Gambling is a broad term that encompasses the possibility of placing bets on various activities, such as sports, games of chance, and skill-based games. As a result, the list of states that allow online gambling is long, and each state regulates each type of gambling differently. For instance, twenty states currently permit residents to bet on sports events via the Internet, making it the most accessible form of online betting in the US. However, most states are not as lenient when it comes to casino and poker sites.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board oversees this activity in the Keystone State and allows all forms of betting that New Jersey also allows. Online poker has been particularly successful in Pennsylvania, thanks to the presence of PokerStars, which has kept the market running at full speed. It may come as a surprise to many that while Nevada state laws allow land-based casinos, they do not regulate their Internet counterparts. Players in Nevada must visit a physical location to spin the reels on a real-life machine.
However, the Nevada Gaming Control Board does regulate sports betting, poker, and horse racing. Mobile and online gambling have been legalized in Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. In each of these states, games such as poker, slot machines, live dealer games, and other table games are allowed. DraftKings Casino is available in all five states through its app and website.
Delaware is the only other state besides New Jersey and Pennsylvania where online casinos, online poker, and online sports betting are legal. Tennessee is the only state that has online-only sports betting due to its lack of casinos. The conservative state's unexpected launch of an unrestricted digital sports betting market excited industry stakeholders; however, other restrictions could impede its potential. Legal online casinos have been operating in the US for almost a decade now, allowing customers to enjoy their favorite table games, slot machines, and video poker machines from the comfort of their own homes.
Add to this the protection provided by state government oversight, accessible support services, and fast and efficient banking methods, and you have an ideal environment for online gaming right here in the US. New Jersey is now home to the healthiest online casino ecosystem in the US. There are currently more than twenty operators offering casino games to users across the state. These range from physical entities established in Atlantic City such as Borgata, Tropicana, Hard Rock and Golden Nugget to international online stalwarts such as Betfair, Stars Casino, PartyCasino and Unibet.
There are plenty of options for where to play and what to play. Pennsylvania is now packed with casino options; more than ten online casinos are already operating within its borders. The state's major physical powers such as Parx and Rivers now have online extensions as do online entities such as DraftKings and FanDuel. While it took some time to get up and running, Pennsylvania has been anything but slow since its launch. Each of West Virginia's five land-based casinos is eligible for an online casino license and can hold up to three skins per piece. This leaves room for up to fifteen iCasinos in the Mountain State; it may take some time for each slot to fill up but rest assured that West Virginia players will have options. Michigan has a surprisingly high number of land-based casinos; there are three commercial casinos located in the Detroit area in addition to more than twenty tribal casinos across the state.
Like West Virginia, Michigan has the potential for up to fifteen online casino sites; one partner for each of the three commercial facilities plus one for each of the twelve federally recognized tribes (some of which have more than one retail site). Online casino games are now available in Connecticut but unlike other states there are only two operators in the state: DraftKings Casino and FanDuel Casino due to their association with the state's two tribes. The Connecticut Lottery has a sports betting partnership with SugarHouse but this does not include online casino games; it is possible that more operators will eventually come to the state but DraftKings and FanDuel are currently the two most important operators in CT. Online casino game libraries vary from state to state due to local laws; just because a brand is the same does not mean that available titles will be too.
For example DraftKings Casino in Pennsylvania and DraftKings Casino in West Virginia have some differences in their catalogs. Legal online casinos usually have slot libraries with hundreds of options; players can choose by theme, aesthetic, paytable, number of reels or by “return to player” figure which is an important factor when selecting a game. Slots also work great on mobile devices making them one of the most convenient options for players on-the-go.
