Legal US Online Casino Guide For 2023

No

If you join an online casino, illegal access isn’t something you need to be concerned with as long as the site you choose is headquartered outside of USA borders.

That said, it would also help if that site were officially recognized by the international gambling community as a respected operator and had an online reputation for fair odds, valuable bonuses, and timely payouts.

Luckily, if those are the features you’re looking for in an online betting site (and they better be!), you’ve come to the right place.

Exception: The state of Washington still has laws on the books that nominally outlaw online gambling at the individual level. These laws are not historically enforced. That said, if you live in WA, you should follow all local gaming regulations and participate only at your own risk.

Probably

Almost certainly, actually.

Of course, there are two ways to interpret this question: You’re either asking if your specific state has legalized domestic online gambling (iGaming) within its borders, or you’re asking whether offshore online casino gambling is legal where you live.

If you’re looking for answers about the domestic scene, there are fewer than 10 US states as of 2023 that have added legal iGaming to their gambling markets.

If you’re looking for answers about the international scene, offshore casino sites are legal in all US states with the exception of Washington.

Note: Washington online gambling laws are apparently unenforced, as we’ve never heard of anyone in the state being cited or find for online gambling with international betting sites. Still, please follow all local gambling rules and regulations, and proceed only at your own risk.

Yes

Now, that’s obviously not going to be true for all online casinos.

But if you gamble with the operators we recommend, you can take for granted that you’re playing with 100% legitimate online casino sites.

We’ve trusted our own money with these brands for years, and we’ve never had a reason to change our minds.

Of course, if we ever do, you’ll be the first to hear about it.

No

At least, not the ones listed here.

The sad reality is that many online casinos are rigged, and there are countless online casino scams and fraudsters out there.

We’ve lost some money over the years with less-than-reputable vendors, and while these sites always eventually get called out and go the way of the dodo, they can do a lot of damage – to players and the community – while they’re active.

To avoid such online betting scams, it’s important to stick with tried-and-true venues that have been in steady operation for a long time.

That’s also why we routinely put new online casinos through their paces for a year or more before ever recommending them as legitimate operations.

Yes

Online casinos are just as safe as in-person brick-and-mortar casinos.

Or rather, they are if you sign up and play only with those sites we recommend here.

As with any other online industry, there are legitimate vendors and illegitimate vendors competing for your business.

To avoid the latter, it’s best to do your research, read the online casino reviews, and defer to real gamblers who’ve been using these sites for ages.

After all, that’s why you’re here, and that’s why we’re here.

Definitely

If we couldn’t actually win real money gambling online, we wouldn’t be members at these sites. And frankly, we wouldn’t tell anyone else to be, either.

We are avid gamblers and believe that a strong, safe, responsible gaming community is what gambling’s all about. And for that, all the odds have to be legit and all players have to be on equal footing with the same chances to win.

With the casinos featured here, you never have to worry about whether or not real wins are possible – They happen all the time!

In fact, the best online casino games have average win rates that are even higher than the same games in retail Las Vegas casinos.

Hundreds

Maybe even thousands.

But “How many online casinos are there?” is a much different question than “How many reputable online casinos are there?”

And it’s that latter question that’s worth discussion. Because honestly, there aren’t that many.

As competitive as the gambling market is, when it comes to legit offshore betting sites, there aren’t even a dozen worth mentioning.

Most online casinos are untested at best and outright scams at worst, which is why you’ll always see the same selection of sites sitting at the top of the market. Every now and then, a newcomer breaks through the ranks into the top tier, but that’s the exception to the rule.

For all intents and purposes, there are about 10-15 truly good gambling websites online at any given time.

All of them

Every online gambling venue we recommend is totally legitimate, legal, and safe to use.

These sites are all recognized as the top tier of the online betting industry, and their parent companies are all recognized, established brands with years (if not decades) of online gambling experience.

There are lots of differences between each site featured in this legal casino guide, but legitimacy isn’t one of them.

Bovada Casino

This is a tough question to answer, because – in truth – every site we recommend is as trustworthy as every other.

If a site isn’t 100% on the up and up, we’re not down (and, we presume, neither are you).

So instead of answering that technically all these venues are tied for the “most trusted,” we’ll go with the site that actually boasts the most USA members.

And that, as you can see, is Bovada.

Bovada LV basically sets the standard for the industry, and you can’t go wrong with the operator. For first-time bettors especially, Bovada’s a great place to start.

It may not have the best bonuses or the most games, but it has a little bit of everything, and the site has famously never missed a single payout for any of its millions of active members.

18+ or 21+

There are two distinct legal ages when it comes to casino gambling in the US, and it depends on your jurisdiction. In some states, the legal age to go to a casino is 18 and up, while in others it’s 21 and up.

Often, the distinction has to do with whether or not the venue in question serves alcohol.

All that said, the best online casinos for US players set their membership age minimums to just 18+.

Please never sign up at an offshore gambling site under the age of 18, as this will lead to your account being banned and your funds being forfeited.

All of them

All the best online casinos pay out on time and in full, which is our measure of “best.”

To get our winnings quickly, efficiently, and without any red tape is what we expect from any world-class online betting site.

But if you’re asking about which casino pays out the biggest prizes, that depends less on the venue and more on the game you’re playing.

All the top sites we recommend offer progressive jackpot games that routinely boast six-figure and seven-figure payouts.

Varies

Different legit casino sites have different payout limits.

These are both game specific (i.e. penny slots pay out less than progressive slots, single-deck 21 pays out less than 8-deck 21, etc.) and payment type specific.

For payment types, though, most all online casinos have the same general range of limits.

As an example, in terms of the amount of money you can withdraw in a single transaction, the payout methods rank this way (from most money to least money):

• Bitcoin/crypto
• Bank wires
• Vouchers
• Courier checks
• Money orders
• Retail money transfers
• MatchPay

All of them

Because all legal online casinos support Bitcoin payouts and various other cryptocurrency payouts, they’re each the “quickest.”

At these sites, most crypto withdrawal requests are handled automatically: The moment you submit your request, the process to pay you via crypto transfer is initiated.

Thus, it only takes as long to receive your money as the typical transaction time (aka blockchain transfer time) of the crypto coin with which you’re being paid.

Of course, different cryptos have different transfer speeds, so for the quickest casino payouts – or borderline instant online casino payouts – Litecoin and various third-generation coins like Cardano, Solana, or Avalanche are your best bet.

It depends

If you are visiting one of our recommended Internet casinos for US players, then yes, the bonus offers and promotions are legitimate and are accompanied by reasonable wagering requirements and terms.

On the flip side, questionable online casinos use attractive bonus offers to lure in unsuspecting players, but they have no intention of honoring these bonuses when it’s time to pay out.

As a rule, legitimate, safe gambling sites will offer comparatively small casino bonuses ($500-$3000) with rollovers of 20-50X.

Sites to avoid will generally offer higher bonuses ($5000 and up) with rollover requirements in the 60-80X region, making payouts all but unobtainable.

There are exceptions, but the higher the bonus, the more important it is that you read the associated terms and conditions. 

No.

Several years ago, before the mobile revolution, most online casinos required Flash downloads or other executable files to be installed on your computer in order to play the games on offer.

However, this is no longer the case, and you can enjoy every casino game type at any top site through your desktop or mobile web browser of choice (i.e. Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox, Opera, etc.).

No

Not all online casinos offer tournament poker or live poker.

While every Internet gambling site features multiple flavors of online video poker, real multiplayer poker tables are only available at a few of the biggest sites in the industry.

If live poker is a prerequisite for your gaming portfolio, venues like Bovada and BetOnline are the best digital felts around.

Immersion

At online casinos, there are usually two types of table games to choose from: digital table games or live table games.

The former type – also called video table games or online electronic casino games – are exactly what they sound like: You are playing a game on an RNG (random number generation) platform that offers you the same odds to win as brick-and-mortar casinos.

Live dealer games, however, are more immersive. To use these, simply go to the live section of your site, pick a host and a game type, and pull up a chair!

Once at the table, you’ll get a video feed of the actual dealer, and you’ll be playing against others at that table, all in real time!