Tn Online Casino License

Residency: Customers must have a valid Tennessee Driver's License or State of TN issued Photo ID to be considered a Resident for fishing and hunting licenses. Residency is verified through the TN Dept. Of Safety's online system. Juveniles: Youth under 16 years of age may follow the steps above to locate or create a TWRA account. Our selection of the best websites licensed U.S. To play casino games on the Internet. We are here to provide you with the widest range of options in online gambling, the most complete listings for all the online operators who have obtained their licenses issued in the United States. Some gambling sites, especially online casinos, require verification forms like scans of a driver’s license, credit card, and/or a utility bill. These are for your safety, so it’s a good idea to have them on file before you make a deposit. How to Gamble Online: Making a Real Money Deposit at an Online Casino.

Home » US Poker Laws – State by State Reviews » Online Poker in Tennessee

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Online Poker in Tennessee
Last Updated January 2, 2020

There’s an old joke that the busiest poker room in Tennessee is in Tunica. The joke, of course, is that Tennessee has no poker rooms – Tunica is right across the border in Mississippi. That fact hasn’t stopped Tennesseans from developing a healthy appetite for poker, both in live rooms and at online poker sites.

With the reach of poker in Tennessee growing as each day passes, we decided to construct this central resource to serve as a Guide to Playing Online Poker in Tennessee.

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Latest Updates Through for Online Gambling in Tennessee

Tennessee lawmakers have exhibited no desire to contemplate land-based casinos or any form of online gambling, poker or anything else.

However, Tennessee did join the ranks of states considering sports betting earlier in 2019. The proposed bill was debated and amended as it moved through the House and Senate, ultimately pushing the licensing fees and tax rates up significantly.

Governor Bill Lee decided to allow the bill to become law instead of signing it or vetoing it. He said that he didn’t believe that any gambling expansion – specifically online sports betting – was in the best interest of his state, but the original effort to pursue land-based casinos was removed from the bill. For that, Lee was grateful and resulted in a compromise.

With that, the Tennessee Sports Gaming Act became the law of the state on May 25, 2019. Mobile sports betting via licensed operators became legal.

Even so, Lee said, “Let me be clear: Any future efforts to expand gambling or introduce casinos in Tennessee will assure my veto.”

Top Online Poker Sites in Tennessee

Here’s the deal with Tennessee online poker sites: There are dozens – possibly even hundreds – of poker rooms that welcome players from Tennessee. Telling them apart is basically impossible until you’ve played at each, but playing at each would take a whole lot of time.

Enter our list of the top online poker sites for Tennessee, all of which are legally regulated and licensed online poker operators:

Poker Sites Open to Players From Your State
Bovada$500 Bonus3-4 Day PayoutsAccepts Visa, Bitcoin, Wires
Ignition$2000 Bonus3-4 Day PayoutsAccepts Visa, Bitcoin, Wires
Intertops$600 Bonus5 Day PayoutsAccepts Visa, Wires
BetOnline$2500 Bonus5-7 Day PayoutsAccepts Visa, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Wires
Sportsbetting$2500 Bonus5-7 Day PayoutsAccepts Visa, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Wires

Is Online Poker Legal in Tennessee?

Answering the question of whether or not it’s legal to play online poker from Tennessee begins with answering some more fundamental questions about how Tennessee law defines and handles gambling. Let’s focus on those by walking through the basics of Tennessee gambling law.

Tn Online Casino License

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Tennessee takes what amounts to an “any-chance” approach to defining gambling, which is to say that betting anything of value on anything that involves any element of chance qualifies as gambling.

Here’s the verbatim definition: “risking anything of value for a profit whose return is to any degree contingent on chance, or any games of chance associated with casinos, including, but not limited to, slot machines, roulette wheels and the like” (Section 39-17-501).

It is a misdemeanor to participate in illegal gambling, although the law says you must “knowingly” do so (Section 39-17-502).

The broad definition of “gambling device or record” (Section (39-17-501(3)) likely allows law enforcement to confiscate not only the equipment used for gambling, but also the money involved.

Tn Online Casino License

One charge of special note: Aggravated gambling promotion (Section 39-17-504). Most states assign a misdemeanor charge for participating in the business of an illegal gambling business, with felony charges reserved for larger operations or for the owners. In Tennessee, anyone who “knowingly invests in, finances, owns, controls, supervises, manages or participates in a gambling enterprise” risks a felony charge.

Special penalties are invoked when you’re involved in the operation of “lotteries, chain letters and pyramid letters. As the amount of money involved in the lottery escalates, so do the severity of the criminal charges you could face (Section 39-17-506).

Tennessee Gambling & Poker Laws Summarized

Type/CodeSummary
State Code Section(s)3.17; 4.36; 39.17.5-6
Definition of GamblingRisking anything of value for a profit whose return is to any degree contingent on chance, or any games of chance associated with casinos, including, but not limited to, slot machines, roulette wheels, etc.
Definition of Gambling BetAnything of value risked in gambling.
Online Poker/GamblingIt is highly unlikely that legislators will consider any type of online poker or casino games in the foreseeable future.
Live PokerSince there are no casinos and racetracks are not allowed to offer table games like poker, players cannot legally play cash games or tournaments in Tennessee.
CasinosThere are no casinos in Tennessee, and there seems to be no desire to consider legalizing any gambling facilities outside of racetracks.
Sports BettingTennessee has not yet considered a sports betting bill as of mid-2018.
DFSLawmakers legalized daily fantasy sports contests via the Fantasy Sports Act in 2016.
Other Forms of GamblingHorse racing, limited pari-mutuel wagering, raffles and limited charitable gambling, lottery.

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All Poker and Gambling Laws by State

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What are the Chances that Tennessee Regulates Online Poker?

Somewhere between slim and none, and I’m pretty sure slim has a ticket booked on the next flight out. Gambling expansion just isn’t on the radar for Tennessee, and Internet-based gambling – considered by many to be a riskier form of the activity – stands an even narrower chance of being addressed by the state legislature.

Tennessee Gambling Facts

A pretty thin list, all things considered. The state has a complete lack of any casino-style facilities – nothing commercial, tribal or in a hybrid racino form. There are no racinos because there are no race tracks; pari-mutuel bets are not permitted under the law of Tennessee. There is also no direct exception for “social gambling.”

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So what can you do legally? Your options come down to the state lottery, charitable raffles conducted by licensed organizations, or leaving the state (several neighboring states do offer more regulated gambling than Tennessee).

It comes as no surprise that a state with such a restrictive attitude toward gambling would choose not to regulate or license online gambling activity. While regulated land-based gambling options are simply meager, online poker in Tennessee will likely remain non-existent.

Some were surprised that the Tennessee legislature approved mobile sports betting in 2019, but it came with a threat from the governor to veto any other attempts to expand gambling in the state. This will likely be the last we hear from Tennessee in a while.

Famous Tennessee Poker Players

The most famous poker player from Tennessee is Chris Moneymaker. He started playing poker online at PokerStars in the early 2000s, which was where he won an $86 online poker satellite and transformed it into a seat into the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event worth $10,000. Not only did the full-time accountant travel to Las Vegas to play that tournament, he won it for $2.5 million.

Moneymaker soon signed as an ambassador for the game and a member of Team PokerStars Pro, a job he continues to today. He still calls Nashville home, but he travels the world to play live poker for PokerStars and treks to Canada or South America to play online during PokerStars’ tournament series.

Kathy Liebert is actually the all-time top tournament money earner from Tennessee with more than $6.2 million to her credit. She has played for many years and now resides in Las Vegas, but continues to play competitively in live poker games.

Frank Kassela and Kyle Cartwright take up the next two spots on the money list, both listing significant accomplishments on their poker CVs. Kassela has won three WSOP gold bracelets to date, and Cartwright has one bracelet and numerous WSOP Circuit gold rings thus far in his poker career.

The top-ranked players from Tennessee, as of 2020, are as follows:

1. Kathy Liebert ($6.3 million)
2. Chris Moneymaker ($3.9 million)
3. Frank Kassela ($3.3 million)
4. Kyle Cartwright ($2.3 million)
5. David Diaz ($2.1 million)
6. Stanley Weiss ($1.7 million)
7. Ryan Welch ($1.7 million)
8. Jonathan Hilton ($1.4 million)
9. Robert Hankins ($1.2 million)
10. Allie Prescott ($934K)

Sources & Citations For This Article on Tennessee Online Poker

Tennessee does not tolerate many things, and gambling, quite frankly, falls right underneath the list of things the state does not take too kindly to. Nowadays, finding a game of blackjack or poker is incredibly difficult unless you choose to play online. That is because the state of Tennessee does not have one single brick and mortar gambling location. Unlike other Southern states that are, in word, against gambling at casinos, the state of Tennessee walks the walk and is not the place to go if you are trying to play casino games.

As for the status of online casinos in the state, well, that is a different story. Right now, there are hundreds of online casinos that offer their services to citizens of Tennessee. Despite the state’s harsh stance on gambling, the fact of the matter is that it is completely legal to play online. As for future changes to state law, those do not seem to be coming anytime in the near future, so gear up for the long—haul.

What Are The Best Tennessee Real Money Gambling Sites?

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Legal Status of Online Casinos & Gambling — Tennessee

Though you may know that Tennessee is generally opposed to gambling, you can rest-assured knowing that you will face absolutely no issues when it comes to playing at online casinos. Despite many people over the years thinking that Tennessee law enforcement is just waiting around for people to get online and begin playing games, the fact of the matter is that no one has ever been arrested for having played at an online casino in the state. Even though Tennessee is as conservative as US states come, they are not known for prosecuting those who gamble at casinos online.

What would be illegal, however, is if you were to own and operate your own online casino within the state. That is illegal under Federal Law and would land you in some trouble. Fortunately, most every casino that exists for online players in Tennessee is based offshore, in other countries. Initially, it may seem like these sites are difficult to trust, but this could not be further from the truth. The reality of the matter is that whether the casino in question is based out of Costa Rica or Curacao, they are highly trustworthy. Review after review online has shown that players in Tennessee have no shortage of places where they can play real money casino games online. Other than that, you will have no issues when it comes to playing your favorite casino games online. Even though these sites are not regulated by the state, they are reputable, with great customer service staffs, and are easy to deal with. So long as you put in some time to do research, you will have no issues when it comes to dealing with Tennessee online casinos. The lack of regulation can scare some people off; but it shouldn’t. As was just mentioned, a bit of research will quickly help you differentiate between the best and most trustworthy online casinos and the ones that should be avoided. Nowadays, you will find that the number of trustworthy online casinos out there far outnumber casinos that are shady or otherwise not able to be trusted.

Legal Status of Brick and Mortar Casinos — Tennessee

As it stands now, there is no place in Tennessee where you can go and gamble. This was not always true, but nowadays you cannot even go to a horseracing track and place bets. Even some of the most conservative Southern states allow horserace betting, but such is not the case in Tennessee. Back in the day, in the 1980s, you could gamble at the hundreds of bingo halls located all over the state due to a loophole that existed. This loophole made bingo legal so long as the proceeds were going to charities. Well, after some investigation, the FBI determined that almost none of these bingo halls were giving to charities and they were subsequently shut down. As far as brick and mortar casinos like the ones you will find in Las Vegas, they simply do not exist in Tennessee. This is not something that looks like it will change anytime soon, either.

Since then, placing a live bet in the state of Tennessee could not be any more difficult. Instead, you see citizens who are looking for live casino play cross over state borders in order to find what they are looking for. This is something that will continue to take place until Tennessee completely revamps their laws. Something you might think might be coming in the near future seeing as the state is absolutely hurting for additional sources of revenue. Legalized gambling—no matter the form—has the potential to bring in millions of dollars in annual tax revenues for states like Tennessee. In the US, states like Tennessee are in dire need of additional revenue streams, so it continues to perplex millions as to why legalized gambling is simply not being discussed. While we sit around and wait for lawmakers to take action, you can rest-assured knowing there are plenty of online sites where you can gamble for real money and play just about every type of casino game under the sun.

Tennessee Online Casinos & Gambling FAQ

  • Abbreviation: TN
  • State Motto: Agriculture and Commerce
  • Capital City: Nashville
  • Population Estimate: 6.7 million (16th)
  • Website: http://www.tennessee.gov/

Can I play online poker in Tennessee?

Believe it or not, most people venture to online casinos in order to play online poker. Ever since US law enforcement cracked down on the game a few years ago, people have been looking for reputable places to play. While those places do exist, they are not as abundant as they were back in 2010. Now, you need to sift through casinos who offer poker as an afterthought in order to find the sites that specialize in the game.

How many different methods of deposit are there?

In most cases, you will find no more than two different ways by which you can fund a player account. The first and most common method is by way of a debit or credit card. The second most popular options is via a direct bank transfer. Both methods of deposit afford you the ability to begin playing almost instantly, so you should encounter no issues.

Will legalize online casinos ever become a thing in Tennessee?

Though we do not claim to be experts on the legal workings of Tennessee, the early thought is that hell will freeze over before Tennessee lawmakers approve of an intrastate online casino network. It simply isn’t in the cards. Not only have no bills been introduced to the state government, the citizenry of the state seems to generally oppose gambling as well. So, until things change dramatically, the online casinos that exist in Tennessee now are your only betting options.

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