In years past, if you didn’t live close to a casino or weren’t willing to travel, the glamour, glitz, and fast-paced excitement of the casino was something you just didn’t get to experience. It was something you were resigned to watching on TV or in movies, and that was about as close to the action as you were going to get.
Technology, as it did in so many industries, changed this. If you live in the US, you can now enjoy the excitement of real-money legal online casino gambling from the comfort of your own home.
Whether you’re brand new to USA online casino sites, brand new to casinos altogether, or just looking for a change or some information, you’ve come to the right spot. In this guide (correctly dubbed the “Ultimate” guide), we’re going to give you absolutely everything you need to know about legal online casinos in the United States.
We’ll start with some fantastic beginner’s guides and resources, give you some great casino game-specific guides, walk you through the wonderful world of slots, touch on the legal mumbo-jumbo you should know, and finally talk about what makes a casino site great. Whether you’re looking to get better at your favorite game or figure out how to get started playing your favorite casino games without leaving your house, we will take care of you.
Calling all newbies! One of the toughest parts of getting started gambling online is knowing where to start. There is always an overload of information and a ton of different choices that it seems like you have to make right away. How do I get signed up? What are the best USA online casinos? Which games should I play? Should I use an app or a website? How should I deposit money?
The list of choices and questions can go on and on forever. All of these choices can quickly overwhelm you and zap all of the fun out of what is supposed to be an exciting and relaxing time of enjoyment. Well, we don’t want you to get overloaded and not have the absolute best time possible. We were all first-timers at one point, so we understand exactly what you may be going through.
Below, you’ll find a healthy list of our online casino sites guides that are directed at first-timers, beginners, and those that identify as casino curious. If you literally have zero idea where to start, click on our “Beginner’s Guide to Casinos.” For the rest of you, click on the guide or article that looks to have the information you’re looking for.
We are not going to overload you with confusing math, jargon, or neglect to break down everything in a way that’s easy for you to understand and digest. If you’ve ever wanted to get involved in online casino games but just didn’t know how or where to start, today is your lucky day.
USA online casinos come with an extremely wide variety of games for you to choose from. They almost always have the big favorites you’re looking for and sometimes have some new, obscure games that you may just fall in love with. Playing in a US online casino site is one of the best ways to try out new games while enjoying the continued and convenient action of your all-time favorites.
In the guides below, we are going to walk you through everything you need to know to master your favorite games at the best online casino sites. Or if you’re looking to try out a new game but want to know what the heck you are doing first, we’ve got you covered as well. We will walk you through all of the basics of each game, including the rules, how the payouts work, how jackpots work, and how gameplay typically goes. Additionally, we’ll talk strategy and how to play optimally, giving yourself the best opportunity to walk away from the tables a winner.
If you’re ready to become a master of your favorite game or a new game, click the link below and check out all of our comprehensive and thorough online casino game strategy guides.
The one-armed bandit, as it’s been called in many old movies, is one of the most popular forms of casino gambling in history and today. This popular form of gambling has made an awesome transition into USA online casino sites. What do we mean by an awesome transition? Well, some things are just better in person and aren’t as much fun when you play them online. To be honest, this was one of our fears the first time we heard they were implementing online slot machines a couple decades ago.
But we were pleasantly surprised. You see, slot machines are all about the cool lights and sounds and exciting bonus games. When you have a standalone slot machine, they’re limited in what they can do. Upgrades and changes rarely come because you have to change out all of the hardware. This means the experience you’re getting in the land-based casino is going to be behind what you’re getting in an online casino.
In other words, you’re going to be blown away at the quality of the gameplay experience that you get in many US online casinos. The mini-games are awesome, the graphics and animations are even better, and the overall experience is one that you’re going to love.
If you haven’t tried out an online slot machine yet, we highly recommend it. Most sites will let you play for free as well, so you can test things out and see if it gives you the same excitement (or more) than a brick-and-mortar casino.
To help you get started with online slot machines, we’ve compiled a dedicated guide of all the knowledge and information you need to get the most out of your slot experience. We highly recommend taking a few minutes to read through this before you get started playing!
The US has historically been all over the place when it comes to gambling laws. What’s been even more all over the place is finding information about gambling legislation and the changes that happen that affect you. You can usually find some general information, but you can never find the specifics you need that pertain to you.
We’re aiming to change that. While we aren’t lawyers (and don’t pretend to be or ever want to be), we can do our best to collect and interpret the most up-to-date information we can find about the legality of US online casinos. Additionally, we not only collect these laws and legal changes, but we also break them down by your specific state. The federal government does have some laws that blanket the entire nation, but a lot of these legal decisions are left to the individual states.
This means that what is the case in Nevada might not be the same in Florida and so on and so forth. If you want to learn everything you need to know about the gambling laws and limitations in your state, select the link below. Our experts will do their best to give you the most up-to-date laws as well as their personal interpretation of those laws. While online gambling is legal in almost all areas of the US, there are a few areas with limitations that you need to be aware of.
Picking out a legal online casino to play at can be a bit of a challenge due to the sheer number of options and different sites you have to choose from. While we love options, too many of them can end up doing us more harm than good. The key to making the right selection for you is knowing what it is that you’re looking for. If you’ve used any online USA casinos before, you probably have a pretty good idea of what you want and what you need. But if this is your first time making the transition to playing online, you may not know what you should be looking for.
While we aren’t here to tell you what you want, we are here to tell you what you want. We know – pushy, right? Well, no, that’s not what we’re trying to do. You see, our team of experts has spent years in the industry and knows what makes a great online casino and what constitutes a dud. We know what features people like the most and what features just clutter the interface and create problems. Most importantly, we know what US online casino sites have to have to make sure that you have a great time.
Below, we’ve included a list of the most important factors that we take into account when we’re analyzing and reviewing USA online casinos. These are certainly not all of the factors that we look at, but they are the ones we feel are the biggest and the most important.
You know how we said that too many choices were a bad thing when trying to pick out a legal US online casino? Well, throw that logic out the window when it comes to the actual game choices you have at the casino you select. When it comes to game choices, more is always going to be better. We want to see more games, more variations, and more options of how to play.
One of the big perks of online casino sites is that they don’t have to hire actual dealers or have floor space to put in a new table (unless you’re using the live dealer function, of course). This means they can have as many tables as they want with as many different games and options as they want. There is no trying to decide which game is going to get a piece of floor space. They are able to offer you everything that they put the money into purchasing or building to offer you.
What does this mean? Well, it means that they have no excuse not to offer you a ton of different options. If they aren’t, it’s most likely because they are choosing not to invest the money in their product like we think they should be.
The bottom line – more, more, more.
One of the reasons that a lot of patrons are slow to jump onto any legal online casinos is because they are worried about whether or not they can trust what is going on. There are fears that the games are rigged and fears that your money might be at risk. While it’s good to be on guard about these things, it’s not necessary at most legal online casinos in the USA.
There are certainly some bad apples out there that need to be avoided, but there are also some casinos that are doing things right. One of the biggest perks of playing on a regulated US-based online casino is that you’re going to be protected by the laws of this land. If a site tries to do something shady, you have recourse to go after them. If you’re playing on some online casino based out of the middle of the ocean, you don’t really have many options. You could always rent a boat and sail out and try and go after them, but that’s really not a feasible option.
When we review an online casino, we take a lot into account regarding the trust factor. We start by looking at their company. Are they properly regulated? Where are they based out of? Do they have the correct licensing? Who are their owners? Who is on their management team? What does their track record look like?
Next, we take a look at the company’s history. How long have they been around? Do they have a good reputation in the industry? Do they have a history of customer complaints? What is their experience level like in the casino industry?
And finally, we break down the details of their operation. Are they using industry best practices? Have they properly taken security into account? Do they have a record of delivering on what they promise? Is there anything else about their operation we need to clue in on?
When we get through this long list of questions (and a whole lot more), we’re able to make a final determination about the trustworthiness of a US-based online casino. If there is absolutely anything that perks an eyebrow or doesn’t seem right, the casino is one we’ll choose to permanently avoid. Thanks to the many options of USA online casinos available, there’s no need to slum it with a site that you can’t trust completely.
It’s no secret that the reason people like to play casino games is for entertainment. They love the sounds, the lights, and the overall exciting experience that it brings. For many, it’s a big concern that this will be lost in translation from the brick-and-mortar casino to the online realm. As we already mentioned, this was one of our big concerns as well when the crossover started years ago.
Thankfully, for many US online casinos, the transition was smooth. But that’s not the case across the board. Some US-based online casino sites offer games and graphics that look like they were created in the back of someone’s garage over a couple of beers.
When you play your favorite casino games online, you want to have an experience that at the very least mirrors what you would experience in a brick-and-mortar casino. If it’s any less, what’s the point? We know, though, that the experience can be even greater than a brick-and-mortar thanks to convenience and technology, which is why our standards in this category are extremely high.
This tenant of a great US online casino goes hand in hand with the trust factor we spoke about earlier. In a world full of digital threats, we need to know that the sites we’re gambling with are doing everything within their power to try and keep us safe from these threats. This starts with how their software and servers are set up. Are they using proper encryption? Do they have the right systems and teams in place to deal with external hack attempts? Are they updating their systems frequently enough to stay on the cutting edge of cybersecurity?
Additionally, we look at their banking processes and how they handle your money and personal information. Are they handling things themselves or using third parties? Are these trusted third parties? Do they sell your personal information? Is your money segregated from company funds? What sort of parameters do they have in place if there is a breach or a problem?
While these are all things that we hope never come into play, we want to know that they’re accounted for. We want to know that the casino is staying proactive and not just reacting to threats.
When you play in a brick-and-mortar casino, you get free stuff. You get buffet comps, free rooms sometimes, and even cash back. Why shouldn’t you get these things when you play online as well? Well, we think that you should. This is why when we’re racking and stacking US online casinos we take a big look at their VIP programs, bonuses, and rewards.
We want to see programs that not only rival brick-and-mortar casinos, but that excel above them. While we don’t expect them to give you free buffets and rooms (because they aren’t a hotel as well), we do love to see free trips, free cash, and free merchandise. We really give a lot of credit to creativity for US casino sites who go above and beyond the normal offerings that you can see at any run-of-the-mill site.
Additionally, we look for casinos that are generous with their rewards programs. Brick-and-mortar casinos have become extremely stingy, and betting thousands of dollars won’t even get you a free room in most places these days. We want rewards that are attainable even if you’re just an every-now-and-then recreational gambler.
You should be rewarded for your loyalty and play. This is why we take this into account when we choose our favorite US-based online casinos.
Probably the biggest reason for utilizing an online casino is the convenience of being able to play without driving or flying to the casino. It saves you time, money, and a lot of headaches. But shouldn’t that convenience be able to go one step further? We think so, and thankfully a lot of great US casinos do as well.
When we’re reviewing an online casino, we want to see what they have in terms of mobile betting options. Basically, are we able to play our favorite games from more than just our desktop? We like to be able to play from anywhere we are with a smart device, smartphone, and an internet or phone connection. If we’re sitting on the bus, we want to be able to play. If we’re waiting on a friend to show up, we want to be able to play. It’s not that we like to play 24/7, but we want to at least have the option for the times we want to play.
The last thing we look at when we’re evaluating USA online casinos is the quality (and sometimes existence) of their customer service. It’s our dream that you’d never need anything fixed or any issues handled, but that’s not how the real world works. Even at the greatest of businesses or online casinos, there are going to be things that come up that you need to get handled.
This is why we want to make sure that the proper channels of customer service are in place. We like to see multiple options, options with live agents, and options that are available 24/7/365. We also like to investigate the quality of the responses you get from these agents. It’s all well and good when you can get ahold of someone, but that becomes pointless if the person you’re talking to doesn’t know how to speak English or help you out.
This is an often-overlooked aspect of the review process because most people don’t even think about customer service until they need something done. We like to be proactive and get out in front of things as often as we can.
By now, you should be more than equipped to get started playing your favorite casino games online. We’ve hopefully done our job providing you with the information and resources you need to make an informed decision about where to play, what to play, and how to play. Hopefully, this helps you to get the most out of your entertainment dollar and gives you the best chance of strolling out of the casino a winner.