Your Super Bowl office pool is technically illegal in RI. Not if this lawmaker can help it.
The Vince Lombardi Trophy is framed by the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots helmets during opening night of Super Bowl LX at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center on Monday, February 2, 2026, in San Jose, Calif. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
For the eighth year in a row, a Rhode Island lawmaker is proposing to allow small bets between friends and colleagues without risking potential fines and jail time.
THE legislation sponsored by Rep. William O’Brien, a Democrat from North Providence, received a three-minute hearing just over a week before the New England Patriots faced the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60.
Sports betting has been legal in Rhode Island since 2018. But small, unregulated bets like Super Bowl bets and office pools have been banned under state law since Dwight Eisenhower was in the White House and even before the Patriots were a franchise in the now-defunct American Football League.
“With the legalization of sports betting proving very successful for the state, now is the time to also legalize any office pool or good-natured betting between friends and family,” O’Brien said in a statement from January 30one day after House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on his bill “This is a reasonable and practical bill that fixes this problem in state law that can technically make someone’s grandmother or uncle a felon during the Super Bowl or March Madness.”
Rep. William W. O’Brien, a Democrat from North Providence, is seeking to decriminalize small bets between friends and colleagues. (Photo by Rhode Island House of Representatives)
Below existing lawIt is a crime to organize, promote, operate or assist in any lottery or game of chance – public or private – involving money or valuables, unless authorized by the State. Violators face up to two years in prison and a $2,000 fine.
State Law also makes it a crime to operate, permit, or assist in any gaming operation in Rhode Island. Violators are considered “ordinary gamblers” and face up to two years in prison and fines of up to $5,000.
Both laws were last enacted in 1956.
O’Brien, who is the deputy majority leader in the House, first proposed decriminalizing social gaming in 2018, while other lawmakers have introduced similar proposals since 2016. His bill would create an exemption for social gaming from state gaming bans.
The bill further establishes that no one other than the participants benefits from social betting.
O’Brien’s bill was held up for further study by the Judiciary Committee, as is the norm for an initial review of legislation. No witnesses appeared in person before the panel to testify, but Rhode Island Lottery Director Marc Furcolo submitted a letter of objection.
Allowing private parties to operate a lottery — even on a friendly, small-scale level — is prohibited by the Rhode Island Constitution, Furcolo wrote. Under Section 22 of the state Constitution, gambling expansion must be approved by voters in a statewide referendum.
“This ban on private lotteries ensures that revenue from all such games is collected and used by the public,” he wrote.
O’Brien told lawmakers he met with Furcolo before the bill hearing to explain that it would not be a drastic change to the state’s gambling law. “I think he was a little confused,” O’Brien said.
The meeting does not appear to have influenced Furcolo’s position.
“The letter stands on its own,” Paul Grimaldi, a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Lottery, said in an email to the Rhode Island Current.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Rhode Island submitted his own letter supporting O’Brien’s legislation, arguing that gamblers should not have to risk a possible felony charge when gambling is now officially condoned and run by the state.
“Hanging the threat of criminal conviction over the heads of individuals for behavior that is in no way physically or otherwise harmful to others, and that is regularly practiced by a large portion of the population, can only breed a lack of respect for the law,” the ACLU letter states. “Having the Legislature taking action to exempt specific acts like these, which are currently illegal but do not harm the community, is a positive trend in thwarting the state-to-prison pipeline.”
Patrick Kelly, an accounting professor at Providence College who studies gambling, also doesn’t see much harm in decriminalizing small bets between friends and colleagues.
“Nobody bets thousands of dollars on an office pool,” he said.
Kelly is more concerned about the continued proliferation of online betting sites. At the moment, bettors only have one option: the Sportsbook RI app run by International Game Technology. But gambling regulators are looking to get a second provider up and running by the end of November.
Kelly described online sites as a “silent addiction.”
“Someone may have a gambling problem and, because it’s on their phone, their family members may not even know,” he said. “If it’s a family matter, a social matter, there are other people who know about it.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with gambling problems, contact Problem Gambling Servicescan be reached 24/7 at (401) 499-2472.
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