Casinos in Georgia
Like most of the other US states, Georgia has a regulated land-based gambling industry, which means that the state officials do everything in their power to protect all the existing gambling businesses by going after illegal gambling operators. Consequently, legal forms of gambling available in Georgia are limited to poker tournaments, bingo and state-controlled lottery. Georgia doesn’t have any tribal casinos, race tracks or commercial gambling venues, which means that regulated casino gaming is pretty much unavailable within the borders of the state.
Georgia Gambling Laws
Gambling is covered by Georgia Code 13-8 and 16-12. Taking part in illegal gambling is considered a misdemeanor rather than felony, which means that Georgian authorities aren’t really all that concerned about catching individual players.
16-12-21.
(a) A person commits the offense of gambling when he:
(1) Makes a bet upon the partial or final result of any game or contest or upon the performance of any participant in such game or contest;
(2) Makes a bet upon the result of any political nomination, appointment, or election or upon the degree of success of any nominee, appointee, or candidate; or
(3) Plays and bets for money or other thing of value at any game played with cards, dice, or balls.
Furthermore, it’s worth pointing out that Georgia Code doesn’t refer specifically to online gambling, which means that it could be argued that playing on offshore casino sites is perfectly legal and shouldn’t be even considered a misdemeanor. Furthermore, Georgia officials are even less interested in prosecuting individual online gamblers than in going after customers of illegal gambling venues, so it should come as no surprise that no online casino enthusiasts have been punished for pursuing their hobby so far.
Online Casinos
Georgia doesn’t have any land-based casinos and hasn’t regulated online gambling yet, so it should come as no surprise that residents of the states don’t have any licensed, intrastate online casinos to choose from. Fortunately, most of the US-facing offshore casino sites are glad to accept Georgia-based customers, giving them a chance to enjoy some of the latest slot machines and table games without ever leaving the comfort of their homes. While those sites aren’t licensed in Georgia, they are perfectly reliable and safe to play on due to the fact that they simply can’t afford to start losing customers over dishonest business practices.
Offshore Casino Sites That Accept Georgia Players
Virtually every offshore casino that accepts USA-based players is going to accept a new deposit from a Georgia resident. Consequently, Georgian casino enthusiasts have plenty of major network sites to choose from. Nevertheless, there’s no denying the fact that some of those sites are very similar in terms of game selection due to the fact that they are all powered by Real Time Gaming software. RTG is the biggest software provider that cooperates with US-facing casino sites, but the casinos listed here also offer some amazing slots and table games from BetSoft, as well as a number of other third-party developers.
Unfortunately, Georgia residents aren’t able to fund their offshore casino accounts using popular e-wallet services, including PayPal, Neteller and Skrill. The most popular deposit method is to use a credit card payment or a Western Union/MoneyGram money order, but keep in mind that a few offshore sites might allow you to go for some additional options, such as PaySafeCard.
Regardless of the deposit method you pick, most sites will require you to withdraw via a bank wire transfer or a check by courier. In most cases, I’d recommend going with the wire transfer, as this cash out method is both faster and cheaper than any other options that are currently available for Georgia-based players.
Developing Legal Scenarios
Most people in Georgia are rather hostile towards legalized gambling, so it should come as no surprise that even if someone proposed an online casino gambling bill, it would be extremely unlikely to pass. Consequently, while the state might consider selling its own lottery tickets over the internet, it’s extremely unlikely for the intrastate online casino situation to improve in the months to come.
