Online casinos in Washington: is it legal?

Sports betting is legal but TRIBAL ONLY and on-premises, under Class III compacts. RCW 9.46.0364 permits a tribe's compact to be amended to authorize sports wagering 'on Indian lands'. RCW 9.46.0368 authorizes transmission of gambling information over the internet for that wagering only provided the wager may be placed and accepted at a tribe's gaming facility while the customer is physically present on the premises. The Washington State Gambling Commission states that ESHB 2638 authorizes sports wagering on a very limited basis by restricting it to tribal casinos, that the sportsbook must be located within a tribe's gaming facility, and that each gaming operation must use a geofence to ensure patrons can only place mobile sports wagers while physically on the premises. Online gambling outside that authorization is a CLASS C FELONY: RCW 9.46.240 makes knowingly transmitting or receiving gambling information by the internet a class C felony under RCW 9A.20.021. Nothing is moving toward online: all 3,757 bill numbers in the 2025-26 biennium were pulled from the Legislature's own web service and filtered; the complete gambling-related set is 11 bills and none authorizes online or mobile wagering off tribal property, and none concerns online casino. Note that the one enacted 2026 sports-wagering bill reinforces rather than loosens the restriction: SB 6137, 'Concerning the regulated sports wagering industry', was signed by the Governor as Chapter 246, 2026 Laws on 2026-03-30; it permits wagering on collegiate events involving Washington post-secondary institutions at tribal facilities and bars prop bets on those athletes, amending RCW 9.46.0368 while KEEPING the physical-presence requirement (https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6137&Year=2026&Initiative=False). Its companion HB 2205 was 'Returned to Rules Committee for second reading. House Rules X file.' on 2026-02-19.