Gambling & Gaming
Card room licensing, game room and eight-liner regulations, charitable bingo and raffles, casino zoning districts, and where sports betting is governed by state law.
The state licenses gambling; the city decides where it lives. Local law's share is siting and consent: zoning for card rooms and casinos, local-option votes where the state requires community approval, license caps that predate expansion.
Charitable gaming, bingo, raffles, poker nights, is the version most residents ever touch, and it runs on state permits with a light local overlay. Where state law is the entire answer, a city chapter simply does not exist to quote.
All 50 States: Gambling & Gaming at the State Level
Each tile shows the strongest state-level rule for that state. Click a state to see its full statewide rules and how local cities are constrained.
Severity: Few Restrictions · Light Restrictions · Some Restrictions · Significant Restrictions · Heavy Restrictions
What's Covered
Card Room Licensing
Local licensing or prohibition of card rooms and poker clubs, in states like California a card room may operate only where the city has adopted its own authorizing ordinance, so the…
Game Room Regulations
County and city regulation of game rooms and coin-operated amusement machines (eight-liners), including permits, location restrictions, hours of operation, and inspection rules.
Charitable Bingo and Raffles
Bingo, raffles, and games of chance run by charities, including states like New York where the games are lawful only in municipalities that have locally adopted the state licensing…
Social Gambling Rules
Whether private, social card games are exempt from gambling prohibitions, a carve-out defined in state law, plus any local rules layered on top of it.
Casino Zoning Districts
Zoning for casinos and gaming floors where they exist, gaming-enterprise districts, casino overlay districts, and the land-use rules governing where gaming may operate.
Sports Betting Law
Who governs sports wagering, a state-licensed activity everywhere it is legal, so the rules live in state statute and gaming-commission regulations rather than city code.