Legal online casino states February 2023: Everything you need to know

Chicago Tribune
 
Legal online casino states February 2023: Everything you need to know
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Check our our guide to the best casino promos in the current legal online casino states across the United States in Feb. 2023. Online gambling can be tough to navigate to find the best operator or promotion since it differs from state to state.

Legal online casino play is still in its infancy in the United States. Currently, only six states are available for legal online gambling such as online poker and other casino games.

First, we will provide a ranking table with both sportsbook and casino offers going on right now. Keep reading to check out each state where online casino gaming is legal.

Online casinos and other forms of online gambling began to directly emerge with the prevalence of the internet. While early forms of gambling began to emerge at physical locations as early as the 1930′s, legal online gambling began to appear in the mid 1990′s.

One of the first sites to appear was Planet Poker in 1998. Online poker began to emerge with ParadisePoker.com in 1999 as well, and online poker specifically, rapidly grew in the early 2000′s.

Online poker and online casinos took a brief hit in 2011 when fraud allegations hit three of the biggest online poker sites in the U.S. Since this gaming enforcement hurdle, there have been serious challenges to growing online casinos and online poker.

This is why there are currently only six states where online casino is legal. Check out the list of states below, including the top operators in each state and the current promotions they are offering.

Connecticut is one of the more recent states to offer online casinos. Online gambling went live in Oct. 2021 and currently the state offers two online casinos with Mohegan Sun and DraftKings.

The good news is sports betting is also legal in Connecticut so customers can find everything they are looking for from online casinos to placing their first sports wager. Check out Mohegan Sun and DraftKings in Connecticut for two of the best online casinos and some of the best promotions across the country.

The state of Delaware is well ahead of the curve with online casinos first able to operate in 2012. Besides New Jersey and Nevada, Delaware has pioneered the online gambling space.

The downside of playing online in Delaware is that there are only three online casinos available and no current legal online sports betting. Delaware is a unique case ― the three online casinos are horse racing operators that happen to operate an online and physical casino as part of their offerings.

These ‘racinos’ are raceways and casinos often have larger ownership groups such as 888 Casino. However, the three online casinos that do operate in the state have great current promotions including some large deposit matches.

Michigan has one of the widest selections of online casinos in the entire United States. Sports betting is also legal in Michigan so there are endless options for your first wager whether it is online casinos or online sports betting.

While online fantasy gaming was legal slightly earlier, Michigan legalized online gambling and online sports betting in one bill in Jan. 2021. This opened the state to a wide variety of online casino gaming, online fantasy sports, online poker and online sports betting.

New Jersey has some of the least restrictive betting laws in the United States. In fact, in-state online gambling has been legal since 2013.

New Jersey is probably the top of the list in terms of variety of online casinos available. As of Feb. 2023, there are 30 different online casino sites available for customers in New Jersey.

Similar to the online gaming options, New Jersey is also one of the top states for online sports betting. There are endless operators for your first wager whether it is a casino table game or sports betting.

Generally, all casino sites will offer the most popular table games, slots and poker to give you the same experience as the physical location casinos. Check out our list below of popular online casinos available in New Jersey and the various promotions they are offering.

Pennsylvania was also early to the online gambling scene. In Oct. 2017, the governor of Pennsylvania signed a bill into law that allowed in-state legal online gambling.

Since then, Pennsylvania has over 12 licensed operators in the state providing online slots, poker and the best table games. The action doesn’t stop there; however, as Pennsylvania is one of the best states for sports betting as well.

The state offers some of the best sports betting operators in the country such as BetMGM, FanDuel Sportsbook and Caesars Sportsbook. Whether it’s online gambling or sports betting, you’ll be sure to find an operator for your first wager.

Check out our list below to find some of the most popular casinos in the state and their best promotions.

West Virginia is one of the more recent additions to legal online casino games and other online gambling. Online casinos and online casino gaming were legalized March 2019 with the official launch in July 2020.

Luckily, West Virginia was also ahead of the curve for sports betting. Online sports betting is also legal in the state, meaning you can find an online casino or sportsbook for your wager.

For now, West Virginia only hosts some of the more popular operators: DraftKings, BetMGM, BetRivers, Caesars, FanDuel and Golden Nugget. We will preview some of the best promotions for all the best online casinos in the state.

Similar to online gambling, mobile sports betting has had a long and arduous legalization process across the United States. Sports betting became legal in 2018 after a reversal by the Supreme Court of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, which had outlawed sports betting.

Pennsylvania was the first state to legalize online sports betting six months after the Supreme Court decision. Check our full list below to see if sports betting is available in your state or if it is coming soon.

What states are available for online gambling?

Unlike sports betting, online gambling and online casinos are only currently available in six states. The states where you can find online casino games and online poker are Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and West Virginia.

Why are less states available for online casino than sports betting?

Sports betting is a much more common and popular form of online gambling. Sports betting has a long history in the United States and became vastly more popular when the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize sports betting occurred in 2018.

Online casino games and other online betting closely tie to the popularity of physical casinos in that state. Online casino also suffered a blow in 2011 when several poker sites were accused of fraud with payment services.

Online gambling is making a comeback in the U.S. closely tied to sports betting.

What types of games or features are available with online casino gaming?

Online casinos feature the best table games from their physical casinos as well as online poker, virtual sports casino games, jackpots and other forms of slots. Many of the online operators feature live dealer games and endless features for every customer.