Best Online Gambling Sites

Welcome and thanks for visiting USGamblingSites.com.  As our name suggests, the purpose of this site is to help Americans find trustworthy, reputable and honest places to gamble online, that are 100% legal & regulated according to current USA laws.

On our site, you'll find in-depth coverage of the US regulated market with expert insight and analysis from our team of journalists. We've also built detailed sections on state-by-state legislation, as well as reviews of top sites including online casinos, sportsbooks and poker sites.

About The USA Online Gambling Market

At US Gambling Sites we aim to provide our readers with everything they need to know about gambling online in the United States. As US gambling laws are rapidly changing state-by-state it is easy to get lost in the chaos of what is legal and illegal in the gambling realm. Online Casinos, Sports Betting and Real Money Poker Play are all on the table for each state to legalize and regulate.

Online Casinos

Over the last year, a growing number of states have begun the licensing of online casinos giving players many options to choose from. Currently however, there are only three states that have fully legalized and have licensed online casinos ready for players to try their luck. These states include: New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania. Our guide to online casinos provides you with everything you need to get started. USGS offers a wide selection of trust-worthy online casinos to choose from, which include an in-depth review of each site, game selections and more.

Sports Betting

It has been well over a year since the Supreme Court dismantled PASPA and sports betting has been thriving across the nation ever since. The era of Nevada having the monopoly on US sports bettors has come to end. At the present moment, the following states have also joined the club: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,  Oregon, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Iowa and Indiana. We have reviewed a number of sports betting sites and have put together comprehensive guides to help you pick the right sportsbook.

Online Poker

Online poker is not strictly against any US laws which has left the door open to a number of offshore poker sites that accept US players. However, there are currently four states that offer legal online poker - New Jersey, Nevada, Delaware and Pennsylvania. West Virginia has also joined the fold and legalized online poker in the fall 2019 but isn’t expected to go live until 2020.

Site Reviews

Before getting started, gambling newbies and seasoned pros alike must always properly vet any online gambling website they might be interested in gambling on. Our review section allows players to get a general overview of our recommended gambling sites as well as key factors to consider before making the final choice.

All of our site recommendations are licensed and legal. We only list sites that have been legally permitted and licensed to operate on a state-by-state basis. We also cover any bonus or promotions offered, products and software used, their customer service reputation and most importantly each sites deposit and withdrawal methods.

US Online Gambling FAQ

We know the current legal gambling Homefront is still a bit confusing, so our goal is to provide you with the most up-to-date and accurate information. Below are some questions and answers you may have in regards to online gambling in the US.

Is Online Gambling Legal in The USA?

This is definitely one of the most frequently asked questions by people looking to play online and the short answer is yes, there is no definitive law preventing US residents from gambling online, in fact, there is regulated legal gambling in a number of US states including Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware.  To date, no individual has ever been charged in the US simply for playing online, and it's unlikely this will ever happen given the current climate moving towards regulation.

That being said, the US Government has implemented a number of laws that restrict both banks and operators from offering services to Americans, however enforcement to date has been relatively lackluster and there are still lots of offshore sites offering real money services in the United States.

Is Online Gambling Safe and Secure?

This is one of the biggest issues for new players is figuring out what sites can be trusted since historically there has been a lot of turmoil with US operators taking player funds, having rigged software or simply going out of business and vanishing overnight. Because of this, it’s extremely important that you stick to our trusted recommend sites if you thinking about playing online for real money.  

All of the sites we’ve suggested here at US Gambling Sites share the following traits in common that help make them safe and secure for players:

• Longstanding reputation with operations in excess of 10-15+ years in the US market
• Lots of deposit options with high rates of success for credit cards like Visa, Amex and MasterCard
• Fast payouts available to customers (same day for methods like Bitcoin, 3-10 days for others)
• Dedicated and knowledgeable customer service teams available 24 hours a day
• Frequent promotional offers including deposit bonuses, getaways and other special promotions

What is the minimum required age for US online gambling?

In general, the average minimum gambling age across the nation is 21 years old. However, there are a few states that do allow gamblers to be a minimum of 18 years old. 

How do I recognize legal gambling sites?

Any regulated and licensed online gambling site will have displayed, usually in the footer, the logo or name of their governing entity. If there is no presence of a state regulator on the website either in the footer or in the ‘about us’ section, then you are probably not on a legal online gambling site.

Be aware of some sites claiming to have regulations in other jurisdictions; this does NOT make those sites legal ones.

State-By-State Gambling Laws

One of the interesting nuances about US gambling laws is that many are decided on a state level, and because of this there are different regulations put in place state by state, as well as varying acceptance levels from different sites. 

To keep up with the legal gambling landscape across the nation visit our Legal Gambling page to know exactly where each state stands on gambling. Below you'’'ll also find a list of all US states providing you with an in-depth review of their current status on legal online gambling.

All of these pages are updated frequently to reflect current market conditions - Last Updated Dec 2019.

History Of Online Gambling In America

While the USA is historically one of the more challenging regions in the world when it comes to online gambling, the tides are changing and new regulations mean players from many states now can play completely legally online.

With recent changes to US laws including the repeal of PASPA, as well as intense lobbying from gaming companies globally, the American market is finally starting to open up to legalized and regulated gambling - which is great news for US players whom typically have been weary of offshore sites (with good reason).

It all begin in 1994 in the Caribbean nation of Barbuda and Antigua, where online gambling was first to be regulated under the Free trade and Processing Act. The island granted licensing to companies who offered gambling services online. InterCasino became the first online gambling site in 1996. Following this launch, many sites, gaming developers and gaming commissions followed suite.

By 1998, it was reported that online gambling revenues had reached well over $825 million US. Between the launch of Planet Poker and the opening of Microgaming online casino games, online gambling had really taken off. In 2000, sports betting joined the fold, pushing online gambling to an all time high and just when everyone thought online gambling had peaked, what is known as the Poker Boom occurred in 2003. This refers to the amount of poker players online doubling each year from then on until 2007. 

But as they say,’what goes up, must come down’; and with that said, in 2006 the US unexpectedly banned all online gambling services under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Although the act of gambling online was never outlawed, banning financial transactions essentially shut down the industry. Finally, in 2011 the DOJ reviewed the Wire Act and disclosed that the law only applied to sports betting. This opened the door for states to regulate Online Casino gambling and Online Poker gambling. Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey were the first to make the move. New Jersey then continued the fight for legal sports betting by taking on PASPA, which concluded in 2018 with its overturning.

The Governing Laws of Online Gambling

There are two main federal laws that focus on online gambling in the US:

Wire Act – The Federal Wire Act was introduced in 1961 and signed off by JFK with the principle purpose of making interstate gambling illegal as a way to combat organized crime.  As a package of 8 different bills under the Inter-State Anti-Crime Acts, the Wire Act originally sought to make illegal transactions related to gambling (bookmaking for example) across state lines and had nothing to do with the Internet (as it wouldn’t even exist for another 30 years).

After the advent of the Internet, the law was re-purposed as a way to combat telephone bookmaking, and later offshore companies that were offering betting services to Americans online.

One thing that's important to note about this law is that it specifically focuses only on sports betting and has nothing to do with online casino games or online poker.  It's believed that a major part of this has to do with protecting the integrity and profits of the professional sports leagues that operate in the US.

UIGEA – Known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, UIGEA is a bill that was passed in 2006 by George W. Bush that focuses on restricting banks from processing transactions in the US related to online gambling.  In a nut shell, the law makes it illegal for banks to knowingly approve credit card and other transactions if the customer is attempting to make a deposit at an online gambling site.

Initially, the fallout from this law was massive, with many of the top operators and publicly traded gaming companies at the time resigning to leaving the US market (Party Poker and Poker Stars to name a few).  In many circles, it was believed that this signaled the end of the unregulated US market and overnight billions of dollars in revenue was wiped off these companies books who has spent years building up a lucrative customer base in the US.

While there was mass panic at the beginning, in reality the passing of UIGEA had little impact on actually restricting sites from operating, and instead cleared the way for smaller more resourceful companies to secure big positions in the market.

The Future Outlook For The US Market

According to Statista, the current market value of online gambling is roughly around the 50 billion USD mark. As large as the amount may seem, it comes at no surprise. The market today has so man options to offer and game makers are continuously evolving not only casino games but also website designs giving players a true-life like casino experience.

As 2020 approaches, many operators are looking to the future and exploring the potential of virtual reality games and the major growth of eSports. This means far better mobile experiences for players and attracting the younger generations.

Online gambling isn’t the only thing that has become increasingly popular in recent years. Cyptocurrency, like Bitcoin, have risen in popularity and joined forces with online gambling. There are some online gambling sites that allow you to deposit and withdraw with certain types of crypto, Bitcoin being the most popular one of choice. Using crypto for online gambling often allows a safer and quicker way to deposit and withdraw funds, which makes the entire gaming experience that much more easy for the players.

All said, we expect that over time, more and more US states will introduce regulated gambling.  However, even if full regulation across the nation were to occur, it's likely the offshore companies will still thrive since they are more experienced. In other words they will have better promotions, payment methods and won'y be required to disclose tax information. Nevertheless, the online gambling is heavily competing with brick and mortar casinos so much said that the industry is expected to be worth more than 94 billion USD by 2024.