Is There Any Gambling In Nashville Tennessee

[toc]Tennessee is one of the more conservative states when it comes to gambling. There is a state lottery and daily fantasy sports (DFS), but no racetracks and no casinos.

• Is There Any Gambling In Nashville Tn
• Is There Any Casinos In Nashville Tennessee
• Is There A Gambling Casino In Nashville Tennessee
• Is There Legal Gambling In Nashville Tennessee
• Is There Gambling In Nashville Tennessee

That could change thanks to a new bill introduced by five Democratic state representatives.

Nashville residents are only a two hour drive from the famous Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky, that hosts the Kentucky Derby every year, and there are other top racetracks within driving distance as well, but it’s not currently possible to stay in the State of Tennessee and gamble at either a casino or a race track. Tennessee is less than a month away from launching its online sports gambling platform, and sports betting experts from across the nation are keeping a close eye on the state's fledgling industry. Reviews on Gambling Casinos in Nashville, TN - Music City Casinos, Kentucky Downs, Oak Grove Racing, Gaming, & Hotel.

New casino bill called HJR 0109

The bill is known as House Joint Resolution 109.

It is a relatively short bill with a singular action, which is to replace language in the law offering state lotteries with new language which would allow for casino and games of chance in the state.

Tennessee began offering a lottery in 2003.

For years, Tennessee has been surrounded by states offering casinos. Tunica, Mississippi and Harrah’s Cherokee are just a couple of the gaming venues a short drive from the Tennessee border.

The resolution does not propose a framework or offer locations where casinos might be located. It is not the only state with minimal gambling considering expansion this year.

Hawaiirecently introduced legislation to possibly offer online gambling. A state senator in New Hampshirerecently re-introduced his proposal to allow casinos in the state as well.

State passed DFS legislation last year

In April of last year, Tennessee became the third state to explicitly legalize and regulate DFS. The law was somewhat surprising given that the attorney general of Tennessee wrote an opinion on DFS stating he interpreted it to be illegal.

The regulations also stipulated for a relatively low six percent taxation and no substantial licensing fee.

Tennessee tourism is booming

Tennessee tourism is a growing industry. The state generated $18 billion in 2015. Thanks to that revenue, $1.6 billion of that money went to the state in the form of taxes.

Compared to 2014, the 2015 numbers saw overall revenue grow by five percent and tax revenue grow by five percent.

The state’s two major cities, Nashville and Memphis, are both considered national music destinations. Artists Dolly Parton and Elvis Presley each built their own cottage industries within the state.

Attractions like the Smokey Mountains also bring people to the state.

The tourism stats indicate Nashville is the biggest destination in the state in addition to the most populous area. The nearest casino to Nashville is actually two states away.

Those seeking gambling need to drive over two hours across Kentucky into Illinois to get to the relatively small Metropolis, IL casinos.

Memphis is located less than an hour from Tunica, MS. That casino destination has struggled in recent years. Harrah’s Casino closed its doors in June of 2014. The area currently has a 30 percent poverty rate.

Casinos are failing to draw in as much money as in previous years and the structure of the taxation revenue stream has beencriticized for not directing enough funds towards social programs in the area.

It is unclear if the state would locate the casinos in proximity to the major cities or locate them in an area with a larger tourism influence like Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg.

Image credit: Nagel Photography / Shutterstock, Inc.

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.

Is There Any Gambling In Nashville Tn

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.

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:

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.

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).

Is There Any Casinos In Nashville Tennessee

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.

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).

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.”

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).

Is There A Gambling Casino In Nashville 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.

Is There Legal Gambling In Nashville Tennessee

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.

Is There Gambling In Nashville Tennessee

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