1 billion in revenue and services per year in Nebraska, and $47 million of additional annual tax revenue based on 2017 figures. This would more than double Nebraska’s current tax revenue from gambling of $38 million per annum.
• Nebraska’s Tribal Casino industry has created hundreds of jobs for First Nations people living on Tribal lands. Further gambling legalization extensions could continue to improve on the living standards and economic prosperity of Native American people in Nebraska.
• Many Nebraskan charities have been looking to the neighboring Iowa model of fund raising through gambling to assist in generating much needed funding for many of Nebraska’s charities such as treating problem gaming, educational scholarships for its needy citizens, subsidizing day-care programs and veteran’s welfare assistance programs.
• Regardless of legalization or not, Nebraskans will gamble and a regulated and licensed legal gambling industry will provide greater player protection and security.
• Recourses and protections from unscrupulous and illegal gambling operators could be enshrined under Nebraskan law through gambling legalization.

Illegal gambling operations will cease to flourish in Nebraska by ruling on full legalization of the state’s betting industry.

1934; Horse Racing Betting legalized in Nebraska by amending the State Constitution.

1958; Charitable Bingo legalized in Nebraska.

1967; Raffles, gifts and lotteries first legalized for charitable purposes.

1988; Legalization of Simulcast Horse Race Betting in Nebraska.

1993; State Lottery begins in Nebraska with ‘scratch-off card’ method.

Early 2000’s; First Tribal Casinos open across Nebraska.

2004-2016; Repeated attempts to legalize Casino Gambling in Nebraska blocked.

2017 & 2018; DFS legalization bill LB469 twice blocked by filibuster in the Nebraska State Legislature.

2020: Nebraskans vote for gambling expansion (land-based casinos and sports betting).

Visit our Nebraska’s online sports betting page for more information on the states sports betting laws