Nevada court blocks Polymarket event contracts ahead of Feb. 11 hearing

Nevada’s gaming regulator is trying to pull prediction markets back under state control, and a state court just gave it early leverage.

A judge in Carson City issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) that blocks Blockratize, the entity behind Polymarket, from offering event-based contracts to Nevada residents. The TRO runs for two weeks and sets up a February 11 hearing on whether the court will grant a longer preliminary injunction. 

The case is being pushed by the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB), which filed a civil enforcement action seeking a declaration and injunction to stop what it describes as unlicensed wagering offered through Polymarkets mobile app. In its filings, the board argues that sports event contracts and certain other event contracts fall within the states wagering definitions and require state licensing. 

Judge Jason Woodbury sided with the regulator on a key threshold issue. The order says the Commodity Exchange Act does not vest exclusive jurisdiction over Polymarkets contracts with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, undercutting the argument that federal derivatives oversight automatically displaces state gaming laws. The judge also wrote that evasion of Nevadas licensing structure creates harm that is immediate, irreparable, and not adequately fixed through money damages. 

The court pointed to practical enforcement concerns that state regulators typically cite in sports wagering disputes. Those include preventing wagers by people who could influence outcomes, screening underage users, and keeping unsuitable individuals out of the market. A legal analyst Daniel Wallach said Polymarket appears to have already stopped offering event contracts in Nevada.

The Nevada fight lands amid a broader squeeze on prediction markets. Regulators in multiple jurisdictions have challenged Polymarket access this month, and Tennessees Sports Wagering Council sent cease-and-desist letters to Polymarket, Kalshi, and Crypto.com over sports-related markets. 

There is also movement in Washington. Rep. Ritchie Torres and a group of House members introduced legislation that would bar federal officials and certain staff from trading prediction markets when they have material non-public information or the ability to influence outcomes.

For Polymarket and its rivals, the Nevada ruling is an immediate operational problem. It also previews a larger question the industry has been trying to avoid: whether event contracts tied to sports and politics can scale in the US without navigating state-by-state gaming frameworks.

Outside the US, regulators have been moving in the same direction. In January, Portugal’s gambling regulator SRIJ ordered Polymarket to stop operating and gave the platform 48 hours to block local access, citing a ban on political betting and the lack of a local license. The order followed a surge in presidential election wagering and echoes the “close-only” restrictions users have seen in other markets.