Which States Could Legalize Online Casinos Next?

Six states seriously considered legalizing online casinos in 2026, and every one of them failed: as of July 2026 no state has a bill still advancing, which makes 2027 the next real opportunity. Virginia came closest, passing bills through both chambers before dying in conference. The honest version of this outlook is a dated snapshot, because a bill’s odds change with each legislative session, so treat any “coming soon” claim, including this page, as good only on the date at the top.

Where each state actually got in 2026

Most trackers rank states by how often they are mentioned. That measures chatter. Below they are ranked by how far the legislation actually moved, which is the only thing that predicts anything.

Closest, and still years away: Virginia

Virginia advanced further than any other state and still did not make it. SB 118 (Senator Mamie Locke) passed the Senate on a second-attempt re-vote on February 17, 2026, and HB 161 (Delegate Marcus Simon) passed the House. Both went to a six-member conference committee, which failed to reconcile the two versions before the session ended. The sticking points were where the tax revenue would go (the Senate bill sent most to the general fund, the House bill to a new education fund), plus job-loss protections for brick-and-mortar venues and rules on promotional credits.

Here is the detail that matters most, and that “which state is next” lists routinely omit: both bills carried a reenactment clause, meaning the General Assembly would have had to pass the measure a second time in 2027 before it could take effect. Even total success in 2026 would have meant a launch no earlier than 2028. Lawmakers are expected to revisit it in 2027.

In the conversation, but stalled: Illinois and New York

Illinois had companion bills in both chambers. HB 4797, the Internet Gaming Act from Representative Edgar González Jr., was filed February 2, 2026 and would have licensed operators through the Illinois Gaming Board at a 25% tax on gross gaming revenue, with up to three branded skins per license and a 21+ minimum. It got a first reading, went to the Gaming Committee, and was re-referred to the Rules Committee on March 27, which in Illinois is where bills go to die quietly. It never received a committee vote, and the General Assembly adjourned on June 1. This was González’s fourth attempt since 2021. The blockers are specific: the video gaming terminal industry and land-based casinos fear cannibalized revenue, and the House Gaming Committee chair has publicly called their concerns well founded, which means the committee chair himself is the obstacle. The state Attorney General has said he expects Illinois to legalize eventually.

New York keeps returning to the idea and keeps not passing it. Senator Joseph Addabbo’s S2614 never left the Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee across two sessions, despite projections of roughly $1 billion a year in state tax revenue. Addabbo publicly abandoned the 2026 push in May, before the session even ended, saying plainly that Governor Hochul’s refusal to endorse it meant she would not sign it even if both chambers passed. New York’s blocker is not the legislature. It is one person.

Blocked at the top: Maryland and Ohio

Maryland has the highest structural bar of any state here, and it is not political mood. Legalizing online casino there requires a voter referendum plus a legislative supermajority. Senator Ron Watson filed both halves in 2026: SB 761 would have put the question to voters in November, and SB 885 was the implementation framework for the state’s six commercial casinos. Watson withdrew SB 761 after the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee canceled its hearing, and once the referendum bill was gone SB 885 had no path; it got a hearing with no vote and died at the March 23 crossover deadline. Casino operators, labor groups, and problem-gambling advocates all opposed it.

Ohio is last on this list, despite being widely described as a state to watch. It does have real bills, not just talk: SB 197 and HB 298, the latter from the House Finance chair, would tax online casino at 28% of revenue and also ban sweepstakes casinos. Both have sat in committee since May 2025. But three separate blockers stand in the way, any one of which would be enough. Governor DeWine is explicitly opposed, having said he is against putting a casino in everyone’s hands 24 hours a day. The House Speaker has said no online casino or lottery bill will move. And legal opinion suggests Ohio would need a constitutional amendment approved by voters, because the 2009 amendment that created the state’s four casinos gave them exclusive rights to table games. Note that the Ohio study commission that gets cited in most coverage issued its report in July 2024 and no longer exists.

Early or narrow: Washington, DC

The District of Columbia has a live measure, which is more than any state can say right now, but it is at the beginning of a long road. Bill B26-0656, the Internet Gaming and Consumer Protection Act of 2026, was introduced by Councilmember Wendell Felder on April 9, 2026. It would legalize online casino at a 25% tax under the Office of Lottery and Gaming while simultaneously banning sweepstakes casinos. A public hearing was held on May 4, 2026, with regulator testimony on the record, but no vote was taken and no markup is scheduled. From here it needs a committee markup, a vote of the full 13-member Council, the Mayor’s signature, and then a 60-day congressional review period, a hurdle no state faces.

The pattern worth noticing: ban the gray, license the real

Three jurisdictions have now paired the same two moves, and no competitor tracker frames it this way. Maine legalized real-money online casino and banned sweepstakes casinos in the same year. The DC bill above does both in a single piece of legislation. Ohio’s HB 298 does the same. The logic is consistent: legislators who conclude that people in their state are already playing casino games online decide they would rather license and tax that activity than leave it to an unregulated model. If this becomes the template, the next wave of legalization bills will arrive with sweepstakes bans attached. It is a legislative pattern, not a legal equivalence, and the two remain separate maps.

Why online casino legalization is so slow

Real-money online casino competes on paper with three entrenched interests in almost every state: land-based casinos worried about cannibalized floor revenue, state lotteries protecting their own take, and tribal gaming operators whose compacts complicate any new statewide framework. Those are exactly the groups with the most lobbying weight in a statehouse. Add that opposition to gambling expansion is bipartisan, and you get the result on the ground: online sports betting reached about 30 states in a few years, while online casino has been legalized in only eight states in over a decade, and only seven of those are actually live. When a state does legalize, it is usually because a budget gap made the tax revenue too attractive to refuse.

What actually happens when a state legalizes

Legalization is not a launch. The pipeline from a new law to a site you can play on typically takes six to eighteen months:

1. The law is enacted. Usually signed by the governor, though not always, as Maine shows below.
2. The regulator writes rules. The state gaming authority spends months on licensing standards, responsible-gambling requirements, and technical rules.
3. Operators apply and are licensed. Casinos partner with in-state license holders, submit platforms for testing, and wait for approval.
4. The market opens. Only now can you deposit and play.

Maine is the current worked example, and it is instructive precisely because it is not live. LD 1164 passed the legislature and became law in January 2026 without Governor Mills’s signature; she announced she would let it take effect unsigned, citing concerns about the public-health impact of gambling while conceding the activity should be regulated. The law grants exclusive online casino rights to Maine’s four Wabanaki Nations. It takes effect July 29, 2026, but that date only starts the regulator’s rulemaking, and the state’s own gambling regulator has pointed to early 2027 for launch. A separate federal lawsuit from Oxford Casino challenging the law is still pending. So even the newest state to say yes is not a place you can play today, roughly a year and a half after its legislature acted.

How to track your state yourself

Do not rely on affiliate “launching soon” banners, which have every incentive to sound optimistic and which are frequently out of date. Track it in two authoritative places instead: your state legislature’s website, where you can search the actual bill and see whether it moved or died, and your state gaming regulator’s site once a law passes. Those two sources will tell you the real status long before any operator can take your deposit.

While you wait, the two honest options in a non-legal state are a sweepstakes casino, which uses a different legal model that reaches most states, and free social play. Neither is an offshore real-money casino. For where things stand today, see the full online casino legality by state map, or the guides to states that already legalized: Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New Jersey. Legal US online casinos are 21+; if gambling stops being fun, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.