Sports betting is legal in Mississippi! Find out where you can legally place sports bets on your favorite teams and leagues.
Taking forward their rich and renowned history in gambling, the lawmakers in Mississippi are pretty liberal in their approach to sports betting. Water- and land-based casinos in the state are the prime destinations for sports betting enthusiasts. However, online sports betting isn't that nurtured in Mississippi neither are online casinos in Mississippi.
Since the US Supreme Court brought down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018, attempts to legalize sports betting in Mississippi can be traced even earlier. In 2017 the state struck down the law which considered sports betting as criminal activity in the state. The state didn't hold back for too long, and in August 2018, sports betting was made legal in Mississippi.
How anticipated this 22-page document was could be understood that by the end of August 2018, 20 of the state casinos started offering commercial sports betting. Following the footsteps of commercial casinos, two of the tribal casinos are also now open for sports betting even though the tribal casinos don't fall within the purview of the state's gaming board. Both Golden Moon Hotel and Casino and the Bok Homa Casino offer sports betting.
For legal sports betting, you can hit any of the 30 land-based sportsbook locations.
Here's the catch: though you can technically participate in online sports betting in Mississippi for that, you need to be physically present at any of the retail sportsbooks. All the attempts made to legalize online sports betting made thus far have got little or no success. One bill brought for the very purpose failed in 2019 and another in the following year.
Before joining any of the Online sportsbooks in Mississippi, make sure you research the following parameters about the sportsbooks to check the genuineness and compatibility of the sportsbook.
Though these sites may allow you to bet straight away, they will ask you for verification or KYC at some point in time. Since these legitimate gambling sites are highly regulated, they have a stringent verification process in place. The validation is done to keep a check on financial crime, bonus abuse, review underage gambling, deal with problem gambling, and much more.
You might be asked to produce all or some of the following documents for your account verification:
Proof of identity:
Proof of Address:
While the documents mentioned above are compulsorily needed, the sportsbook is well within its rights to ask for the following documents as well:
With too much focus on legalizing sports betting in the state, online casinos have been left behind. Currently, you cannot play online casinos in Mississippi, and it will be like this for quite some time because the lawmakers don't seem interested. However, you can still enjoy a large pool of casino games offered by social casinos. Social casinos are legal in Mississippi and can be opted as a great source of entertainment. They even pay cash prizes to the winners of their daily and weekly contests and tournaments.
Yes, you can bet your heart on your favorite sports from professional leagues worldwide and college teams as well!
Though Mississippi isn't home to any professional teams, this doesn't diminish the craze for sports betting in the state. This, in turn, works as a positive factor, as people from Mississippi don't have a bias for a particular sport just because they have a professional team in that sport. They wager equally on all sports, popularly on Baseball, Hockey, Basketball, and football.
Major college sports, especially college football, are a significant attraction for bettors in Mississippi. State Bulldogs and Southern Miss Golden Eagles are two of the most popular college-level teams to bet on in Mississippi. The craze for college sports betting is even more prominent because most states do not allow sports betting on collegiate events.
Apart from the four professional sports, you can bet on plenty of sporting activities from around the world:
You don't necessarily need to be a state resident; visitors and personnel from other states can also participate in Mississippi sports betting. However, one primary condition needs to be fulfilled; you need to be physically present at the location.
Since mobile app-supported gambling doesn't make sense owing to the limitations imposed, bettors can en route to offshore gambling sites. Gambling on these sites falls in the grey area; the Mississippi gambling law doesn't expressly talk about it; this is why most people ignore it. However, there have been no incidents in the past when the law prosecuted someone for betting on offshore sites.
Some of these sportsbooks already offer on-site sports betting in partnership with various casinos in the state, and with mobile sports betting on the cards, we can expect them to run away with the market share.
The limitation imposed by the gambling law, which states that players need to be physically present in the casino to avail of mobile gambling services, shatters the very purpose of mobile apps. Till now, three bills advocating mobile apps-based sports betting in the state, namely SB 2396, SB 2732, and HB 1042, have failed to live to lawmakers' expectations. However, you can still enjoy online sports betting while being in the following locations:
Bok Homa Casino
Golden Moon Hotel & Casino
Silver Star Hotel & Casino
Frank Weber is a sports & gaming writer with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and years of experience in the gambling world. He loves baseball, football, basketball, soccer, and the UFC - he even collects sports cards and memorabilia! In his free time, you could find Frank either out at a concert with friends, or at home sweating out all his (soon to be won) bets!
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