Editorial Policy

Betting content has a fabrication problem. Legality rules, launch dates, and dollar figures change constantly, and confident-sounding wrong answers are everywhere. This page describes the rules we use to not add to that pile.

Sourcing rules

• Regulators outrank everyone. For legality and licensing claims, we cite state gaming commissions, wagering councils, court records, and statutes first.
• Named reporting over aggregation. Where regulators are silent, we cite named journalism (AP, state outlets, trade press) rather than other affiliate sites.
• Every state page lists its sources. If a claim matters, you can follow it out of our site.

The "Last verified" system

Every guide carries a ✓ Last verified: date chip. That date means a human re-checked the page's load-bearing facts (legal status, operator lists, ages, restrictions) against primary sources on that day. State law moves fast; if the chip is more than a few months old, treat the page as historical until we re-verify it.

What happens when we can't verify something

We don't publish our best guess dressed up as a fact. A claim we cannot trace to a source either gets softened to what we can defend, attributed to whoever said it, or cut. Numbers are the strictest case: an exact figure appears only when a source backs it.

AI assistance disclosure

We use AI tools for research assistance and drafting speed. Every published page passes human review for factual accuracy against primary sources, and the verification rules above apply to every sentence regardless of who or what typed it first. AI never publishes here unreviewed.

Affiliate money

BetDecoded may earn referral commissions from licensed, state-regulated sportsbooks in the future. Two commitments if that happens: commissions will never change a legality fact or a ranking, and pages with affiliate links will say so at the top. We will never take money from offshore or unlicensed operators.

Corrections

Found an error? Email [email protected]. Material errors get fixed in the text and noted at the bottom of the page; the "Last verified" date resets with every correction pass.