The USA: Practical Online Gambling Guide

The industry of gambling in the USA is regulated on state and tribal levels. When it comes to the brick and mortar casinos, per certain states, like Nevada and New Jersey, the states regulate the number of licenses they issue to the operators, and they are the go-to gambling destinations in the country (up until 2018, Nevada was also the only state to allow Sportsbook activities). 

Per states like Alabama, for instance, the local legislation allows casinos to be operated only in the Native American reservations. When it comes to online gambling, much will depend on whether the gambling platform was licensed inside or outside the country.

Currently, online gambling is available in New Jersey, Nevada, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia (with Michigan expected to join sometime soon). Per these five, you will have to be physically present in either of the states to be able to place bets online. If you are playing in the so-called offshore casinos, you can be playing from anywhere in the country because you are playing at online lobbies that were registered by international jurisdictions.

We are looking at an array of jurisdictions. The government of Curacao is among the most popular licensors and many businesses that are building virtual lobbies for American players, are applying for this permit. It has a good reputation and a relatively low percentage of brands that turn out to be rogue. The list of recommended platforms includes, among others, Prima Play, Grand Eagle, and Lincoln.

Among other popular options, you will see operators regulated by the jurisdictions of Cyprus, Panama, Anjouan, Antigua and Barbuda, and Costa Rica.

When choosing an online operator that is licensed and regulated by the jurisdictions of Cyprus, Panama, Anjouan, Antigua and Barbuda, or Costa Rica, the main advice would be to check the location for its reputation. There have been quite a few brands that turned out to be rogue while operating under the abovementioned permits. At the same time, there are also quite a few great brands that have been online for 2+ decades and have proven worthy of trust. To mention a few, there is Vegas Casino Online that exists since 1999, Slotland that’s been live since 1998, and Uptown Aces that’s been live since 2014.

From a practical standpoint, the restrictions introduced by the UIGEA of 2006 mostly affected banking. When gambling online in either of the online lobbies regulated by the USA (given that you are physically within the territory of the particular state), you will be able to use all of the convenient payment methods and not worry about banks or payment services blocking your transactions. Examples of such casinos would be Golden Nugget, Harrah’s Online, or Caesar’s. 

With online operators regulated outside of the country, you will still be allowed to gamble online. However, most likely, you won’t be able to use our cards or bank accounts, or not to the full capacity, and will need to look for alternative payment methods.

Up until 2018, we would’ve said that it was highly unlikely. But then, PASPA was overturned, and many states jumped on the bandwagon of legalizing sports betting. This changed the betting market in the USA dramatically and caused many to wonder whether there will eventually be a thaw in the world of games of chance. We are taking a closer look at the tendencies of the USA industry in our research.

We can also add that a lot of game developers in the USA are looking forward to more states becoming online gambling-friendly. “The explosion of online poker (despite being put in check), the popularity of free-to-play social casinos, and land-based casinos recognizing that online gaming will probably only help their business all seem to point to online gaming becoming more prevalent in the US. But we shall see,” said the creative team of CTS in an exclusive interview to our portal.

Yes, gambling in USD is possible both within the country in the brands that were regulated by either of the 5 states or outside the country. Here, you can also consider gambling in digital currencies. Our collection of online operators accepting real money from USA-based players is quite diverse and covers 150+ brands. The list of crypto-friendly locations for American players is as long and versatile

To both of these questions we say – using digital currencies today is as safe and smart as fiat currencies. With the one major difference being – sites accepting BTC, ETH, LTC, and other types of cryptocurrencies significantly simplified the process of online gambling and banking for American players. If you are a newbie in using either of the digital currencies, we’ve got you covered with our comprehensive and simple guide. It answers all the burning BTC questions: How do you gamble with Bitcoin? Is BTC gambling legal in the USA? Where you can buy BTC for gambling and more.

PayPal is a popular banking method in many countries, including the United Kingdom. With the USA, though, it might be tricky. To check whether you qualify for PayPal banking, tap on the link and adjust the country filter to the United States. Look for the results our database will give you.

There are lots of ways to deposit when playing for real money in America. The list includes Amex, Discover, Diner’s Club, Visa, as well as an array of pay-by-phone methods, including ApplePay. Per each of these deposit methods, you will need to consider whether a chosen operator was registered inside or outside the United States.

The UIGEA of 2006 made it difficult for players to cash out wins from the real money online casinos registered outside of the USA. However, there are still quite a few legal ways to receive winnings. Wire transfer may be the most popular option in most of the cashiers. There is also an opportunity to claim cashouts via Western Union or MoneyGram. 

The amount of time that you will need to wait for the withdrawal to arrive, as well as the commissions and fees are among the downsides. To avoid those, you might want to take a closer look at crypto variations, including BTC, DGC, LTC, ETH, and many others.

For the USA niche, both types of bonuses will require registration. The key difference is that a deposit bonus will usually be a cash match between 50% to 250% applied to one or several initial deposits. For instance, you are depositing a minimum of 10 USD, and are receiving another 10 USD in bonuses under the 100% cash match offer. 

With the no-deposit bonus, the amount of credited cash will be significantly smaller, or it can be no-deposit free spins. The main aim of a no-deposit bonus is to let a newbie test the waters, try the games, check out the services, and maybe come back and deposit to continue playing.

The main thing to understand about this type of promotion is that it is not free money that the casino gives away. They come with the so-called wagering requirements – certain obligations that you need to fulfill. Normally, an online operator will ask you to roll the bonus cash over a certain amount of times. For example, if you receive 5 USD in no-deposit cash, and are asked to meet the playthough terms of 40xB, it means that you will need to wager 5x40 = 200 USD before the rollover requirements are considered completed. 

With the no-deposit free spins, the casino usually asks players to wager wins from them a certain amount of times.

A welcome bonus is a promotion that an online operator offers its newbies. It can be a cash match on one or more (up to 7 in some casinos) initial deposits, or cash plus free spins. An example of such an offer would be the sign-up package at Slot’o Cash, which covers cash match + free spins on 4 initial deposits.

T&C applied to each offer would provide a more specific answer to this question. In a nutshell, every bonus has its peculiarities. Some are designed to fit only slots. Others will be credited to promote table games of live dealer releases. The T&C will specify the minimum and maximum bets per spin/round, as well as the list of games that are not allowed. Look for the type of content that contributes 100%, and roll the promotional cash over on this type of content.

For instance, if you are claiming a 100% welcome deal in an RTG casino, check if it qualifies for slots. Then check, which slots are excluded (not allowed), and play on those that are allowed until you reach the requirements.

Each casino specifies whether a bonus is sticky or non-sticky. Our portal does, too. For instance, the 10 USD of a no-deposit bonus at Grand Bay is marked as cashable. This means that if you wager it the proper number of times (45xB in this case), you will be able to withdraw both wins from the bonus and the promotional cash.

Some operators support only non-cashable promotions. That means that when the wagering requirements are met, the bonus amount will be deducted from wins and you will be able to claim only the wins from the promotion.

Due to licensing and the specifics of the American niche, many of the software developers popular in Europe will not be able to offer services in the offshore lobbies for the USA. Hence, most likely you will not find games from Microgaming, Quickspin, Play’n GO, or Evolution Gaming.

Yes, some online operators that are licensed within the USA can sign distribution contracts with NetEnt. The Swedish iTech giant is gradually obtaining permits to enter the American market. Look for its content in online lobbies regulated by New Jersey and Pennsylvania, among others.

We can recommend looking closely into lobbies that offer games from Rival, Saucify, RealTime Gaming, and WGS Technology. These are all studios created to meet the needs of the American players. Most likely, a platform will be solely powered by either of these developers. Their portfolios are designed to cover all genres: slot machines, progressive games, table games, and video poker.

Lately, this demand has had an active response from online operators. Three of the recent live dealer superstars that were added to many online lobbies for the USA are Vivo Gaming and Visionary iGaming, as well as Fresh Deck Studios. These studios deliver a fair share of live roulette, blackjack, and baccarat.

Very frequently, a live dealer lobby will not be visible to the new player until he/she opens an account.

Time flies, the industry evolves, and the USA gambling niche grows. Today, players from America have lots of options to play online safely and legally.

For starters, there is a big cluster of online casinos licensed and regulated in the United States. Simply look at Golden Nugget, Harrah’s Online, or Caesar’s. These support diverse lobbies with games from IGT, WMS, NetEnt, and lots of other content creators. They allow claiming no-deposit and deposit bonuses, and make it easy to deposit and withdraw funds.

The cluster of offshore lobbies has grown and diversified its services, as well. To make banking easier, it introduced an array of cryptocurrency online operators – all of those listed in our database are certified, reputable, and secure.

Plus, they worked on a selection of games, There are lots of new and exciting quality slots arriving in RTG’s portfolio. BetSoft is always an option for players from America. As of recently, gamblers can even wager real money on live dealer games.

To pick among 100s of USA-friendly places to bet and win, simply adjust the search filters to preferred currency, software, bonuses, and banking.