Is Online Poker Legal in Maine?

Maine is one of those states which appears to take one of the strictest approaches towards gambling in the country, whether it is regulated or unregulated. In short, if you like gambling then this state certainly isn’t going to be the top of your list for places to visit! Let’s take a little look at the laws of Maine.

Gambling Laws

The definition of gambling in the legislation of Maine reads as the following:

Section 952(4)
Staking or risking something of value upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event not under his control or influence, upon an agreement or understanding that he or someone else will receive something of value in the event of a certain outcome. [1]

Now, the key thing to know about the law in Maine is that there is a further bit of legislation which they have related to gambling which says that anything which isn’t regulated is by very definition illegal when it comes to gambling. Which means that there is a lot of things here which can be deemed as illegal.

There are a few regulated options available within Maine. This includes a state lottery, horse racing, commercial casinos and tribal casinos, which means there are plenty of options available for people.

Casinos and Live Poker

As mentioned previously, there are a number of different options available for those that wish to gamble whilst in Maine. This includes a number of commercial casinos operating poker, and the law even allows people to socially bet. Maine is one of the few states which has actually built this into their legislation. The definition of social gambling reads as follows:

Section 952(4)
Social gambling” is gambling, or a contest of chance, in which the only participants are players and from which no person or organization receives or becomes entitled to receive something of value or any profit whatsoever, directly or indirectly, other than as a player, from any source, fee, remuneration connected with said gambling, or such activity as arrangements or facilitation of the game, or permitting the use of premises, or selling or supplying for profit refreshments, food, drink service or entertainment to participants, players or spectators. [2]

If you wish to play poker not in a social environment then you need to have a license, which are of course pretty hard to come by. In fact, you won’t even be able to play a game of poker at one of the charitable ventures available.

Online Poker

As I mentioned previously, players shouldn’t get into trouble playing poker online as they aren’t targeted. However, you should bear in mind that this is my interpretation of the law as there is currently no legislation relating to online poker in Maine. However, what should be considered is that those who offer online poker options to residents of Maine could face fines and sanctions, although there is currently no evidence of that happening.

It is highly unlikely that online gambling will be allowed in Maine any time soon, recent attempts to get it off the ground were hit hard by voters.

Maine Bitcoin Poker Sites