In this section USA Gambling Laws will cover the legal types of USA Gambling. There are many kinds of gambling that are sanctioned by the government. These are used to raise money for public needs without raising taxes. This encompasses everything from church ran bingo tournaments all the way to poker games with outcomes in the millions of dollars. Occasionally states market revenues from particular games to be dedicated to certain charities.

New Jersey's state lottery was introduced in 1963, and it opened the doors for major social policy reform. State governments had never operated gambling operations to raise money before. It did not take long for more states to copy them and offer some sort of lottery to raise money to finance state initiatives. Some states may utilize the services of marketing firms to increase revenues or change out old programs for new if they are not making enough money. This has raised some moral questions.

The American Gaming Association divides legal gambling down into these categories:

1. Public & Private Card Rooms
2. Legal bookmaking
3. Commercial Casinos
4. Charitable/Bingo Games
5. Native American Gambling Casinos
6. Lotteries
7. Pari-mutuel Betting

In 1979, the Seminole tribes started organized Bingo games on the reservations. This was the first Native American experience with organized gambling for profit. Traditionally, Native Americans have always loved to place bets on the outcome of informal sporting events and other activities. One example is the Iroquois, Ojibwas, and Menominees. They placed bets on snow snake games.[8] During the first 6 six years after commercial gambling among Native Americans, 75% - 80% of the 300 tribes that are federally recognized became involved.

Casinos on Native American Reservations and tribal land provide employment and generate income for the tribes and their governments. In 2006, there were 300 Native American Indian groups hosting gaming activities. Tribal gaming involves tribal, state, and federal governance. Native tribes need to use the proceeds from their gambling operations to improve economic conditions, fund government actions and provide for the welfare of their citizens. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 set up federal regulation on Indian gaming.

In classic lottery games, each contestant buys a ticket with a selection of numbers. Every set of numbers, or "play", is typically priced at $1. More than one ticket holder can purchase the same combination of numbers, so play isn't non-exclusive. After that, the lottery organization has a drawing of five to eight numbers. These usually range from ONE to FIFTY. They use a randomized automatic ball-tumbler machine.

Contestants need to have in their combinations of numbers the same numbers that are drawn in order to win. Any order may apply to the combination; however, in a few "mega ball" lotteries, the "mega" number for the combination is required to match the ball termed the "mega ball" in the winning combination. When there is more than one winner, they divide the winnings, also referred to as the "Jackpot". Now, winnings are subject to federal income taxes as standard income. Depending on the individual rules of the lottery, any winnings can be dispersed as an annuity each year or in one lump sum.

The majority of state-sponsored are multiple state lotteries. Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming are the only states that have no lottery tickets that they sell. Many of the states that do sell lottery tickets allocate a portion of the funds to important state issues such as education. A few states have a general account for the lottery revenue.

Because of the higher quantity of tickets sold, multi-jurisdictional lotteries usually have bigger jackpots. The largest lotteries as measured by the total number of participating states are the Mega Millions and Powerball games.

A few state lotteries have alternative games to lotteries. Typically, they are in a scratchcard style, but a few state use pull-tab games. Regardless of format, the cards that can be purchased have opaque sections. Some games require all the opaque material to be removed in order to see whether it is a winner and if it is exactly how much was won. Some scratchcard games require a player to choose areas to scratch to match symbols or dollar amounts to receive a prize.

Some states benefit from gambling such as Florida. Florida uses scratchcard lottery games to fund education within its state and has already put billions into its educational system since the 80's. Other states have followed Florida's lead by creating a state lottery to fund various oragnizations within their states.

In the end states that support and use lottery will benefit from legal gambling in more ways than states that choose not to.