Predict, propose, tally & settle bets like you're betting from a bar stool at your local sports bar. Find out why thousands of casual and hardcore bettors trust WagerLab as their #1 app for. Mobile sports betting is available at nearly all of the best online sportsbooks, compatible with both iOS and Android devices. While some online bookies offer apps, others offer mobile responsive.
Mobile sports betting is available at nearly all of the best online sportsbooks, compatible with both iOS and Android devices. While some online bookies offer apps, others offer mobile responsive websites.
Below is our #1 rated mobile sportsbook for U.S. residents.
Best Sports Betting Apps Heading into 2020
Get your app!
#1 for USA: Bovada Sportsbook
Bovada offers sports betting apps for Apple iOS and Android based smartphones & tablets. They also offer an ever-changing list of deposit bonuses for new customers, plus a variety of special promotions. Some of these promotions include free bets, special contests and reload bonuses. Other bonuses and promotions for the Bovada Casino and Poker room are also available.
As is typical for most online/mobile sportsbooks, a new year generally means a new selection of bonuses and promotions. Plus, NFL playoff season will be upon us, which also means new promotions, betting contests etc.. Once 2020 gets here we will check the Bovada website and show you everything that is new.
The signup process for mobile sports betting has become very simple in recent years. It used to be easier to sign up on your computer, but now all of the best bookies offer a simplified signup process for mobile users. It's also easier to make deposits and withdrawals. Credit & debit cards, bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies), bank wire, and a variety of online wallets are available at most sportsbooks.
Sports Betting on Apple iOS and Android Devices
Apple iOS
Modern sports betting apps and mobile responsive websites make it simple to bet from nearly any device, but the large display screens on newer smartphones make it ideal for viewing odds. The benefits of a larger screen are exposed when viewing odds in small font sizes, and on sites or apps which display multiple bets in a single row, i.e. moneyline, point spread, and over/under – where there is a lot of information located within a small geographical area.
Of course it's largely about the design of live odds feeds, but stating the obvious here – the larger the screen, the easier they are to view.
Smaller devices like the old Apple 4S are ‘fine', but for anyone who takes their sports betting seriously, we recommend upgrading to a newer, larger screen size. Although you can go bigger, anything equal to or larger than the Apple iPhone 6 (5.43″ x 2.63″) is sufficient for most people. This would include any iPhone since the 6 model.
For an even better experience, we suggest models as big or bigger than the 6S Plus (6.22″ x 3.06″). Other iPhone models in the same size range would include the 7 Plus, 8 Plus, XS Max, and 11 Pro Max.
Since any Apple iPad is large enough for a good sports betting experience, when making a purchase, we recommend that you primarily consider your other uses for it.
For more information about using an iPhone for sports betting, check out our iPhone Sports Betting page.
Android
There are so many different Android smartphones and tablets on the market in 2020 (and constantly changing) that we will not recommend any specific models. Rather, we'll stick to what we said above about the size of the device being key. Once again, anything in the range of 5.5″ x 2.6″ range will be sufficient, but we recommend devices in the 6″ x 2.9″ or larger range for an optimal experience.
At this size, screen resolution doesn't make a lot of difference for viewing text. Essentially any Android model in this size range, made within the last few years, will do just fine.
Visit our Android sports betting page for more information.
Live Betting on Mobile Devices
Want to bet on the next play while you sit in the stands and watch the game in person? Or while you watch it with friends, live on TV? You can do that now. Live betting might be the most fun way to bet on sports, and this is the reason this niche is growing so quickly.
With live betting, punters can choose from a variety of bets on individual plays. If you're at a basketball, football, soccer, or baseball game, you can bet on what is going to happen 30 seconds from now. With minimum bets as low as $1, a small amount of money can make any game fun.
Live betting has become so popular that most online sportsbooks now offer it directly on their iOS and Android betting apps. It can also be accessed through mobile responsive websites.
Best NFL Football Betting Apps for 2020
NFL football generates more mobile wagers than any other sport in the United States. Because of this, any U.S. friendly online sportsbook that offers mobile betting will offer NFL football.
Heading into 2020, MSB recommends the Bovada sportsbook for bettors in the United States. Although their vig can be a bit higher for props, straight bets are all industry standard. For us, the difference is that we trust Bovada. We've been betting here (or at their predecessor Bodog) since 2003, without a single issue. At the very least, any serious bettor should be comparing odds here.
Every mobile betting site offers the typical moneyline, point spread, and over/under (total) bets for NFL football. On top of that, most bookies allow bettors to buy points, and make bets on hundreds of props. Beyond that, parlays, futures and live betting are incredibly popular as well.
During the Super Bowl, standard NFL betting options are just the beginning. Bettors can wager on literally hundreds, if not thousands of crazy props that are not available during regular NFL season games. Expect the 2020 Super Bowl to offer more prop bets than ever before.
Nearly every mobile bookmaker in Europe, Asia, South America, Canada, Australia etc., offers NFL betting as well.
NBA & NCAA Basketball Betting Apps
Every U.S. friendly mobile betting site offers NBA and NCAA college basketball. Same as NFL and college football, every online bookie offers point spread, moneyline, and over/under bets. And again, bettors can buy points, bet on futures, props, parlays, teasers, you name it. And of course, live betting is very popular as well.
For NCAA college basketball, March Madness is like no other. Sports betting sites offer NCAA bracket tournaments with massive prizes, along with a huge variety of props and futures. Even if you aren't into college basketball, this is one of the most fun times of the year for people who like to bet on sports. For 2020 March Madness, expect the list of props & special promos to continue to expand.
For bettors living in America, we recommend Bovada.lv for mobile NBA & NCAA basketball betting. Their app offers live betting for a large number of NBA and NCAA basketball games each week as well.
Mobile Football Betting (Soccer)
Bovada was one of the first online betting sites to recognize the growing market of mobile sports betting, and as a result, they've become one of the leaders in the industry. They've also made a huge step forward in the live betting area, now with hundreds of games/matches within all of the most popular sports offered every week. They have live, mobile betting for football, cricket, rugby, tennis, F1, UFC/MMA, golf & more. We rank their live betting options #1 in the entire industry right now.
Cricket Betting Apps
As another huge international sport, of course mobile cricket betting is becoming very popular. All of the biggest cricket leagues around the world can be bet on from your smartphone. Of course the IPL (Indian Premier League) T20 league is the biggest, and every online betting site that offers mobile cricket betting offers odds for the IPL.
Mobile Horse Racing Bets
There are literally hundreds of horse racing tracks around the world that punters can bet on. Some of the biggest online bookies in 2020 offer horse racing for international tracks, but most focus on tracks located in the areas that their customer base resides in. For example, a bookie that markets most heavily to Australian gamblers will likely offer all of the Aussie tracks, with fewer international tracks. A bookmaker who focuses mostly on the UK market will offer more tracks in that area.
With that said, Bovada.lv probably has the largest selection of tracks right now. They have all of the most popular UK and European tracks, along with tracks in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, and other parts of the world as well.
Is Online/Mobile Sports Betting Legal in the United States?
First off, we at MobileSportsBetting.com are not attorneys or legal experts. The information below is simply a general portrait of the legal landscape in the US as it pertains to sports betting – to the best of our understanding. It should not be taken as fact and anyone interested in sports betting should research their own local laws before placing any wagers.
While there is no longer a federal ban on sports betting (as of May 2018), it is now up to each state to adopt their own laws. Several states have officially legalized sports betting (and are accepting bets), while others are in various stages of legalization. For example, in Colorado, a bill to legalize sports betting passed in 2019, but wagers are not yet being accepted. It makes sense that any state which legalizes online sports betting will need time to develop necessary infrastructure before the public can place wagers.
In 2020 and 2021, many states are expected to pass bills which will legalize sports betting. Certainly others will pass laws making it illegal as well. Looking at the US as a whole, this will be a constantly evolving situation for several years ahead of us.
There is a big grey area as well – and this is where things get more complicated. Simply stating a well-known fact here, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of US citizens have been betting on sports at online sportsbooks for over 20 years now. We've heard about a couple of people in Washington state which have faced prosecution, but that's about it. There are a number of online sportsbooks, concerned about legal repercussions, who left the US market within the last 10+ years – but these are the organizations accepting the wagers, not people who are placing them.
Once again, none of the above should be accepted as fact, it is simply our observation. Once again, always check your own local laws before placing wagers at online and/or mobile sportsbooks.
What are the Best Mobile Gambling Sites & Apps for Me?
Many of the mobile gambling sites listed above offer more than just sports betting. Some are exclusively for sports, but others offer poker, casino (slots, blackjack, craps, roulette, video poker, baccarat, 3 card poker) bingo, keno, scratch cards, dice, and other types of games. As mobile gambling becomes more popular, most sites are adding new games all the time. If you're looking to download a sports betting app, visit the site first to see if they offer the other games you're interested in.
Like every year, 2019 meant a lot of expansion in the industry. Every online gambling site knows they need to offer as many games as possible in order to keep their customer base playing there. Heading into 2020 we'l continue to see this, which is great for people who prefer to do all of their gambling at one site (or on one app).
2020 is going to be big for MobileSportsBetting.com as well, as we have all sorts of new features coming to the site – along with a new theme. Hope to see you again soon!
[toc]With football season quickly approaching, sports gaming apps are queuing up once again for fans' second-screen attention.
In-game options for consumer engagement won't just stop at daily fantasy sports products offered by the likes of DraftKings and FanDuel.
They'll also include games like the Chicago-based app Bait, which aims to offer viewers and fans something closer to a traditional wagering experience.
How it works
Bait is a sports betting platform for iOS that will allow users to bet on spreads of games across a variety of sports. It syncs with your phone's contacts, identifying other Bait users who might want to take the opposite side of a bet.
For example, say you're a Carolina Panthers fan who thinks your team will cover the minus-3 spread against the Denver Broncos in the season's opening game, you can make this wager (Bait uses lines from Vegas sportsbooks). You can challenge your buddy to bet the opposite side, that the Broncos will either win or lose by fewer than three points.
As ChicagoInnonotes, Bait wants to provide users with not only a legal betting alternative to DFS, but one that customers feel comfortable engaging in.
It avoids pitting bettors against strangers over the internet, and it steers clear of any sort of unregulated, offshore sportsbook. Furthermore, an app purchasable from recognizable online retailers like the Apple Store could lend an air of legitimacy to the product.
The app is still in beta. Bait founder Ian Peacock said he expects the app to release during the NFL preseason, which begins with the Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 7.
Friends go further
By pairing two bettors up on opposite sides of a bet, Bait functions similar to a betting exchange, likeBetfair, except users who are paired up to bet ostensibly already know one another.
Pairing acquaintances to make bets could go a long way toward furthering this level of comfort, and not just out of a sense of familiarity.
After an underlying game is completed, the app directs users to each other's Venmo accounts in order to settle up, while offering a unique twist: Losing bettors don't have to pay up.
If this sounds like a platform rife for abuse and unpaid winnings, there are a few details to consider:
- First, a person could be more likely to pay out in a bet with someone they know as opposed to an anonymous name on the Internet.
- Second, there will be some measure of transparency with Bait. How do you know if your buddy reneges all the time on bets? All users will have a rating that notes when they don't pay up.
- Third, by eliminating the obligation to pay up, Peacock says the site eliminates users from having to take a risk. Without risk, he says, there is no gambling consideration.
Ads are the new vig
There is another key difference, however, between Bait and a traditional betting exchange. The app doesn't take a cut, or 'vigorish,' that a bookmaker traditionally takes.
According to ChicagoInno, the site will use advertisements to make money instead of monetizing through vig.
While this is an interesting idea, it could prove challenging to pull off.
Research firms estimate mobile advertising click-through rates are generally better for in-app ads than for mobile web ads. Jupiter Research projects nearly $17 billion will be spent on in-app advertising in 2018, up from less than $4 billion in 2013.
Those percentages and revenue figures won't mean much for Bait, however, if it can't scale its user base.
Expanding through the tree-map of users' cell phone contacts is a good start, but that type of exponential expansion can take time, consistency in the marketplace, and can be dependent on a positive user experience.
One app with a similar model is that of WinView Games. It also targets the friend-to-friend betting space and is also fueled by ad revenue. But WinView offers live, in-play prop selections (e.g. 'Will Cam Newton throw at least 3 touchdowns today?') as opposed to spread wagers, and uses its own virtual dollars system rather than real money. It received $3.4 million in venture funding earlier this year.
Modern sports betting apps and mobile responsive websites make it simple to bet from nearly any device, but the large display screens on newer smartphones make it ideal for viewing odds. The benefits of a larger screen are exposed when viewing odds in small font sizes, and on sites or apps which display multiple bets in a single row, i.e. moneyline, point spread, and over/under – where there is a lot of information located within a small geographical area.
Of course it's largely about the design of live odds feeds, but stating the obvious here – the larger the screen, the easier they are to view.
Smaller devices like the old Apple 4S are ‘fine', but for anyone who takes their sports betting seriously, we recommend upgrading to a newer, larger screen size. Although you can go bigger, anything equal to or larger than the Apple iPhone 6 (5.43″ x 2.63″) is sufficient for most people. This would include any iPhone since the 6 model.
For an even better experience, we suggest models as big or bigger than the 6S Plus (6.22″ x 3.06″). Other iPhone models in the same size range would include the 7 Plus, 8 Plus, XS Max, and 11 Pro Max.
Since any Apple iPad is large enough for a good sports betting experience, when making a purchase, we recommend that you primarily consider your other uses for it.
For more information about using an iPhone for sports betting, check out our iPhone Sports Betting page.
Android
There are so many different Android smartphones and tablets on the market in 2020 (and constantly changing) that we will not recommend any specific models. Rather, we'll stick to what we said above about the size of the device being key. Once again, anything in the range of 5.5″ x 2.6″ range will be sufficient, but we recommend devices in the 6″ x 2.9″ or larger range for an optimal experience.
At this size, screen resolution doesn't make a lot of difference for viewing text. Essentially any Android model in this size range, made within the last few years, will do just fine.
Visit our Android sports betting page for more information.
Live Betting on Mobile Devices
Want to bet on the next play while you sit in the stands and watch the game in person? Or while you watch it with friends, live on TV? You can do that now. Live betting might be the most fun way to bet on sports, and this is the reason this niche is growing so quickly.
With live betting, punters can choose from a variety of bets on individual plays. If you're at a basketball, football, soccer, or baseball game, you can bet on what is going to happen 30 seconds from now. With minimum bets as low as $1, a small amount of money can make any game fun.
Live betting has become so popular that most online sportsbooks now offer it directly on their iOS and Android betting apps. It can also be accessed through mobile responsive websites.
Best NFL Football Betting Apps for 2020
NFL football generates more mobile wagers than any other sport in the United States. Because of this, any U.S. friendly online sportsbook that offers mobile betting will offer NFL football.
Heading into 2020, MSB recommends the Bovada sportsbook for bettors in the United States. Although their vig can be a bit higher for props, straight bets are all industry standard. For us, the difference is that we trust Bovada. We've been betting here (or at their predecessor Bodog) since 2003, without a single issue. At the very least, any serious bettor should be comparing odds here.
Every mobile betting site offers the typical moneyline, point spread, and over/under (total) bets for NFL football. On top of that, most bookies allow bettors to buy points, and make bets on hundreds of props. Beyond that, parlays, futures and live betting are incredibly popular as well.
During the Super Bowl, standard NFL betting options are just the beginning. Bettors can wager on literally hundreds, if not thousands of crazy props that are not available during regular NFL season games. Expect the 2020 Super Bowl to offer more prop bets than ever before.
Nearly every mobile bookmaker in Europe, Asia, South America, Canada, Australia etc., offers NFL betting as well.
NBA & NCAA Basketball Betting Apps
Every U.S. friendly mobile betting site offers NBA and NCAA college basketball. Same as NFL and college football, every online bookie offers point spread, moneyline, and over/under bets. And again, bettors can buy points, bet on futures, props, parlays, teasers, you name it. And of course, live betting is very popular as well.
For NCAA college basketball, March Madness is like no other. Sports betting sites offer NCAA bracket tournaments with massive prizes, along with a huge variety of props and futures. Even if you aren't into college basketball, this is one of the most fun times of the year for people who like to bet on sports. For 2020 March Madness, expect the list of props & special promos to continue to expand.
For bettors living in America, we recommend Bovada.lv for mobile NBA & NCAA basketball betting. Their app offers live betting for a large number of NBA and NCAA basketball games each week as well.
Mobile Football Betting (Soccer)
Bovada was one of the first online betting sites to recognize the growing market of mobile sports betting, and as a result, they've become one of the leaders in the industry. They've also made a huge step forward in the live betting area, now with hundreds of games/matches within all of the most popular sports offered every week. They have live, mobile betting for football, cricket, rugby, tennis, F1, UFC/MMA, golf & more. We rank their live betting options #1 in the entire industry right now.
Cricket Betting Apps
As another huge international sport, of course mobile cricket betting is becoming very popular. All of the biggest cricket leagues around the world can be bet on from your smartphone. Of course the IPL (Indian Premier League) T20 league is the biggest, and every online betting site that offers mobile cricket betting offers odds for the IPL.
Mobile Horse Racing Bets
There are literally hundreds of horse racing tracks around the world that punters can bet on. Some of the biggest online bookies in 2020 offer horse racing for international tracks, but most focus on tracks located in the areas that their customer base resides in. For example, a bookie that markets most heavily to Australian gamblers will likely offer all of the Aussie tracks, with fewer international tracks. A bookmaker who focuses mostly on the UK market will offer more tracks in that area.
With that said, Bovada.lv probably has the largest selection of tracks right now. They have all of the most popular UK and European tracks, along with tracks in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, and other parts of the world as well.
Is Online/Mobile Sports Betting Legal in the United States?
First off, we at MobileSportsBetting.com are not attorneys or legal experts. The information below is simply a general portrait of the legal landscape in the US as it pertains to sports betting – to the best of our understanding. It should not be taken as fact and anyone interested in sports betting should research their own local laws before placing any wagers.
While there is no longer a federal ban on sports betting (as of May 2018), it is now up to each state to adopt their own laws. Several states have officially legalized sports betting (and are accepting bets), while others are in various stages of legalization. For example, in Colorado, a bill to legalize sports betting passed in 2019, but wagers are not yet being accepted. It makes sense that any state which legalizes online sports betting will need time to develop necessary infrastructure before the public can place wagers.
In 2020 and 2021, many states are expected to pass bills which will legalize sports betting. Certainly others will pass laws making it illegal as well. Looking at the US as a whole, this will be a constantly evolving situation for several years ahead of us.
There is a big grey area as well – and this is where things get more complicated. Simply stating a well-known fact here, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of US citizens have been betting on sports at online sportsbooks for over 20 years now. We've heard about a couple of people in Washington state which have faced prosecution, but that's about it. There are a number of online sportsbooks, concerned about legal repercussions, who left the US market within the last 10+ years – but these are the organizations accepting the wagers, not people who are placing them.
Once again, none of the above should be accepted as fact, it is simply our observation. Once again, always check your own local laws before placing wagers at online and/or mobile sportsbooks.
What are the Best Mobile Gambling Sites & Apps for Me?
Many of the mobile gambling sites listed above offer more than just sports betting. Some are exclusively for sports, but others offer poker, casino (slots, blackjack, craps, roulette, video poker, baccarat, 3 card poker) bingo, keno, scratch cards, dice, and other types of games. As mobile gambling becomes more popular, most sites are adding new games all the time. If you're looking to download a sports betting app, visit the site first to see if they offer the other games you're interested in.
Like every year, 2019 meant a lot of expansion in the industry. Every online gambling site knows they need to offer as many games as possible in order to keep their customer base playing there. Heading into 2020 we'l continue to see this, which is great for people who prefer to do all of their gambling at one site (or on one app).
2020 is going to be big for MobileSportsBetting.com as well, as we have all sorts of new features coming to the site – along with a new theme. Hope to see you again soon!
[toc]With football season quickly approaching, sports gaming apps are queuing up once again for fans' second-screen attention.
In-game options for consumer engagement won't just stop at daily fantasy sports products offered by the likes of DraftKings and FanDuel.
They'll also include games like the Chicago-based app Bait, which aims to offer viewers and fans something closer to a traditional wagering experience.
How it works
Bait is a sports betting platform for iOS that will allow users to bet on spreads of games across a variety of sports. It syncs with your phone's contacts, identifying other Bait users who might want to take the opposite side of a bet.
For example, say you're a Carolina Panthers fan who thinks your team will cover the minus-3 spread against the Denver Broncos in the season's opening game, you can make this wager (Bait uses lines from Vegas sportsbooks). You can challenge your buddy to bet the opposite side, that the Broncos will either win or lose by fewer than three points.
As ChicagoInnonotes, Bait wants to provide users with not only a legal betting alternative to DFS, but one that customers feel comfortable engaging in.
It avoids pitting bettors against strangers over the internet, and it steers clear of any sort of unregulated, offshore sportsbook. Furthermore, an app purchasable from recognizable online retailers like the Apple Store could lend an air of legitimacy to the product.
The app is still in beta. Bait founder Ian Peacock said he expects the app to release during the NFL preseason, which begins with the Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 7.
Friends go further
By pairing two bettors up on opposite sides of a bet, Bait functions similar to a betting exchange, likeBetfair, except users who are paired up to bet ostensibly already know one another.
Pairing acquaintances to make bets could go a long way toward furthering this level of comfort, and not just out of a sense of familiarity.
After an underlying game is completed, the app directs users to each other's Venmo accounts in order to settle up, while offering a unique twist: Losing bettors don't have to pay up.
If this sounds like a platform rife for abuse and unpaid winnings, there are a few details to consider:
- First, a person could be more likely to pay out in a bet with someone they know as opposed to an anonymous name on the Internet.
- Second, there will be some measure of transparency with Bait. How do you know if your buddy reneges all the time on bets? All users will have a rating that notes when they don't pay up.
- Third, by eliminating the obligation to pay up, Peacock says the site eliminates users from having to take a risk. Without risk, he says, there is no gambling consideration.
Ads are the new vig
There is another key difference, however, between Bait and a traditional betting exchange. The app doesn't take a cut, or 'vigorish,' that a bookmaker traditionally takes.
According to ChicagoInno, the site will use advertisements to make money instead of monetizing through vig.
While this is an interesting idea, it could prove challenging to pull off.
Research firms estimate mobile advertising click-through rates are generally better for in-app ads than for mobile web ads. Jupiter Research projects nearly $17 billion will be spent on in-app advertising in 2018, up from less than $4 billion in 2013.
Those percentages and revenue figures won't mean much for Bait, however, if it can't scale its user base.
Expanding through the tree-map of users' cell phone contacts is a good start, but that type of exponential expansion can take time, consistency in the marketplace, and can be dependent on a positive user experience.
One app with a similar model is that of WinView Games. It also targets the friend-to-friend betting space and is also fueled by ad revenue. But WinView offers live, in-play prop selections (e.g. 'Will Cam Newton throw at least 3 touchdowns today?') as opposed to spread wagers, and uses its own virtual dollars system rather than real money. It received $3.4 million in venture funding earlier this year.
Peacock says that while Bait is entirely self-funded so far, it is in the process of raising money.
Illinois gaming landscape
Is There An App To Bet On Sports
Attorney General Lisa Madigan made (perhaps overlooked) headlines late last year, when just hours before Christmas Day she opined that FanDuel and DraftKings illegal gambling sites.
Those parties have been in a court battle ever since, and the gaming landscape for operators in Illinois hasat times felt uncertain.
Bait, though, is not a daily fantasy sports product. It is a sports betting product — one where the 'book' doesn't take a cut and wagers may or may not be paid out.
So does that make it legal?
Section 28-1(a) of the state's criminal code lists (among many others) three such violations of wagering that theoretically could pertain to the game:
'A person commits gambling when he or she: (1) knowingly plays a game of chance or skill for moneyor other thing of value, unless excepted in subsection (b) of this Section; (2) knowingly makes a wager upon the result of any game, contest, or any political nomination, appointment or election;…. (5) knowingly owns or possesses any book, instrument or apparatus by means of which bets or wagers have been, or are, recorded or registered, or knowingly possesses any money which he has received in the course of a bet or wager.'
One of the many exemptions to subsection A, however, are 'games of skill or chance where money or other things of value can be won but no payment or purchase is required to participate.'
Peacock says this exemption ensures Bait's legality.
To book make, or not to book make
Illinois defines bookmaking as follows:
'A person engages in bookmaking when he or she knowingly receives or accepts more than five bets or wagers upon the result of any trials or contests of skill, speed or power of endurance or upon any lot, chance, casualty, unknown or contingent event whatsoever, which bets or wagers shall be of such size that the total of the amounts of money paid or promised to be paid to the bookmaker on account thereof shall exceed $2,000. Bookmaking is the receiving or accepting of bets or wagers regardless of the form or manner in which the bookmaker records them.'
Bait, it would appear, does not accept or receive wagers. Its software allows two potential bettors to connect. Bait provides the lines, sourcing Las Vegas sportsbooks.
Similar logic, however, did not stop one state supreme court from finding a similar company guilty of bookmaking.
A Washington state-based exchange that also allowed bettors to opt out of bets was found in 2010 to be in violation of state betting law because it operated as a bookmaker. Peacock said the site, Betcha.com, served as inspiration for Bait.
The ruling came despite its lawyers' insistence that the pairing up of two bettors on a platform did not amount to 'accepting' bets.
Familiar federal triumvirate
The federal frameworks governing sports betting are all too familiar: PASPA, the Wire Act and UIEGA.
As one industry source noted, NFL attorney Paul Clement commented during oral arguments earlier this year in the New Jersey sports betting trial that, under the Professional And Amateur Sports Protection Act, which outlaws single-game wagering in all states but Nevada, casual bets between friends of up to $1,000 could potentially be legal.
The same industry source noted that the Wire Act, which prohibits the transmission of betting information across state lines,pertains not only to gambling, but often refers to bookmaking specifically. This reinforces the potential importance of a favorable interpretation of the state's bookmaking statute.
It's unclear if Bait, individual bettors, or others would be found in violation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which prohibits payment providers from knowingly accepting funds for unlawful gambling-related transactions.
Bettors on Bait will be prompted to facilitate payments through Venmo. Venmo is a subsidiary of PayPal, which for the past several years has tried its best to identify and stop all NCAA Tournament pool-related payments made using its service every March.
Tracking informal P2P betting
Of little doubt, however, is that betting between friends remains popular.
One in four Super Bowl viewers surveyed earlier this year by the Mellman Group said they'd placed a bet with a friend on a sporting event the past year. One in three said they had bet on the Super Bowl itself at some point.
Casual betting between friends, which likely comprises a significant portion of the $145 billion the American Gaming Associationestimates was wagered illegally in 2015, is also difficult to track. Bait could be among the first apps to help do so.
Even if regulators were to make a case that Bait violated state or federal law, they would likely only do so once the app gained significant exposure and took in sizable amounts of money on bets. That could be a ways off.
Regulators and attorneys general raised claims with DFS operators, for example, in 2015 — nearly a decade after the industry first formed.
Best Sports Betting Apps Usa
One thing remains certain: If Bait establishes itself in the mobile sports gaming space, it could be well-positioned in the event a forthcoming federal, sports betting legalization effort is successful.
