Governor Jay Inslee signed the sports betting bill into law on March 25th, making Washington the first state to legalize sports gambling in 2020. However, the law was struckk down by the Supreme Court in 2018 and began what has become a revolution in sports gambling laws across the United States. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) became law in 1992, rendering sports betting illegal in most parts of the USA, including Washington. Pool boxes were made legal in 1973, allowing operators to offer odds on specific sporting events with wagers no more than $1. Punters could place wagers on any of the authorized racetracks and OTB locations.įor a long time, the 10 square sports betting pool box and pari mutuel were the only options available to sports punters.
Although horse racing is managed separately and never considered as sports gambling, legalizing pari mutuel wagers opened doors for more gambling activity in the state. 1933 was the year that Washington made moves to legalize pari mutuel wagering on horse races.
