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The United States are home to over 1500 casinos—more than any other country in the world, in fact–and those gambling dens generate over $71 billion in revenue per year. The casino gambling business continues to grow throughout the country, too. Critics are quick to dismiss the casino industry as being harmful to consumers, but these businesses employ at least half a million people.
But the USA is also a patchwork quilt of gambling laws that vary from state to state. Most states have at least one casino now, but there are still some holdouts where there is no legal casino in which to gamble.
Even the states that are home to the most casinos—Nevada, Oklahoma, Colorado, and California—have dozens of sometimes strange laws on the books regulating the operation of these casinos. For example, Oklahoma is allowed to host casino games that use playing cards, but games with spinning wheels or dice are illegal. (That law is about to change, but you should see the contortions Oklahoma casinos go through to offer roulette and craps powered by decks of cards.)
In the state of Colorado, the most you’re allowed to bet in a casino is $100 at a time.
The rest of this posts looks at the various situations related to casinos by state. I think you’ll find these facts and statistics of interest.
This might seem obvious, as Nevada is home to Las Vegas, the former gambling capital of the world. It’s also home to Reno, which is also known as a casino destination. Nevada has 334 casinos operating within its borders.
But you’d be surprised as some of Nevada’s closest competitors. I live and work in Texas, which is right on the border of Oklahoma, a state which is fast becoming a gambling mecca in its own right. Oklahoma now has 134 casinos operating there, too. That’s about a third of the number of casinos as Nevada, but the latter has been opening casinos since 1931. Oklahoma just got into the business in 2004.
According to WorldAtlas.com, these are the 10 states with the most casinos, in order:
I’m not sure how long these numbers will remain accurate, of course. The industry continues to grow throughout the United States.
USA Today runs a website called “10 Best.” They rank various businesses and products by category, and their ranking of casinos in the USA might be definitive, as it’s based on a readers’ poll. The #1 casino in their poll is the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.
Along with Foxwoods, the Mohegan Sun is one of just 2 casino resorts in the state. It’s made up of 3 casinos:
Between the 3 casinos, Mohegan Sun is host to over 5000 gambling machines and over 275 tables games. They also have a poker room with over 42 tables and a race book. If you enjoy Asian style gambling, they have a separate area for that which offers games like baccarat, pai gow poker, and sic bo.
The rest of 10Best’s list looks like this, in order:
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Only 4 of the casinos in the top 10 are in Nevada, which sounds like a lot, until you consider how many casinos are in the state of Nevada compared to other states.
For years, Foxwoods in Connecticut was the biggest casino in the United States. It has over 340,000 square feet of entertainment. It’s been open since 1986, and the resort itself has over 2200 rooms for guests.
But the Winstar World Casino in Oklahoma has been growing like a weed since it opened in 2004. It doesn’t compete with Foxwoods in terms of number of sleeping rooms, but it has over 500,000 square feet of gambling space. I can remember when it first opened, and it was little more than a big tent on the side of the road.
Those 2 casinos combined are bigger than the next 5 biggest casinos in the country, each of which has about 150,000 square feet for gaming.
According to TripInfo.com, the next biggest casinos in the United States include:
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Every state in the Union now has at least once casino, with only 5 exceptions:
You would think Alaska would be a prime state for casinos, as there’s a relatively large Native American population there compared to other states. But the Indian reservations in the state of Alaska don’t fit the legal definition of “Indian Lands.” This has to do with, among other things, the tribes’ authority to levy taxes.
Tennessee is possibly the most conservative state in the Union. As a result, even though there have been repeated attempts to legalize casinos, the state still can’t pass legislation to allow casinos there. Tennessee does have a state lottery, though, and fantasy sports for money is legal there, too.
Utah, like Tennessee, is extremely conservative, largely because of the large Mormon population and influence there. When my wife visited the state a few years ago, she had trouble finding a place that would sell her a real cup of coffee. (Mormons eschew caffeine.) I think she might have been exaggerating, though, but still—that’s the kind of attitude you’re dealing with there.
Vermont is one of the smallest states in the country, and they’re best-known for their maple syrup. All the states surrounding Vermont offer casino gambling, so it’s not much of a priority to legalize, regulate, and open casinos there in the state itself.
Virginia has been politically opposed to casinos for years, even though Maryland is nearby and offers casino gambling. Their situation is similar to that of Texas. Lots of money going across the border because the state can’t find a way to convince the religious conservatives running the government to legalize and regulate casino gambling. (Texas does have one casinos, though—it’s just so out of the way that it might as well not exist.)
Unless you’re completely unaware of United States history, you already know that we weren’t the first people here. In fact, we took over the country from the natives who already lived here. What’s left of the indigenous tribes now have a certain amount of legal authority when it comes to governing themselves.
This is referred to as “tribal sovereignty.” These tribes are considered “domestic dependent nations,” and they’re recognized by the United States federal government. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 is one of several laws that try to clarify the legal relationship between the federal government and these tribal governments. It’s specific to the operation of gambling businesses.
That law limits the ability of state governments to regulate gambling businesses run on tribal lands.
And that’s the reason we’ve seen so many Native American casinos springing to life over the last 30 years. There are close to 500 casinos run by over 200 different tribes. Since there are only 1500 or so casinos throughout the entire country, it’s easy to calculate the percentage of those that are run by Native American tribes.
Also, since Native American tribes aren’t required to report casino revenues, the actual dollar amount of revenue generated by these properties is unknown.
You can probably guess based on what I’ve included in this post already that you can categorize U.S. casinos according to whether they’re run by a Native American tribe or not. That’s a good starting point, but you can make further categorizations, too.
One category of casinos is “pari-mutuel.” These are casinos located in horse racing or dog racing tracks. Pari-mutuel casinos are also often called “racinos.” They don’t usually differ much from other casinos, but some of them have specific laws allowing slot machines but not table games. And sometimes they offer slot machines where the results are determined by historical racing results, similar to how some casinos use bingo results to determine their slots results.
Another category of casinos is the “riverboat casino.” In many southern states, gambling was illegal, but only on dry land. These riverboat casinos used to have to go on a cruise every day, but the laws aren’t as strict now. Most riverboat casinos never leave the dock anymore.
In fact, many of these riverboat casinos aren’t even on rivers anymore. They’re now docked in lagoons. In Mississippi, the laws have relaxed so much that a riverboat casino can be built on land. It just has to be close to a river.
The laws related to the legal gambling age are state laws, so they vary by state. They’re remarkably consistent, though. In almost all states, you must be 21 to gamble. The only exceptions are:
In those states, the minimum age to gamble legally is 18.
Some states do allow limited gambling by 18 to 20-year-olds. Usually, the only kind of gambling you’re allowed to participate in if you’re under 21 is bingo and other kinds of pari-mutuel gambling. These states allow limited gambling by 18, 19, and 20-year-olds:
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Casino gambling as we know it dates back to 1822. Brown’s Saloon was the name of this proto-casino, and it was located near the border between Colorado and Wyoming. It was so named because it was located in a town called Brown’s Hole. The saloon catered mostly to trappers who were trading in furs, which was a popular industry at the time.
Brown’s Saloon, aka Brown’s Hole Saloon, was open for 18 years, from 1822 to 1840.
Delaware was the first state to legalize online casinos in 2012. They didn’t launch their first sites until late 2013. It’s a relatively small market, although they posted gambling earnings in excess of $3 million in 2016
New Jersey legalized online casinos in 2013. Compared to Delaware, the online casino marketplace in New Jersey is huge—they posted revenues of $196 million in 2016. That number increased by over 25% in just a year, so the market is still growing there.
New Jersey is expected to start taking online sports bets, soon. This should show a dramatic increase in revenues again.
Pennsylvania has passed legislation allowing online casinos, but there are no companies in business yet. The legislation is still recent.
Until the recent Supreme Court decision on May 14, 2018, the only state where you could legally bet on sports was Nevada. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was the law preventing states from legalizing, regulating, and offering sports betting.
In light of this Supreme Court decision, multiple states have started the ball rolling toward offering legal, regulated sports betting. Delaware, Mississippi , New Jersey, and West Virginia already had legal mechanisms in place for launching sports betting. They were just waiting for PASPA to be struck down. They’ll be the first states to offer sports betting in this new environment.
At least another dozen, and maybe as many as two dozen, other states are considering passing legislation to legalize and regulate sports betting. Most of them won’t have any action available until 2019, though, as they need time to get the legislation passed.
And there are 10 interesting facts and statistics about the state of casino gambling in various states. The United States has a rapidly changing casino and gambling environment, both legally and business-wise. It will be fascinating to watch the environment continue to grow over the next couple of decades.
You're damn lucky if your state doesn't have a casino they are just stealing peoples $$ big time
KY has slots at a race track in Mitchelleville/Franklin, KY. IL has casinos, Metropolis. There are a Lot of mistakes reference casinos!
Does Alabama have slots ? Darn state does not even have lotto
Find detailed information on US casinos in every state - both land-based and online. Our experts have compiled information regarding states who legalized onlinecasinos and details about all legal USA online casinos. We have provided knowledge on gambling specifics for each state and what types of casinos are legal in each particular state. OnAmerican Casino Guide, you will find detailed lists of every US casino resort, riverboat casino and Indian casino in the country. Just choose a state from the below list of UScasinos-by-state in order to bring up detailed information on what types of casinos are available in the respective state, a list of all casinos within the state borders, and slot machine payback statistics for all US casinos.
Click here to see Maps of Casino Locations in Every U.S. State
The states who have now moved forward with legal online gambling are as follows:
Legal online casino:
Legal online poker:
Legal Online Sportsbooks:
The online casino USA market is definitely starting to grow. The domino effect is taking place, now that states are seeing the financial benefits of legal online casinos. The laws surroundingUSA online casinos are specific to the state where they are licensed. Ultimately it is up to the state to decide whether or not to legalize online casinos. We have seen the biggest impact oflegalizing online casinos in the state of New Jersey thus far.
In New Jersey, the online casino market is flourishing. There is a long list of legal online casinos - all of which are remaining competitive in this flourishing market. The current list oflegal NJ Casinos are as follows:
Legal online casino gambling was recently just passed through legislation in Pennsylvania, meaning online casinos are on their way in the Keystone State. The projected list of online casinos in Pennsylvania are as follows:
The only other state in America with legal online casino gambling is in fact, Delaware, and just like the state’s size, the list is quite small. The legal online casinos inDelaware are as follows:
Here at American Casino Guide, we have thorough reviews on each legal online casino in the USA. In our comprehensive online casino reviews, you will find useful information about eachsite and how it affects you as a player. Review briefs on the game selections offered at each site along with some of their most popular game titles.Learn about the software providers and interface design of these sites as well as their mobile apps and how efficient each application runs. See the banking options allowed at each site so thatyou can be sure your preferred withdrawal and deposit methods are available on your favorite online casinos. And finally, see what kinds of casino bonuses and specialpromotions are being offered at these casinos so that you can achieve the maximum amount of free play on your favorite casino games!
There are many different kinds of casinos throughout the United States. Depending on your location in the country, there could be a mix of the following casinos:
Just choose a state from the American casino guide below, organized by state, and have a look at the detailed information of each. The information provided includes:
Each casino listing will explain its hours of operation, games offered, hotel rates, buffet prices, minimum gambling age, photos, maps, directions and more! You can even read and write your ownreview for each casino.
LISTED BELOW ARE LINKS TO ALL CASINOS IN EVERY STATE
Indian casinos, also known as Tribal casinos, are usually located on federally recognized Indian reservations. They range in size from small truck stops and convenience storesto some of the largest casinos in the country. At a small truck stop casino, you would generally find a handful of machines and these would be located in places such as Oklahoma or Wisconsin.Connecticut is home to one of the world’s largest casinos - Foxwoods Casino.
Different states have different legal agreements regarding Indian casinos. Depending on the agreement made, these Indian casinos can offer either Class II gaming or Class IIIgaming.
Class III (Class 3) gaming is what most people would describe as “normal” casino gaming. This is kind of casino gambling you would find at the majority of casinos in the country, such as LasVegas. Class III gaming involves the player playing against “the house” like in blackjack, craps, roulette, or any other table game, as well as slot machines.
Class II (Class 2) gaming, on the other hand, is slightly different. These are games where players compete against other players such as in poker and bingo. Over the years,casinos have found ways around this to offer other casino games similar to Class III games, however, adhering still to Class II rules. A great example of this would be Class II slot machinesthat closely resemble a normal, Class III machine but you will notice a small bingo card in the corner of the screen. So, in essence, you are actually playing a quicker version of virtual bingoagainst other players in the casino. The reels spin and you can see winning combinations. The reels, however, are “for entertainment purposes only” and your chances of winning are basedentirely on the bingo card in the corner.
Another example of Class II games would be player-banked table games where a player would compete against other players rather than against the casino. These look identical to traditional tablegames. The difference lays in the fact that players have to pay an ante of around $0.50-$1 per hand. In most cases there is someone who supplies the money to be the “bank” and the only moneythe casino receives is the ante made by each player.
Some states such as Arkansas or Delaware only allow casinos in pari-mutuel facilities. Pari-mutuel refers to locations with legalized wagering on horse or dog races; or inFlorida, jai-alai games. Since a vast majority of pari-mutuel facilities in the United States are racetracks, these types of casinos are often also known as “racinos,” a combination of thewords racetrack and casino.
Besides having legal on-property betting on horse racing, dog racing or jai-alai, these casinos are almost identical to most other land-based casinos. However, depending on the laws of thestates where they are located, some may not offer live table games, or may only have slot machines.
A somewhat new development at pari-mutuel facilities in states where traditional casino gambling is illegal is something called “historical racing machines.” These are considered Class IImachines similar to the bingo-based machines at many Indian casinos but instead of being based on a bingo card, the results of these games are based on racing results from previous horse races.
Land-based casinos refer to the typical casinos that people often think of when they think of a casino. An example of this would a popular casino in Las Vegas or Atlantic City. Casino gamblingwas legalized in Nevada in 1931 and it was the only state to offer that type of gambling until 1977 when New Jersey legalized casinos for its seaside resort town of Atlantic City. It is theseland-based, stand-alone, casinos that were the original forms of casinos until riverboat and Indian casinos came along in the 1990s.
Riverboat casinos are exactly what they sound like - casinos located inside riverboats. These are found in many states throughout the South and the Midwest such as Illinois,Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and Mississippi. However, they have evolved over the years as the laws and regulations have been quite relaxed. Originally, they were required to leave the dock andcruise for several hours periodically throughout the day. In the beginning, some states even required the casinos to enact loss limits during these cruises.
Eventually, the loss limits were lifted, as were the requirements for them to cruise periodically, and they began operations constantly docked on the river. Some states later allowed thecasinos to be built on floating barges in man-made lagoons fed from the rivers. That is where most of the states are now, however some states such as Mississippi have now allowed their“riverboat” casinos to operate on land. As much as that does not make sense, the rules still require these facilities to be built within a certain distance from the water.