The Top 10 Best USA Online Casinos Sites. The online casino market in the USA is intensely competitive with new casinos popping up every month offering bigger and better no deposit bonus codes with amazingly fast payouts, but often that is not the case. Finding the best US online casinos to play at in 2021 doesn't have to be a horrible experience. Our top-rated US gambling sites offer everything under one roof, making it even easier to bet on sports and play online casino games. Whether you have a penchant for slots, a romance with roulette, or a love of blackjack, you can find all the games you love neatly categorized and readily available to play. New Jersey offers legal online gambling websites and mobile apps across multiple verticals. Regulated NJ online casinos and NJ online poker sites first appeared in late 2013 for eligible bettors physically located in the state. As of late 2018, NJ online sports betting is also available — and thriving. To learn more about NJ’s legal online.
You could theoretically take at least 4 different approaches to writing a page about “video poker websites”. You could write a page that features a list of the best online casinos where you can play video poker for real money. Or you could write a page that features a list of the best informational sites on the subject. The third option is to do both—that’s the route we’ve decided to go with this page.
Our directory of the best video poker sites starts with a list of casinos which offer what we think are good VP games with good payback tables. More importantly, the casinos listed have excellent reputations related to timely customer service, fast payouts, and integrity in their dealings.
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Rank | DE Online Casino | Exclusive Bonus | Get Started | |
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#1 | Betway Casino | 100% Up To€250 | Visit Site | Visit Site |
#2 | Europa Casino | 200% Up To€500 | Visit Site | Visit Site |
#3 | Jackpot City Casino | 100% Up To€400 | Visit Site | Visit Site |
#4 | Spinia | 100% Up To€250 | Visit Site | Visit Site |
#5 | Spin Casino | 100% Up To€400 | Visit Site | Visit Site |
The informational sites on this list focus on websites which offer detailed, unique information with a minimum of advertising. We have no problem with advertising in general. Our site, like most sites on the Internet, relies on advertising revenues to stay in operation, too. We do object to sites which have no other reason for existing than to serve ads. There must be significant value to the reader for a site to earn a listing on this page.
You can read full reviews of all these real money online casinos here. On this page, we’ve restricted our comments to a few of the top USA video poker sites and how well each property serves the needs of online VP players. We’re confident that these really are the best video poker casino websites on the Internet.
If you’re from the United States, El Royale is your best bet for playing online video poker games. Many online casinos don’t accept real money players from the USA, and a lot of those that do have problems processing deposit and withdrawal requests. That’s not an issue at El Royale.
This online casino has 14 different video poker games available, including the following.
- Aces and Eights
- All American Poker
- Bonus Deuces Wild
- Double Bonus Poker
- Double Double Bonus Poker
As well has single hand versions of these games, they also have multi hand versions. Many of the payout tables are full pay.
One of only real downsides for VP players at El Royale casino is when it comes bonuses. Video poker bonuses at online casinos are actually quite rare, as the game has such a low edge. So, although El Royale offers a number of generous bonuses, none of them can be used for playing video poker games. However, that at doesn’t stop this being the top US online casino for real money video poker players.
BetOnline
BetOnline is also friendly to players from the United States. This real money gambling sites offers multiple services besides casino games, including sports betting and poker. They offer 17 different VP variations to choose from in their casino section.
As far as signup bonuses go for VP players, though, BetOnline.ag isn’t quite as attractive. First of all, they have a rollover requirement of 50X your deposit plus bonus, which is significantly more restrictive than most other casinos. Also, they do not include video poker wagers toward your rollover requirement.
That being said, we still like BetOnline as a video poker casino. They have a great variety of games with reasonably good pay tables. We don’t think most players should worry too much with casino bonuses as a deciding factor for where to play video poker online.
Wild Casino is an excellent site to play real money video poker games online. They have 18 different VP variations, with single hand, multi-hand, and pyramid poker versions. Unlike BetOnline, they don’t offer sports betting.
They do have the opportunity to use one of their signup bonuses to play video poker games, but the rollover requirements are 60x. That’s a lot of VP wagers you’ll need to place. Still, the fact that they even offer a video poker bonus is very much a good thing.
Wild Casino offers a ton of other casino games, too, so this isn’t “just” one of the top video poker sites. It’s one of the all-round best online casinos.
Vegas Casino Online
There are 17 real money video poker games to play Vegas Casino Online. It’s a similar selection to most of the other VP sites discussed above, with nothing unique of note on offer. They do offer higher stakes than most, though, so high rollers looking to play video poker online should definitely consider this casino.
We should mention that there is a VP bonus here, but the rollover requirements are high at 90x. The good news is that you can play other games with the bonus, too, and the rollover requirements are reduced at many of them.
We’ve tried to include a comprehensive amount of video poker information on our site, but we can’t be all things to all people. When we need to do research, we do so by consulting with other high quality video poker websites. We provide a reasonably detailed description of what you can expect to find at each of these sites below.
Note that these sites are listed in alphabetical order. We don’t rank them in any other way.
Bob Dancer
Bob Dancer is the leading expert in the video poker field today. He’s written several books, many of which are available to buy on his site. He also offers a huge archive of articles as well as training software. It’s not the best-designed site on the Internet, but it’s impossible to list VP sites without including his website.
Jean Scott might argue that she’s just as much of an expert on video poker as Bob Dancer, but she actually writes a broader range of materials that include getting the most out of casino coupons and promotional offers.
This makes her more of a general gambling expert than Dancer, but she does focus more on video poker than on other games like slots or blackjack.
Optimum Play
Dan Paymar is one of our favorite video poker writers, too. Optimum Playis the name for both his website and his excellent book on the subject of the math behind the game. He’s one of the pioneers of the industry.
His site features several pay tables, payback percentage analysis, and strategy advice. He’s known also for making the distinction between playing perfectly and balancing excellent play with good payback percentages.
This almost isn’t really an information site, at all. But it’s important because the land-based casinos in this group in Las Vegas offer the widest selection of full pay games in the industry. You’ll see writers on the Internet lament the impossibility of finding full pay Deuces Wild games all the time, but the fact is that you need look no further than the casinos in this group.
Video Poker Advisor
The content on videopokeradvisor.comis more or less introductory, but the design is straightforward and blessedly low on advertising. We’re not sure who owns this one, as it seems to be more or less anonymously written. It’s worth visiting, especially if you’re a beginner.
This is less of an informational site than a product site where you can buy training software. That being said, the content on this site is straightforward enough, and the software is not only affordable but well worth your money. Everyone we know who’s serious about getting an edge at this game uses some kind of training software—many use this specific package.
Video Poker Info
VideoPokerInfo.com is another great guide for beginners. It includes excellent info about progressive jackpots, comp and VIP points, and single hand versus multi hand games. It also includes the most basic information for the complete newbies, like hand rankings and a glossary of terms. If you don’t know as much about video poker as some of our other readers, and you want to get up to speed fast, then this is the place to start.
No other site on the Internet offers as many free games as this one. Not only that, but these games are more similar to the games you’ll find in Las Vegas casinos than just about any other online versions. It’s a membership driven site. Most of the games are free, but some of the games require you to have a membership to play.
It is not a casino, though. You cannot play for real money. They do offer ongoing tournaments where you can win points. They also have an online strategy trainer that requires no download, but to access that, you need to have a paid membership.
VPFree2
If you’re interested in playing the machines with the best pay tables, this is the site to visit. They feature listings for casinos throughout the United States along with user-submitted reports on which pay tables are available where. This might be the most useful video poker resource on the Web, period.
That’s our list of the best video poker websites on the Internet. We’ve tried to list top-tier casinos with good games and good VP game selection. We’ve also stuck with recommending real money gambling sites that have good reputations for dealing fairly and with integrity with players. For similar recommendations in all kinds of categories, please visit this page.
The informational sites here were chosen on merit, too. Sites which offer excessive advertising or insufficient content weren’t listed.
Please note that we are NOT accepting submissions to this page. Please do NOT contact us to request a listing on this page. We will not respond to such requests, nor will we list sites which ignore our request to not reach out to us for this reason. There are just too many sites eager to get listed here for us to field all the requests we would receive, so we’ve decided in advance to not even read or accept such emails.
Skip the Headaches and Play at a Legitimate Site
You’re looking for a legitimate U.S. gambling site, but can’t decide which site to trust with your hard-earned money?
Good news! We’ve been in the online gambling industry for over a decade (several decades, really, if you add all of our experience together), and we’ve spent countless hours to bring you a list of the most legitimate sites.
Here’s what all of these sites have in common:
- 10+ years in the business with strong reputations.
- Attractive promotions for first-time customers.
- Quick money withdrawals (relative to the U.S. market).
Rank | Site | Play | Bonus |
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100% up to €250
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200% up to €500
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100% up to €400
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100% up to €300
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100% up to €400
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Why Bovada Is #1 in the U.S.
#1: Fastest Check Cashouts
Bovada gets 10 times as much traffic as its second best US competitor and still delivers check payouts faster than any of them. Bovada processes check withdrawals in 7 days; many of its competitors take weeks, some more than a month to do the same. (There are other fast options, like the #3-ranked BetOnline, which delivers checks in 14 days.)
#2: Service
An equally important aspect of Bovada’s operations is its customer service. If there ever was an indication of how much a company respects its customers, it’s the level of customer service the company provides. I haven’t found any US-friendly site doing this aspect of the business better (although 5Dimes is a worthy runner-up).
#3: All-In-One
Finally, all parts of Bovada’s business (sportsbook, casino, poker, racebook) are popular. Bovada is best-known for sports betting and casino games, however, even its online poker room has around four times as many players online as the second biggest US poker site. You can access all of their games with one player account.
… But You Should Know This
Bovada is recreational-friendly, perhaps more-so than any other US site. You’ll find few golden opportunities in their sportsbook (read more about their use of dual lines), they have a relatively high overall house edge (especially after recently increasing house edge in video poker games) and their online poker room only has “anonymous” tables.
Top 5 Online Casino Sites Near Me
Although not everyone agrees with me, the recreational-friendly part is an advantage for skilled poker players. Since Bovada appeals to recreational gamblers, you’ll be like a shark among regular fish.
Bovada charges a 4.9% fee for credit card deposits (a lot considering how most sites charge nothing). The impact of the deposit fee is slightly compensated by their welcome bonuses, which are better than average.
All online gamblers look for entertaining games, attractive promotions and aesthetically pleasing software. To have a safe experience, however, you want a site to:
- Serve its customers with safety and respect,
- Operate with a reasonable house edge, and
- Handle money transactions promptly.
Yes, the third point is included in the first point but it’s also such an essential part of the customer experience that it must be mentioned separately. Many online gambling websites operate without an adequate level of service so these points are worth considering. It’s rare to find a combination of all three points.
Bovada fulfills all of the above criteria better than other sites but 5Dimes does well, too. In fact, I’m confident in ranking those two as the best USA gambling websites specifically because they deliver so well in the areas related to safety and trustworthiness. A site without proper customer service and safety measures is not one you should deposit money to, regardless of its promotions and whatnot.
What Are Some Alternative Options?
For Sports Bettors
5Dimes.eu is the best betting site in the US for the following reasons: they’re professional-friendly and offer reduced juice betting lines (in other words, less house edge). Before betting on any game, I recommend taking a look at the odds 5Dimes is offering. They’ve been a reliable sportsbook for over 10+ years — you’ll find few complaints about 5Dimes online, and the ones you find have been resolved quickly.
For poker and casino games, I would go with Bovada. But for sports bettors, it makes the most sense to have an account at 5Dimes.
Another Solid Option
BetOnline.ag is my third suggestion. It’s not significantly better than the others in any area but they’re simply a solid option. Prompt cashout processing, decent poker traffic, good sports betting options and entertaining casino games. Additionally, I’ve had good experiences with their customer service.
For sports bettors, BetOnline is worth signing-up at simply to be able to compare betting lines among a few sites. For poker players, BetOnline may offer some good games every now and then (keep in mind: you can bet on sports and play casino and poker games with the same account, so plenty of gamblers will stumble on the poker games eventually). For casino gamblers, BetOnline has a basic but reliable offering.
BetOnline charges a 6% fee for credit card deposits.
Is It Legal to Play?
The definition of ”gambling” and the laws surrounding vary depending on which state you live in.
In Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey, some forms of online gambling have been legalized and regulated (only state-licensed sites are allowed to operate legally). In other states, it’s likely (although not widely agreed upon) that playing – and certainly operating – online gambling games for real money is illegal.
On a federal level, sports betting is the only form of prohibited gambling via the Wire Act of 1961. For several years, the Department of Justice (DOJ) maintained that the Wire Act applies to all forms of online gambling, but in December 2011, they corrected that stance by stating that the Wire Act only applies to sports betting – a result of a 13-page memorandum from the Office of Legal Counsel to the Criminal Division of the DOJ (source).
State laws, however, often indirectly prohibit gambling. Or to put it another way: it would be difficult to claim any forms of online gambling legal with absolute certainty in most states (lotteries and such aside). Most state laws indirectly prohibit gambling simply by making all forms of gambling unlawful that have not been made lawful.
Purely based on history, it’s unlikely you’ll get into legal trouble; then again, if something is illegal, you can get into trouble, and someone probably will. Gambling online may be illegal where you live. Contact a local gaming lawyer to get a better idea of your local laws.
Legal Troubles
Industry-changing events have taken place in the online gambling world – mainly concerning online poker – such as the UIGEA and Party Poker’s exit from the US market, or PokerStars’ exit from the US market in 2011.
Those crimes were committed by online poker operators, though, not players. Still, the mere fact that online poker companies were targeted was enough to cast a shadow over the legality of US online poker, and furthermore, players grew more and more worried about one of these sites getting shut down along with the money on their player accounts.
In fact, there is a legitimate reason to worry about dishonest US gambling sites taking your money. Some sites have indeed taken off with the money – a recent example is Lock Poker, which currently may owe its customers over $15 million. I created LegitGamblingSites.com mainly to give more exposure to the sites with strong track records of honest business practices.
The lawmakers, in that regard, have a point about not allowing unlicensed sites to provide online gambling games to US citizens. While that may not be the reason, it’s likely one of them. (If I had to guess, I’d say they’re more concerned about losing out on tax dollars and protecting the interests of brick & mortar casino owners such as Sheldon Adelson, although through the RAWA – Restore America’s Wire Act legislation – he tries to do that by himself.)
How to Move Money Around
Ever since the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) became a law, US citizens have had a more difficult time finding a suitable deposit method.
There are only a few left, actually.
The most common deposit method for US citizens is still credit card deposits, out of which VISA is the most widely accepted brand, followed by Mastercard, with American Express being a distant third. Cards must be eligible for both international and online transfers.
The alternative method is to use a money transfer service such as Western Union. Western Union is mostly a deposit-only method. (Bovada is an exception since they only allow you to withdraw money via a check.)
Why to use a money transfer service instead of a credit card?
- A card deposit fails to go through. This happens every now and then, and the only way to know if your card will be accepted is to try. According to various forum reports, Vanilla VISA is declined at most sites while Netspend VISA has been successful.
Surprisingly, players have had problems with card deposits even at state-licensed sites due to banks like Bank of America outright declining all gambling transactions. Things will likely get better with the new MCC codes for VISA, Mastercard, American Express and Distant which will help casinos to identify gambling transactions more accurately. It’s unclear how much of a help this will be since banks still have the right to decline transfers marked with the new MCC codes, and due to not wanting to violate the UIGEA (according to which they’re prohibited from knowingly processing unlawful gambling transactions), banks may decide it isn’t worth it and keep cancelling transactions even if they were for state-licensed sites.
This is expected to change once bigger states – perhaps even the biggest of them all, California – join internet gambling, since declining the transactions will then affect such a large percentage of any bank’s customer base.
- You want a faster cashout. While money transfer services cost more (many sites, like Bovada, allow one free check cashout a month), the money is usually delivered to be picked up at a local Western Union location in five days or less.
- You don’t want a check cashout. You need to go to a cashier to cash a check. Most people would rather avoid doing this, especially since banks aren’t allowed to knowingly process online gambling related transactions (unless in Delaware, Nevada or New Jersey, but people have had problems in those states as well).
In general, you’ll have higher transaction costs with money transfer services than with a combination of credit cards and checks. BetOnline and Bovada are the only major USA sites charging for credit card deposits and most allow one free check cashout per month – some, like True Poker, allow a free check withdrawal every seven days.
How to use a credit card/check combination?
- Enter your credit card details online after which you have the money on your player account instantly.
- When done playing, order a check cashout, which will take from a week to over a month depending on which site you’re dealing with.
- Go to your local bank to cash the check.
How to use a money transfer service (like Western Union)?
- Go to their website or a live Western Union location and send money to the gambling site. (You’ll need to contact the gambling site first to get their transfer details.)
- When done playing, initiate the withdrawal from your player account.
- Go to a live location to collect the money.
State-Licensed Sites
As mentioned, Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey have legalized and regulated some forms of real-money online gambling. Delaware started with online poker but has since expanded into casino games as well; Nevada offers online poker games only; New Jersey offers online poker and casino games.
As you can see, not a single one of these states offer online sports betting. In New Jersey – clearly the biggest market of the three – there’s a clause according to which sports betting may be considered to be added in the future.
Requirements
You must be physically located within a state’s boundaries to play at the licensed sites. If you’re currently located in California but live in Nevada, you’re unable to play until you return to Nevada; if you’re currently located in Nevada but live in California, you can play as long as you stay within Nevada’s state boundaries.
Licensed sites have to make sure nobody outside of the state can participate in the games. Geolocation – identifying exactly where a person is located – has been difficult, and there are still people who are unable to play even though they’re located within those states. This is one of the reasons licensed online gambling sites have done financially worse than expected.
Only existing brick & mortar casino owners within those states can apply for licenses, although they can apply together with an existing online gambling site in a software-licensing agreement, like Caesar’s Interactive and 888.com have done. If a poker site kept operating in the US after the UIGEA of 2006, it will be subjected to a ”bad actor” clause in Nevada and be prohibited from operating in the state for now.
Performance
Each state has had a rocky start, although New Jersey is doing OK. In March 2014, they did $11.87 million in revenue, which grew into $13.16 million in March 2015. A growth rate of 14.57% year-over-year is better than nothing, but still a far cry from the $1 billion within the first 7 months of operating Governor Christie expected (New Jersey gambling sites were launched in November 2013). In other words, his expectations were a little over $140 million a month on average, or about ten times the current revenue.
According to PokerScout.com, Nevada’s online poker revenue is going downhill. Year-over-year decrease in revenue of around 44% (from February 2014 to February 2015) is, no matter how you look at it, a disappointing result. Problems with card deposits and geolocation – both of which exist in other states as well – and player liquidity have undoubtedly contributed to the significant decrease. Players have to deal with fewer problems when playing at offshore sites, and as long as that continues, it will be difficult for state-licensed sites to gain major traction.
In Delaware, the state keeps all yearly revenue up to $3.75 million. Since total revenue for 2014 was around $2.1 million, gambling operators have made nothing. The main reason for such a low amount of revenue is Delaware’s population of 0.94 million (in comparison, New Jersey has a population of 8.9 million). Liquidity is important for online poker since you need lots of players to run games at various stakes, in several forms and throughout the day. Delaware is trying to improve its poker liquidity by combining player pools with Nevada but so far there hasn’t been a significant improvement to its online gaming revenue.
If all of the three states were to combine their player pools, it would create a poker economy of around 12 million people, which could add significant liquidity to the games and thus bring in more revenue to each of the states.
Offshore Sites
Gambling sites accepting US customers from outside of the three states are all ”offshore” sites, meaning they operate from outside of the US and have no license to operate within the US. They have obtained a license in some other jurisdictions – such as Antiqua & Barbuda or Panama – but many of those jurisdictions have less-than-stellar reputations.
The disadvantage of gambling at offshore sites is the lack of safety. For an outsider, it’s impossible to know how strict testing measures these sites go through to prove their legitimacy, and hypothetically, if one of them were to disappear from the internet tomorrow along with your money, what could you do about it?
Lock Poker, as already mentioned, is an ongoing example. They’ve now lost their license in Curacao (weirdly, they were able to keep the license easily over a year after refusing to process customer cashouts) and there’s nothing anyone can do to make sure Lock Poker’s customers have their money returned. All we can do is spread the word to the people who are considering signing-up and depositing money to their site.
The best thing you can do is consider the reputation of the site rather than the jurisdiction since all jurisdictions have had dishonest sites. The longer a site has been fully operational, and the fewer complaints it has generated, the better. Essentially, Bovada has been in the online gambling business since 2000 when Bodog.com was founded (the US-friendly operations of Bodog were re-branded as Bovada in 2011), and as mentioned, they’ve achieved an excellent reputation with a high level of customer service.
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But there are advantages to playing at an offshore site, too, and you can legitimately argue that the advantages override the disadvantages. Offshore sites place fewer restrictions on customers, need less personal information and have to compete with lots of other sites (within US states, competition is limited) which forces them to be at their best in order to succeed. There are no geolocation issues either.
Safety and legality aside – although obviously, both are big considerations – offshore sites are the better option in almost every area. Since only three states have legalized some forms of real-money online gambling in the US, they’re the only places for internet gambling for around 96.4% of US population.
Top 5 Online Casino Sites
What’s Next?
Top Us Casino Sites
US online gambling is in a transitional phase: after a long wait of legalization, three states have done it, mostly with lackluster success. Suggesting geolocation and deposit issues are resolved, revenue streams may grow. With online poker, though, most likely at least one of the bigger states has to legalize it and combine player pools with the others to create a meaningful poker economy.
A federal legalization would create much-needed competition and player pools, which in turn creates a bigger incentive for operators to participate and, in many ways, a better environment for gamblers. If internet gambling was to be legalized nationwide, every operator and their grandmother would want a license. As of now, it’s more beneficial for most operators to stay outside of the US.
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