US Online Casinos in 2024
The current state of online casino play in the United States is extremely confusing and full of misconceptions for a lot of players. Because there are so many laws that have influenced online gambling and so many false claims by politicians and other figures, there's a thick layer of myth that surrounds the entire industry. We want to clear that up for players here so that there's a very clear idea of what the current state of online casino play is like in the United States.
What are the Federal Laws?
There are two relevant federal laws for online casino play. The first is the Wire Act that was passed in the 1960s to combat organized crime operations. This law made it illegal to accept sports bets over telephone lines, and a later court ruling had this include wagers placed over the Internet. However, the Department of Justice came out in 2011 to make it ultra clear that this law only applied to sports betting and no other forms of gambling.
The second law, and the one that's probably the most important at this point, is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. Known as the UIGEA for short, this law made it illegal for foreign companies to offer online gambling services in the United States without a license. The two problems with this is that the US does not have jurisdiction over foreign companies offering services online, and it scared banks into blocking a lot of transactions for legal forms of online gambling because of threats of major fees and penalties if they accidentally let an illegal transaction slip through the cracks.
To be clear on this, the bottom line is that no federal law makes it illegal to play in online casinos in the United States. With that having been said, some states do have laws that make it illegal including Washington State, which ridiculously has online casino play as the same level of felony as punching a child in the face.
Software Company Issues
The UIGEA law came out in October of 2006, and it offered a period of compliance before it went into effect. Several software vendors decided to be safe and pull out of the US market, and this included major names like Microgaming and Playtech. The main motivation for most of the companies that left the US is that they are publically traded in other countries, and not adhering to the UIGEA's prohibition on offering games without a license would get them in trouble with those stock exchanges.
However, many others have continued allowing their operators to accept players from the United States. The current list of US-friendly online casino software developers includes Realtime Gaming (RTG), WGS, Slotland, Rival Gaming, Saucify (previously BetOnSoft), Nucleus Gaming, Arrows Edge, BetSoft and Vista Gaming.
What are the banking options for US Players?
For players in the United States, the single most-reliable way to make deposits and withdrawals is probably a pre-paid debit card or credit card such as Visa or Mastercard. Visa seems to be the preferred option, though MasterCard is also a good option. The key to choosing the right card for this and keeping your deposits from being blocked is choosing a card that says it allows international transactions. If you have any doubt about what you're getting, the support team for your online casino will be more than happy to help you out.
It's really important to note that you should keep up with your pre-paid card after you make your deposit. The reason for this is that many online casinos will pay back your withdrawals to the same card you made your deposit with, and you don't want to toss the card after your deposit and be stuck with no way to receive withdrawals.
Money transfer services like Western Union and MoneyGram are also used by some online casinos. This is a reliable option that isn't quite as convenient as pre-paid cards, but most online casinos that use this method will give you very detailed instructions on making deposits and receiving withdrawals that make it really easy on the player to get started.
Some newer options are Zelle which is an electronic transfer service that can be used on your mobile to make digital payments and depoit at online cassinos, it is only avaiable for US players and there are a variety of bank options so it should be avaiable to almost all US based players with a bank account. Another option is Ria, which is a money transfer method and can be used for deposits and withdrawals at a select few casinos.
Cryptocurrency is another option - Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Dogecoin. BTC seems to be the favourite, here is a list of casinos allowing crypto deposits, make sure to check player ratings first and avoid sites with warnings.
US Allowed Casinos
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- Casino Brango
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500% UP TO €/$100 + 500 free spins
New Customer Offer. T&C’s Apply. 18+. Min deposit: $€20. No Max bet. Max cashout: 5x Deposit. Credit Card and Crypto deposits are subject to different bonus percentage - 250%. 500 FREE SPINS on Plentiful Treasure. Bonus code: KINGSPINS, and it can be used only after THEKINGS match bonus; 100 spins per day is the maximum. Only Non-Progressive Slots allowed. WR FS: 30x. - + 2 software
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Rating
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- MrO Casino
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400% UP TO $10000 + 400 free spins
New customers only. T&C apply. 18+. This offer is not available for players residing in Ontario. New Customer Offer. T&C’s Apply. 19+. Plus 400 Free Spins, 80 spins for 5 consecutive days. Min Deposit: $10. Max Bet: $10. Max Cashout: None. - + 1 software
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Rating
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- Vegas Casino Online
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300% UP TO $3000
New customers only. T&C apply. 18+. This offer is not available for players residing in Ontario. New customers only. T&C apply. 19+. Max Cashout: 20 x Deposit up to $10.000. Min Deposit $25. Selected games only: See the website for a list of online slots. - + 1 software
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- Casino Extreme
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€/$50
New Customer Offer. T&C’s Apply. 18+. Max withdrawal: €/$ 50. Only players from United States, Canada, Italy, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden are allowed to redeem or make withdrawals on this offer. Players from all other territories not mentioned above will be eligible to redeem and/or make withdrawals after making 1 successful deposits at the casino. - + 2 software
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- Slotsroom Casino
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200% UP TO $2000 + 200 free spins
New Customer Offer. T&C’s Apply. 18+. Max bet: 10 $. No max cashout. Games: Slots, Keno, Scratch Card. Redeemable 5x. Deposit and play your first deposit of $35 and as a thank you we’ll give you 20 Free Spins on Diamond Fiesta every day for the next 10 days as an extra. Deposit and play your first deposit of $35 and as a thank you we’ll give you 20 Free Spins on Diamond Fiesta every day for the next 10 days as an extra. Max cashout (Free Spins) $200. - + 1 software
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- Shazam Casino
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250%
New Customer Offer. T&C’s Apply. 18+. Welcome Pack is valid for slots, table games and specialties on the first 3 deposits of $25+ (Neosurf $10+) and up to $1000; WG x35, max cash out x20. Get 250% on the first deposit, 200% on the second, and 150% on the third one. Get extra 50% for crypto deposits. - + 11 software
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Rating
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- Desert Nights Rival Casino
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$10
New Customer Offer. T&C’s Apply. 18+. Max cashout: $180. Allowed games: All Slots, Scratch Cards and Keno games. When in the casino lobby, go to 'Cashier'. Within the 'Cashier', select 'Claim Promotion'. You will then see your '$10 FREE Sign Up Bonus'. Click 'Claim Now' to start playing with your no-deposit bonus.
- + 5 software
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- EmuCasino
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100% UP TO $100
New Customer Offer. T&C’s Apply. 18+. Max bet size on any game is $15. 45 X turnover requirement. Valid on all games excluding jackpots, live casino games and virtual sports. Bonus will expire 3 days after activation and must be used/completed in this time. 2nd Deposit: 25% up to $100. 3rd Deposit: 50% up to $100. - + 59 software
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Rating
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- Jackpot Wheel Casino
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200% UP TO $5000 + 40 free spins
New customers only. T&C apply. 18+. Plus 40 Spins on Stones & Bones. Minimum Deposit: $20. Max Bet: $5. Players from the following countries may only play slot games: UK, Greece, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Columbia. - + 3 software
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- DuckyLuck Casino
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500% UP TO €/$2500 + 150 free spins
New Customer Offer. T&C’s Apply. 18+. Minimum deposit: $25. Maximum Cashout: 10x Deposit. PLUS 150 Free Spins. 50 Free Spins for the next 3 days on these slot games: Day 1: 50 Free Spins: Mystic Wolf; Day 2: 50 Free Spins: Golden Gorilla; Day 3: 50 Free Spins: Five Times Wins. - + 9 software
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Rating
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- Highway Casino
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$30
New players only. T&Cs apply. 18+. This offer is not available for players residing in Ontario. New Customer Offer. T&C’s Apply. 19+. $30 Free Chip. Players need to sign up from our link, activate bonus code in profile (email should be verified). Maximum cashout: $60. Restricted games: No. Max bet amount for no deposit bonuses: no restrictions. - + 14 software
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- Red Stag Casino
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275% UP TO $550 + 100 free spins
New Customer Offer. T&C’s Apply. 18+. 100 Free Spins on Dolphin Reef. Minimum deposit: $25. The maximum wager per single bet that is permitted, if playing with any portion of a welcome bonus, is 5$ and 10$ if playing with any other type of (non-welcome) bonus. Players from United Kingdom are required to wager their purchase and play bonus 40 times. - + 4 software
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Current State of US Online Gambling
At this stage in the game, online gambling is basically decided on the state level. While no states can allow online sports bets because of the federal Wire Act detailed above, a number of states have decided to regulate the industry. New Jersey and Delaware have regulated most forms of online gambling, and Nevada has regulated online poker only. Because these jurisdictions have government-mandated licensing process in place, software companies are allowed to offer games there since they aren't in violation of the UIGEA.
Most people from most states will have no problem connecting to an online casino, putting up deposits and receiving withdrawals. The main issue any player will run into now is one of the available banking methods because of how the aftermath of the UIGEA has worked out in terms of some banks continuing to block transactions, but the landscape has gotten much more favorable in recent years, especially after the 2011 clarification of the Wire Act not applying to online casino play by the Department of Justice.