
Author:
Ashley
Last Updated:
17/05/2023
Topic:
US States
Experiences:
CA born, casino expert
Topic:
US States
Experiences:
CA born, casino expert
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Here at Las-Vegas-How-To.com, we want you to be ideally placed to benefit from any possible changes in legislation in your state. With that in mind, we have created this guide to everything you need to know about gambling in Alaska.
While the gambling laws are surrounded by grey areas that might affect online gambling in AK, the strict letter of the law says that online casinos in Alaska are currently illegal, and this guide will help you steer around any of the potential pitfalls in a state that has not updated gambling legislation in a long time.
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As you’ve already seen the gambling laws in Alaska are somewhat open to interpretation. We’ve seen a similar situation where online gambling in Kansas is concerned, as well as in many other US states. If you are in any doubt as to what the situation is regarding placing an online bet in AK, this guide will help you. If you have been tempted to place a wager with one of the offshore online casinos or sportsbooks but decided to wait instead until regulated gambling was available, this guide will show you how to make the best of that situation.
This guide will also be valuable to anyone who wants to be at the front of the line to get the best AK online gambling sites deals should online gambling become possible in the state. This won’t matter if you’ve gambled online before or never placed a wager in your life as everything you need to know is here.
While anyone can speculate about the future of gambling in Alaska, it might be considered foolish to do so without taking a look at the history of gambling in the state first. At first glance, the history of gambling in Alaska could be summed up with just one word – ‘no’. Although, on closer examination, you will find it is not quite that simple with several cracks beginning to show as the current legislation begins to show its age.
Like plenty of other states, many years ago gambling was commonplace and wasn’t strictly illegal, as there weren’t any laws against it just yet. Once laws were in place, they have largely remained unchanged, with an ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ attitude prevailing ever since.
This resistance to change has remained throughout the creation of tribal casinos, which unlike others across the nation could only offer scratch cards and bingo. Those who wanted slots, poker, and blackjack were restricted to playing on cruise ships until legislation caught up with those. With that track record, you won’t be surprised to find out that Alaska is one of the states that also explicitly forbids gambling on horse racing, with not even pari-mutuel betting allowed.
That reluctance to update regulations and move with the times, however, means that the laws have not been updated to specifically make online gambling illegal. While presents the greyest of grey areas, and anyone running an online casino on Alaskan soil would be in deep water, although placing wagers online with offshore operators does not seem to have any severe repercussions.
This is not popular however, as there are no measures in place to protect the player like there would be if the operator was state-regulated and licensed. So, in practice, online gambling is illegal even though avenues do exist for those willing to take what could be a sizable risk with both their data and their money.
Gambling laws look to remain this way for the foreseeable future, so with no change on the horizon and in the same way as gambling in Vermont stands currently, the information in this online casinos in Alaska guide will have to be seen very much as something for the future.
As you might know yourself from bitter experience, the many offshore choices for placing an online wager are probably best avoided. If online gambling Alaska becomes possible, you will quite rightly be looking for an operator that is legit, trustworthy, and highly rated (and an attractive bonus wouldn’t do any harm either).
Bet MGM ticks all those boxes along with many others besides. It sits at the top of our current operator ratings with a score of 98 out of a possible 100, which means that our experienced reviewers have found them to be excellent against all of the measures we use in our reviewing process.
This operator also has experience in dealing with different legal requirements for each state. So if you live in Wyoming, you could legally use the Bet MGM sportsbook, but not the casino – online gambling in WY is also complex! However, back to Alaska, Bet MGM will adapt their model to fit whatever regulatory changes occur in AK, which is likely to be seamless, and customers would be unlikely to encounter any of the teething problems they would get from a brand-new operator.
Finally, the current bonus is a tempting one, with an up to $600 free bet available in the sportsbook area (any losses are credited as free bets) and 100% deposit match up to $1000 for anyone who dares to get started in the casino.
As pointed out above, there are a number of offshore options available for residents of Alaska, just as there are for gambling in Rhode Island, but any transactions are unlikely to be secure and there is no legislation to back you up, should it all turn out badly.
Clearly, this is not something you want to happen, so if the time comes when you have access to more legitimate operators, you’ll want to make doubly sure everything is on the level. We’ve given you our recommendation already, but should you want to find an operator on your own, here are five things you need to check to help you get things off to a secure and fair start.
The checklist above will help you have a secure and fair experience, but it’s not all we look at when we review and rate operators. This process is far more in-depth, and allows us to report back in detail about many aspects of the operator, and might even answer some questions you didn’t know you should have asked.
After all, the number of operators currently on the Alaska online casino list is zero, so the first legal online casino or sportsbook will be a new experience for almost everybody. That will even include those that might have got their fingers burned by unlicensed operators. For this reason, the next thing this guide to online gambling in AK will look at, is what we examine when we carry out our objective in-depth reviews. That way, you can use the same criteria yourself to help you make an informed decision to find the best online option.
Obviously, we check out the things that are listed above, but with the following additions. As well as checking the license we look at the whole business the operator is part of. We’ll look at the bonuses they offer you and if they are the best available. This is probably the main reason you’re checking out the operator, so while we’re there we report back on the wagering requirements, so you can decide whether or not they are achievable for you.
We’ll check out the website and make sure it works like it should, either on desktop or whatever device you have in your hand. At the same time, we’ll be checking that you can find what you need; including where your betting slip is, or how to find the slot you want. We also check that whatever game you’re playing doesn’t glitch or hang, which we know can be a big problem.
We take a look at what payment methods are supported, how you’re verified and if you can withdraw your winnings without any drama. With that in mind, we also look at the different ways you can contact customer support and report back on what to expect should you have a problem.
Lastly, we look at what the operator does to look after you, both in regard to rewards for returning customers, like a VIP club or loyalty scheme, and what is offered in the way of support for you if your gambling activities go beyond your comfort zone.
If you’re about ready to start sizing up the options for AK online gambling sites to open your first account if that activity becomes legal, there is one more thing you need to know. By now, you have seen how you find a secure and fair operator (or at least filter out the ones that aren’t) and seen the criteria we use to review and rate all of the operators you are likely to see when the time comes.
However, there are likely to be a lot of those operators, all wanting to get customers in a new state – in fact, there are almost certainly going to be many more than you are going to want to check out yourself.
Luckily, you don’t have to. As you’ve already seen, we’ve examined all of the operators, asking all the same questions you are going to, and already reported back with the answers.
This means if you’re looking for an operator that offers live betting on hockey, you can check with us. If you want an online casino that has slots from a certain provider, we’ve got the answer to that one too. In fact, by using our reviews to do the hard work for you, you can make the decision about where to open that first account a much easier one.
This guide to online gambling in Alaska should have told you everything you need to know, allowing you to make the most of the opportunities that you will be presented with, should online gambling become a reality. You know the answer to the question ‘is online gambling legal in Alaska?’ isn’t strictly ‘no’ but that all of the non-regulated ways of placing a wager are usually best avoided.
You’ve also learned that while you have the tools to find an operator, should you choose to do that yourself, using the online resources to do the heavy lifting for you can make the whole thing more straightforward. All you need to do now is to come back regularly to see any updates we happen to have regarding the legality of gambling in Alaska, and the offers that will be available to from the AK online gambling sites should any major changes occur.