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No offshore casino is licensed in the US. If one keeps your money, nobody here can make it pay you.
This site contains no affiliate links. If that changes, you'll read it here first.
If gambling costs you more than you can afford, free help is at ncpgambling.org or 1-800-MY-RESET. The old number, 1-800-522-4700, still works.
This site covers online casino in the United States, state by state. It doesn't cover any other jurisdiction.
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Independently verified · sources checked
No. None of these 33 states licenses an online casino, so every site you can reach from here is offshore. Offshore means no US state licensed it, so any online casino that lets you sign up here does it illegally. At best it answers to a foreign regulator, and no US authority can make it pay you if it refuses.
| Question | You | The casino |
|---|---|---|
Is this casino legit and licensed here? No. It holds no US license, it isn't allowed to operate in your state, and it isn't a safe or legal option for you. | No | No |
Can you be fined or jailed for playing? Unlikely, but this isn't permission: the site is still illegal. The law goes after the casino and the banks, not the player. | No | Yes |
Can you lose your money for good? A balance can vanish with the site, and nothing obliges anyone to give it back. | Yes | No |
| Question | Offshore | Licensed |
|---|---|---|
Is it licensed by a US state regulator? No US state has licensed it, so no US authority has ever checked it. | No | Yes |
Is the license foreign, from Curaçao, Anjouan or Panama? Those 3 jurisdictions issue most of the licenses you'll see on sites that take US players. | Yes | No |
Is there a public licensee list you can check? There's no US register to look it up in, so the claim rests on the site's own word. | No | Yes |
Does the license protect you? It's a deal between the casino and a foreign authority, and you have no rights under it. | No | Yes |
Are your funds kept separate from the casino's own money? Nothing offshore requires it, so your balance sits in the same account as the company's cash. | No | Yes |
If they refuse to pay, can you complain to a regulator? A foreign authority answers to the license it sold, not to a player in the US. | No | Yes |
| Question | Offshore | Licensed |
|---|---|---|
Is your money safe here? No. Every risk below is normal on an offshore site, and no one can make the casino honor any of it. | No | Yes |
Can your bank block the payment? US banks and card issuers are required to block gambling payments to unlicensed sites, so a deposit or a payout can simply be refused. | Yes | No |
Can a payout to your bank or wallet be rejected? Because the casino operates illegally, the transfer can be flagged, returned or frozen by your bank. | Yes | No |
Can your money get stuck in the casino account? If payments are blocked or the account is under review, the balance stays there and you can't move it out. | Yes | No |
Can they limit how much you can withdraw each week or month? Offshore sites set limits far below a licensed casino's, so a big win is paid in slices over weeks or months. | Yes | No |
Can a payout be blocked for a surprise account check? Payouts held for extra checks are the most common complaint, and support can go quiet for days. | Yes | Rare |
Can they demand your ID only when you cash out? Many let you deposit with an email, then require full ID checks at withdrawal. | Yes | No |
Can a jackpot be paid out slowly, a piece at a time? Big wins come on the casino's schedule, not yours. | Yes | No |
Can they void your winnings on a technicality? A cashout cap or a max bet rule buried in the terms can wipe out a win. | Yes | Rare |
Can they refuse to pay, with no regulator to stop them? No US authority can make one hand your money back. | Yes | No |
Can they close your account and keep the balance? In the worst cases the account is closed with the balance inside. | Yes | Rare |
Can a lost deposit stay lost, with no way for your bank to reverse it? Crypto can't be reversed, and asking your bank to undo a card payment to an offshore casino rarely works. | Yes | No |
Do you still owe tax if the site never sends a W-2G? Winnings are taxable whether or not the site reports them. | Yes | No |
No. No US license, banned in every state including the 7 regulated ones. Most laws target the casino, not you, so players rarely get charged. That still doesn't make it legal.
Almost never, in practice. Federal law targets casinos and payment companies, not you. Washington names players, Utah and Hawaii call it a minor offense, and nobody's been charged. Your money is the risk, not your record.
No. Retail casinos, tribal casinos and the lottery each run under their own licenses and laws. Plenty of states allow all 3 and license zero online casinos.
It can order one to stop, and several do. What it can't do is reach a company sitting abroad. An order proves the site is illegal here. It doesn't get your money back.
Legit describes the site: your own regulator approved it. Legal is the earlier question, whether the place you're standing permits any form of online casino. If it doesn't, no site can be legit there. Safe goes one step further, because a legit site still takes real money: it also means limits you set yourself, like a deposit cap.
One test: is it licensed by your state? A legit US casino is on your regulator's public list and can be forced to pay you. Missing from it means offshore, licensed abroad, answerable to nobody.
It ties the casino to a foreign regulator, not to you. If the site refuses a payout or closes your account with the balance inside, no US authority can make it pay.
Not really. Curaçao publishes who it licensed, enough to catch a fake seal. But the register itself warns it can't confirm a license is still valid.
On paper, yes: it's an EU regulator with a searchable register. But a Malta license doesn't allow US players at all. So if a site with a Malta seal takes your deposit, the brand and the company holding your money usually aren't the same.
Accepting you is a business call, not a safety check. Offshore sites take everyone, including the 43 states with nothing licensed. Safe means licensed by your state, with your funds held apart from the company's.
No. A sweepstakes casino runs on promotion rules, not a casino license, so no state regulator tests its games or stands behind its payouts. A growing number of states have banned the model outright, and none licenses it.
2 conditions, and both count. First, the brand appears on the licensee roster published by the authority in your state. Second, you're physically present in that same state while you play. Fail either one and it isn't legit for you, whatever it claims.
The padlock only means the connection is encrypted. Any site can get one for free in minutes, offshore or not. A clean design costs even less. Neither one says which authority licensed the casino.
No, and that's the honest answer. The only proof that holds is a license from the state you live in. Without it, every verdict is a guess dressed up as a review.
Usually 1 founder and a company registered far from the players it takes. The brand on your screen and the company in the terms often aren't the same.
Nobody outside the company knows. They publish no accounts, and no rule forces them to keep enough aside to cover what players are owed.
Possible, and almost impossible to disprove. An offshore site can run games it built itself, with no independent lab checking the odds.
A store listing means the app passed the store's review. Sweepstakes and social casino apps sit in those charts too, next to licensed ones, with identical slots and a matching look. A listing proves nothing about approval where you play.
Reviews tell you how the site felt to other players. A review can't verify a license, and some are paid for. Only the regulator's roster settles it.
Only where it holds a license. A brand approved by New Jersey regulators is legit for players physically there. Open it from Texas and it blocks you, because its license stops at the state line. A similar name that lets you in from Texas isn't that brand's licensed casino.
Same story every time: tiny withdrawal ceilings, big wins dragged out for months, payouts frozen, ID demanded only at cashout, winnings voided on fine print terms, accounts shut with your balance inside.
Everything worth filing a complaint over. You lose the state list to check a brand against and the regulator who could order a payout. Your money isn't kept apart from theirs, nobody tests the games and you can't set a deposit limit.
US banks have to block gambling transfers to unlicensed sites. Deposits bounce and withdrawals get flagged or frozen. And since the casino runs illegally, your balance can sit there with no way out.
It depends on who licensed it. If your state did, file with that regulator: it can force the payout. If the site is offshore, there's nobody above it to appeal to, and the balance can be gone for good.
No. Small cashouts are the cheapest trust a site can buy, and they're what makes you deposit again. The break comes on the big win.
Not all of them, but not one is protected. They're licensed abroad and banned here, so no US regulator can make them pay. Tiny withdrawal limits and frozen payouts are routine on these sites.
Enough to rule a site out, never enough to clear one. Check the company in the terms, the certificate behind the footer seal, clauses capping withdrawals or voiding winnings, crypto only payouts. Spot one and walk.
Only 7 states license online casino: New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Michigan, Connecticut and Rhode Island. A site is legit there only if it sits on that state's official list, and you must be physically inside the state to play.
| Question | Licensed | Offshore |
|---|---|---|
Are games tested for fairness by the state? Games have to pass testing before the state lets them go live. | Yes | No |
Do you get state self-exclusion tools? One request covers every casino licensed in the state, and every one of those casinos has to honor it. | Yes | No |
| Question | Licensed | Since |
|---|---|---|
New Jersey Div. of Gaming Enforcement, P.L. 2013 c.27 · official list → | Yes | 2013 |
Delaware Delaware Lottery, Delaware Gaming Competitiveness Act of 2012 · state platform → | Yes | 2013 |
Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Act 42 of 2017 · official list → | Yes | 2019 |
West Virginia WV Lottery, WV Lottery Interactive Wagering Act, W. Va. Code 29-22E · official list → | Yes | 2020 |
Michigan Gaming Control Board, Lawful Internet Gaming Act, PA 152 of 2019 · official list → | Yes | 2021 |
Connecticut Consumer Protection, Public Act 21-23 · official list → | Yes | 2021 |
Rhode Island RI Lottery, R.I. Gen. Laws 42-61.2 · 1 casino by law, lottery rules → | Yes | 2024 |
It went first, back in 2013 under P.L. 2013 c.27, and its Division of Gaming Enforcement has been licensing casinos ever since. As the longest running market in the country, it has the longest licensee list to check a brand against.
The state does it itself. There's no lineup of competing brands here: the Delaware Lottery runs the platform, so there's no list of licensed casinos to search, as there is in other states.
Find it on the Gaming Control Board's list of interactive gaming licenses. If the brand isn't there, it isn't licensed in Pennsylvania, whatever its footer says. Act 42 authorized online casino in 2017 and the first sites went live in 2019.
Only the ones on the WV Lottery's licensed list. Online casino has been legal here since 2020 under the Interactive Wagering Act 29-22E, overseen by the state lottery. It's a smaller market than its neighbors, but what matters is the same: a regulator here can order a licensed site to pay you.
Harder than anywhere else. Its Gaming Control Board ordered 45 offshore casinos to stop serving Michigan players in April 2026 alone. Online casino has been legal here since 2021 under PA 152, and the board publishes who's licensed.
Because Public Act 21-23 built the market around the state's tribal nations rather than opening it to everyone, so the licensed list here is short by design. The Department of Consumer Protection runs the gaming division you'd complain to.
Rhode Island came last, in 2024, and built its market under the state lottery instead of licensing a crowd of brands. Fewer choices than New Jersey, but the same kind of protection: a state regulator stands behind the one you get.
No. It's not on your state's licensee list, so it's unlicensed where you live too. A legal state doesn't upgrade an offshore site.
Read the license in the footer. If it says Curaçao, Anjouan or Panama, you have your answer. Otherwise search the brand on your state regulator's list. Not listed, not licensed.
7. New Jersey and Delaware since 2013, Pennsylvania 2019, West Virginia 2020, Michigan and Connecticut 2021, Rhode Island 2024. Maine legalized it but nothing's live yet.
Yes, in all 7 states. Every regulated market sets the online casino age at 21, even where the state lottery starts at 18. An offshore site letting you in at 18 is telling you something about the rest of its checks.
No. A state license covers people physically inside that state, so the app checks where you are, not where you live. Cross the line and it locks, and a VPN to fake it breaks the casino's terms and can cost you the balance.
Hold your money separately from its own, submit its games for testing, honor the state self-exclusion list and answer a regulator that can fine it or pull the license. None of that is voluntary, and none of it exists offshore.
The state regulator that licensed it, and its name is on the license. It can open a file, order the casino to answer and sanction it. That's the whole difference: there's an address that outranks the casino.
Player funds have to be held apart from company money precisely so a shutdown doesn't take them with it, and the regulator oversees the wind down. Offshore, the balance goes wherever the site goes.
Check the developer name under the app title. It should match the company named in the regulator's records or in the casino's own terms. A different developer or a name spelled slightly off means stop there.
Only if the web address matches. New Jersey's list shows the approved address for each site. Copy sites borrow a licensed brand's name and logo on a domain no regulator approved. Type the address from the list yourself instead of following an ad.
Not yet. Maine legalized online casino under LD 1164 and gave the 4 Wabanaki Nations exclusive rights, but no license has been granted and no site has launched. Any site claiming a Maine license today isn't licensed.
| Question | Today | Once live |
|---|---|---|
Has a law legalized it? Passed, but nothing is running yet | Yes | Yes |
Can you legally play today? No licensed casino has launched | No | Yes |
Can a site claim a Maine license? No Maine license exists yet, so a site claiming one today is lying. | No | Yes |
| Question | Maine | Offshore |
|---|---|---|
Does the law say who runs it? Exclusive to the Wabanaki Nations under LD 1164 | Yes | No |
Is a launch date set? Early 2027 is the date most cited, and it can slip | Yes | No |
Is a regulator in place? The Maine Gambling Control Unit, once live | Yes | No |
Any licensed casino today? None has launched | No | No |
Not yet, and early 2027 is the date most people in the industry now name. The law took effect in July 2026 and the state's gambling unit has held its public hearing, but the rules still aren't published, no license has been granted and no platform has been tested. A federal lawsuit is running alongside it, with no injunction so far.
Only the 4 Wabanaki Nations hold the licenses, with 1 commercial partner each. That's the mirror image of most states, where a casino company holds the license and a tribe partners in.
No, not one. The law took effect in July 2026 and the Wabanaki Nations hold exclusive rights, but nothing has launched. Until the state grants a license, every site taking Maine players is offshore.
Only sites the state approves, each tied to a Wabanaki Nation. The law gives each of the 4 Nations a single commercial partner, so expect a short list. A familiar brand promising Maine access before approval is published isn't licensed there.
New York, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Indiana and Illinois have online casino bills filed, but none has a legal market. A filed bill changes nothing today: every site you can reach there is still offshore and unlicensed.
| Question | Today | If it passes |
|---|---|---|
Can you play with US protection? A filed bill changes nothing while it sits. Protection starts the day a licensed casino opens. | No | Yes |
Could the law still change? A bill can be rewritten, shelved or revived next session, and a law that passes can still be amended. | Yes | Yes |
| Question | Passed? | Licensed? |
|---|---|---|
New York Bills filed, none passed | No | No |
Maryland Debated in committee, never reached a vote | No | No |
Virginia Studied and shelved, no licensed market | No | No |
Illinois Introduced repeatedly, stalled in chamber | No | No |
Indiana Repeated bills, all stalled | No | No |
Massachusetts Hearings held, no bill passed | No | No |
No. The 2026 push died before the session closed: the sponsor dropped his bill once it was clear the governor wouldn't sign it. That's 5 sessions in a row without a floor vote, and the earliest anything moves is 2027.
They're separate fights. Albany has land based casino owners, unions and tribal casinos all standing to lose if slots move onto phones. Sports betting never had that lined up against it.
It got closer than anywhere else and still lost. Both chambers passed a version, then the 2 versions couldn't be reconciled in conference in March. On top of that a bill like this has to pass in 2 consecutive sessions here, so even a win next year wouldn't put a licensed site live before 2028.
2 hurdles. The 2026 bill got its committee hearing and never got a vote before the deadline. And a law alone isn't enough here: the question has to go to voters, so a bill that passes only puts it on a ballot.
Not this year. The 2026 bill was sent to study in March, which in statehouse language means shelved without anyone having to vote no. Versions keep getting filed and none has reached the floor.
Bills keep getting filed and keep getting parked, 2026 included. Indiana has had online sports betting since 2019, which is exactly why people assume casino came with it. It didn't.
It's the only one of these states with a bill still technically alive, sitting in committee after being sent back to Rules. Alive isn't the same as close: nothing has reached a vote and tribal opposition hasn't shifted.
New York, Maryland, Virginia, Illinois, Indiana and Massachusetts have all filed bills. None became a market. A site telling you your state is about to open is selling you something.
Longer than any site will tell you. 7 states license it, and Maine needed 2 years just to get its law in force, still with no launch.
2 different laws, 2 different votes. Most states that allow online sports betting never authorized slots and table games. A legal sportsbook says nothing about casino.
It stays exactly as illegal as it is today. Legalizing creates licensed casinos. It doesn't license the site you were already using, and nothing obliges that site to hand back what it holds.
No. Your state hasn't licensed anyone yet. When a market opens, the licensed sites show up on the regulator's list first. Any site taking deposits before then is offshore, whatever it promises about launch day.
Washington, Utah and Hawaii. Utah and Hawaii allow no gambling of any kind, and Washington writes online play into its criminal code as a felony. Sites still accept players there, but none of them is legal or licensed.
| Question | You | The casino |
|---|---|---|
Has any player ever been punished? No case against a player has ever been recorded. | No | Yes |
| Question | Here | Regulated |
|---|---|---|
Is offshore play legal? Offshore sites hold no US license anywhere, so a state that regulates online casino doesn't make them legal there. | No | No |
Does the law apply to players? Washington writes the player into the offense, not just the casino. | Yes | No |
Is it a felony on the books? Washington puts it in the criminal code rather than treating it as a regulatory matter. | Yes | No |
Is there any legal online casino? No casino can be licensed here, so every site you can reach from Washington is offshore. | No | Yes |
| Question | Here | Regulated |
|---|---|---|
Is any gambling legal at all? Utah and Hawaii are the only 2 states with no legal gambling of any kind. | No | Yes |
Is there a lottery or a casino? Neither state runs a lottery or hosts a casino, so there's nothing local to compare against. | No | Yes |
If I can reach a site, is it legal? Reaching a site says nothing about its standing. Access isn't authorization anywhere in the US. | No | No |
Is gambling itself against the law? Both states ban gambling in their own law, so the online version was never a separate question. | Yes | No |
On paper it's the harshest law in the country. RCW 9.46.240 treats playing online as a Class C felony here, and the text reaches players and not only the sites they use. In practice nobody has actually been charged for it. Retail and tribal casinos stay legal here, which is what throws people off.
None of any kind. Utah bans every form and gambling itself is a misdemeanor under Utah Code 76-10-1102. Nothing online is licensed here, and nothing's close to it.
Hawaii is the other state that allows no legal gambling at all, and gambling is a misdemeanor under Haw. Rev. Stat. 712-1223. Bills to open something up show up regularly and none has ever passed.
Washington is the harshest: a Class C felony under RCW 9.46.240, and the text names players. Utah and Hawaii ban gambling itself in their own criminal codes.
Most states chase the site and the banks, so you face no penalty, just zero protection. Washington's felony law names players too. Utah and Hawaii ban all gambling and treat playing as a misdemeanor.
Online casino is licensed in 7 states and legalized but not live in Maine. 6 states have bills filed, 3 ban it outright and the other 33 are offshore only. Where no state regulator licenses online casino, every site you can reach is offshore. Offshore means the casino holds no US license, and signing you up from one of those states is illegal.
| State | Online casino | State regulator |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Offshore only | None |
| Alaska | Offshore only | None |
| Arizona | Offshore only | None |
| Arkansas | Offshore only | None |
| California | Offshore only | None |
| Colorado | Offshore only | None |
| Connecticut | Regulated | CT Consumer Protection |
| Delaware | Regulated | Delaware Lottery |
| Florida | Offshore only | None |
| Georgia | Offshore only | None |
| Hawaii | Illegal | None |
| Idaho | Offshore only | None |
| Illinois | Bills filed | None |
| Indiana | Bills filed | None |
| Iowa | Offshore only | None |
| Kansas | Offshore only | None |
| Kentucky | Offshore only | None |
| Louisiana | Offshore only | None |
| Maine | Not live | None yet |
| Maryland | Bills filed | None |
| Massachusetts | Bills filed | None |
| Michigan | Regulated | MI Gaming Control Board |
| Minnesota | Offshore only | None |
| Mississippi | Offshore only | None |
| Missouri | Offshore only | None |
| Montana | Offshore only | None |
| Nebraska | Offshore only | None |
| Nevada | Offshore only | None |
| New Hampshire | Offshore only | None |
| New Jersey | Regulated | NJ Div. of Gaming Enforcement |
| New Mexico | Offshore only | None |
| New York | Bills filed | None |
| North Carolina | Offshore only | None |
| North Dakota | Offshore only | None |
| Ohio | Offshore only | None |
| Oklahoma | Offshore only | None |
| Oregon | Offshore only | None |
| Pennsylvania | Regulated | PA Gaming Control Board |
| Rhode Island | Regulated | RI Lottery |
| South Carolina | Offshore only | None |
| South Dakota | Offshore only | None |
| Tennessee | Offshore only | None |
| Texas | Offshore only | None |
| Utah | Illegal | None |
| Vermont | Offshore only | None |
| Virginia | Bills filed | None |
| Washington | Illegal | None |
| West Virginia | Regulated | WV Lottery |
| Wisconsin | Offshore only | None |
| Wyoming | Offshore only | None |
The regulator column shows who licenses online casino in each state. None means nobody does. Tap a state for the full answer.
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Stateschecker.com is an independent audit of online casino licensing by US state. We answer one question per state: is online casino play regulated, offshore or banned where you are, and how can you check a license yourself.
We publish legal status and how to verify it, not dollar amounts or offers. We name state regulators and licensing jurisdictions but never an offshore casino. We don't earn commissions or carry affiliate links.
No. Washington licenses none. Brands licensed elsewhere block players located here. Any site that still lets you play from Washington has shown you it's offshore.