Best Online Gambling Sites for US Residents
Gambling online from the United States is not as difficult as you might think. Many gambling sites do not currently accept US customers, but there are still plenty that do. And, contrary to popular opinion, many of them are operating legally within a licensed and regulated environment too.
The purpose of this page is to provide you with all the information you need to have a safe online gambling experience from the US. That all starts with using a legit gambling site and not one that has shady practices. It's so important to use a site that is reliable and trustworthy.
These are the Most Legit US Gambling Sites in 2023:
Rank | US Gambling Site | Sign Up Bonus | Casino | Sports | Poker | Get Started |
#1 | Bovada | Up To $3,250 Free | Visit Site | |||
#2 | SportsBetting.ag | 75% up to $1,000 | Visit Site | |||
#3 | BetOnline | 50% up to $2,500 | Visit Site | |||
#4 | Slots.lv | 200% up to $5,000 | Visit Site | |||
#5 | Sloto Cash | 200% up to $2,000 | Visit Site |
With so many gambling sites available on the web, it can be a challenge to separate the good from the bad. That's exactly what we've done for you here. We've carried out in-depth research into the various options available, tested them extensively, and compared how they perform in a range of key areas. Only the very best performers have made it onto the above list. And these sites don't just accept US customers, they welcome them with open arms.
Most of them offer several forms of gambling, such as sports betting, casino games and poker. This means you can enjoy a range of different activities in one place, without having to move your money around. They basically do everything well, providing a good all-round experience.
For those of you ready to gamble online right now, please go right ahead and sign up with one of our recommendations. If you're interested in one specific form of gambling, you might like to know that we've also made recommendations in each of the following categories.
We haven't stopped there either. As you may well be aware, the laws and regulations relating to online gambling in the US vary from one state to another. With that in mind, we've provided guides to online gambling for each individual state too.
If you're still reading, then you're obviously looking for some more information or advice. No problem, we've got plenty for you. Here's a list of everything else you can find on this page. Please take your time and have a good read through it all, as there's a lot of interesting and useful stuff here.
US Online Gambling FAQ
If you're new to online gambling, then it's only natural that you'll have some questions. Let's try to address those for you. Below is a list of the questions that are most frequently asked by US gamblers, and it's followed by our helpful and informative answers. These should cover most of what you need to know.
- Is online gambling legal in the US?
- Is online gambling safe?
- How can US residents deposit & Withdraw?
- Can US gamblers claim bonuses?
- Is mobile gambling available in the US?
- What are daily fantasy sports?
There's no short answer to this, as US gambling laws are confusing at best. The country is essentially still adapting to the explosion in popularity of online gambling, as indeed many others around the world are. Things are not helped by the fact that there are both federal laws and state laws to contend with. It's also fair to say that a lot of gambling related legislation is simply out of date, and doesn't address the online aspect of it at all.
As a result, it's difficult to say exactly what's legal and what's not. One thing we are almost sure of, though, is that there is no law that makes it explicitly illegal for a US resident to gamble online. We've certainly never heard of anyone being arrested for doing so. So if a fear of breaking the law is holding you back from enjoying everything that online gambling has to offer, you may be missing out for no reason.
Although we have no legal qualifications, we do consider ourselves to be more knowledgeable than most about the legal situation of online gambling in the US. We've researched the subject extensively, and we do our best to stay up to date with legislative changes as and when they happen. In fact, we have a whole section on our website dedicated to gambling laws which includes the following page.
US Gambling LawsA lot of people are naturally concerned about the safety of their funds, and their personal information, when using gambling sites. Such concerns are not entirely unfounded, as there are some rogue sites on the web that can't be trusted. However, these are relatively easy to avoid. If you stick to sites that are properly licensed, with a solid reputation and good track record, then your online experience should be a perfectly safe one.
This is actually a big part of our motivation for recommending places to bet and play to our readers. We want you to be safe when you're gambling online, and we can assure you will be if you sign up with any of our recommendations.
Depositing and withdrawing at gambling sites can be troublesome for US residents. This is largely due to the legal situation in the region. There is legislation that makes it difficult for sites to process gambling related transactions from their American customers.
However, there are still a few options for getting money in and out of your online gambling site. For example, most sites accept one or more of the following types of credit card.
A quick tip for you here. If you find that a deposit from your personal credit card doesn't go through, try using a prepaid credit card instead. These are available from most convenience stores and various other locations nationwide. It might be worth asking your chosen site which type of card they recommend using first.
Other widely available deposit methods include check, bank transfer, or money transfer services such as Western Union and MoneyGram. These are good to have as fallback options, but they're not nearly as convenient as using credit cards. In terms of withdrawals, most sites will offer check by courier as the leading option.
Absolutely! The vast majority of US facing gambling sites offer bonuses to new customers when they sign up, and to existing customers based on their betting and gaming activity. These bonuses can be quite valuable, but here's another tip for you.
The terms and conditions of bonuses and other rewards offered by gambling sites can be quite extensive. They're usually perfectly fair, especially at the reputable sites, but it's really important that you read and understand them. You don't want to break the rules unintentionally and miss out on the extra value.
Yes. These days most gambling sites are mobile compatible, so you shouldn't have too much difficulty if you prefer to gamble from your smartphone, tablet, or other device.The only issue you might have is in using any of the betting and gaming apps that sites offer. Apple does not currently allow real money gambling apps in its App Store in the United States, while Google doesn't allow any real money gambling apps in its Play Store, period.
Daily fantasy sports represent an alternative way to "bet" on sports online. They're a great deal of fun, a real test of sporting knowledge, and they offer the chance to win very large sums of money. Best of all, they're completely legal in most US states.
You've quite probably heard of fantasy sports before, and you may even have played them. The concept has been around for a long time. Basically, the idea is that you draft a virtual team of real players from a sport such as football or baseball. You then enter your team against others in a league system, with teams scoring points based on how those players perform in games. For example, football players earn points for touchdowns, rushing yards and receptions, among things.
Traditional fantasy sports leagues take place over a whole season, but daily fantasy sports take place over a single round of games. Other than that, the principle is basically the same. Once you've drafted a team, you pay an entry fee to enter that team against others in a contest. If your team finishes in one of the top positions, you win a percentage of the fee.
You can read more about daily fantasy sports in the following section.
Daily Fantasy Sports GuideAbout Our Recommendations
Some of you may be a little cautious about trusting our recommendations without learning more about how and why we've recommended them. We understand that, so let's take a look at the process that we go through to determine which sites make it onto our list. As we've already referred to, there are three steps we take.
Step one is arguably the most important. The research we do helps us to determine which sites are safe, secure, and reputable. We check what sort of licenses they hold, and who those licenses are issued by, and make sure that they take appropriate measures to protect private data and details of financial transactions. We also look into their track record, and see if there has been any history of non-payment or other unethical behavior.
our initial shortlist.
In the testing phase, we use the sites on initial shortlist to try to get a real feel for what they offer, the service they provide, and the overall user experience. We then compare the results of our testing, taking a wide variety of different factors into consideration. We look especially closely at a number of key factors that we feel are the most important in terms of what sets the best sites apart from the rest. These include the following.
of Use
Withdrawals
Customer Service
Options
Rewards
Compatibility
We firmly believe that the process we go throughenables us to justifiably state that we know which sites are the best ones to use.
United States Gambling Site Reviews
If you're still not sure whether or not you want to follow our recommendations, you might want to find out more about the sites for yourself. We've written comprehensive reviews of the sites that we recommend, outlining everything you need to know. These reviews are based on our personal experiences of using the relevant sites, and look at any negative aspects as well as all the positives, so they provide a genuinely balanced view of what each one has to offer.
History of Online Gambling in the US
Almost from the moment the first gambling sites started appearing in the mid-1990s, online gambling was a hit in the US. A number of those early operations are no longer around, but they blazed the trail that was followed by others who ended up becoming major names.
By the late 90s, new sites were being launched on an almost daily basis. And virtually all of them were more than happy to take customers from the United States. In fact, many of the biggest and best gambling sites in the industry today built their businesses, and their reputations, off the back of their US customers. This certainly applies to PartyPoker and PokerStars, two poker sites that launched in 2001. They soon became major players, and they still are now.
The 2003 WSOP was won by Chris Moneymaker. His road to victory, and prize money of approximately $2.5 million, started online. He qualified for the tournament by playing in a satellite at PokerStars that cost just $40 to enter. This served as inspiration for a huge crowd of people who dreamt of replicating his success, and the popularity of online poker soared. This undoubtedly gave a boost to other forms of online betting and gaming too.
By 2005, online gambling was massive in the United States. Residents of the country had an incredible choice of different places to bet and play on the internet, and depositing and withdrawing was easy. In 2006, the American government passed a piece of legislation called the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act. This had a profound effect on the online gambling industry, as it created a legal environment that led to many sites pulling out of the American market. US gamblers were left with few options.
The legal situation in the region is still confusing today, as we mentioned earlier, but things are not as bad as they once were for US residents wanting to gamble online. There are plenty of offshore sites where they are welcomed, such as the ones that we recommend. These sites are arguably not subject to US laws at all, as they are licensed and regulated in jurisdictions where online gambling is legalized.
And what about the future? Well, it's hard to say where the industry will go for sure but some states have already introduced new legislation that legalizes some forms of online gambling. Operators that are willing to meet the stringent regulatory requirements are able to offer their services to customers within those states. Other states are in the process of doing similar too, so the current situation could change a lot over the coming years.