Author:
Ashley
Last Updated:
30/11/2024
Topic:
US States
Experiences:
CA born, casino expert
Topic:
US States
Experiences:
CA born, casino expert
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Placing a wager online can be a complicated business because as you may already know, gambling legislation can differ from state to state. For that reason, we’ve created this comprehensive guide for anybody considering online gambling in North Carolina.
Even the quickest of online searches will show that you can’t currently place an online wager in North Carolina. However, should North Carolina internet gambling become a reality, you will need to have all of this information at your fingertips so you can be among the first in line to take advantage of the offers that will become available.
The Cliff Notes version is that if you are even vaguely interested in online gambling in North Carolina, then you’re in exactly the right place. Although the number of NC online gambling sites currently numbers zero, the opportunities for online gambling in North Carolina are almost endless, should legislation change in the future.
With this in mind, we’ve created this guide to put you in a pole position to reap the best of the welcome bonuses that will undoubtedly be available to those who are the first to sign up, if online casinos or sportsbooks are allowed to accept customers from North Carolina. Also, anybody who previously lived in a state that allowed gambling will also find this a useful refresher.
It won’t be anything like discovering the best WV online gambling sites, but should online gambling North Carolina become a reality, not only will you want to know the best place to open your first account (more on that in a minute), you’ll need to know how to make sure that the first experience is a secure and fair one.
All of that will be covered later on, but first, we need to examine how gambling laws have got to where they are today. This is important when considering any future changes to the law, because, while online gambling is currently illegal in North Carolina, it’s not the whole story.
Gambling has not always been illegal in North Carolina and was widespread in the late 18th century, first due to there being no legislation at all. Then, after a period during which it was banned, it was then subsequently allowed, but taxed to create revenue for the new government and then finally banned altogether.
Various lotteries for fundraising have been allowed in the period since, and laws permitting bingo have been evolving since 1945 allowing this activity to take place under license and for stakes under $10 – unless run for a charitable cause.
The first legal casinos were opened after the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, mirroring what was happening in many other states. While not everyone could access these, the large number of video poker machines meant that there was access to gambling for many people until those were phased out in 2007.
There have also been various incarnations of sweepstakes machines, changing frequently to stay just ahead of the laws that seek to ban them, with the grey area around what is a game of skill and what is a game of chance being the central point of many of the debates.
Overall, this activity may well indicate that legislation making online gambling in NC might be popular. However, as things stand it seems unlikely that the laws will even evolve to match gambling in Louisiana, let alone a raising of all restrictions.
It is a shame that the North Carolina online casino list is empty because there are some operators that have state-specific operations already that could translate easily to North Carolina. Bet MGM already operates in CO, IN, IA, MI, NV, NJ, PA, TN, VA, and WV, with different services offered to each location to match the legislation.
As you’ll see later on, it takes more than just this for an online sportsbook or casino to become our editor’s recommendation. We check if an operator is safe and secure, as part of our in-depth and objective review process, which then rates the operator out of 100. BetMGM currently tops this list with a rating of 98.
You’ll be able to read the full review elsewhere on this site, but overall, this operator is excellent in all the areas we examine, and as such makes it a good fit for any state-changing its online gambling legislation. There are also two attractive bonus offers for new account holders, with either a risk-free bet in the sportsbook area or a 100% deposit match in the casino area. These bonuses are reviewed as well in detail elsewhere on the site, and these conclude that these bonuses would boost your bankroll and get you off to the best possible start.
Should online gambling in NC ever become a reality, a wide range of offers like the one above will become available, almost overnight. Should you not want to go with BetMGM, you will want to make sure your choice is a good one. So here are five points to look at so you can decide whether or not your chosen operator is one you can trust.
Even using that checklist, and the tips from our in-depth guide for online casinos in NC, you might not be able to work out if an operator is the right one for you. After all, the chances are you will have never seen one in any detail before. Luckily, our reviewers have seen dozens and know exactly what to look for. Here’s a list of the criteria they check against to come up with the score out of a hundred you’ll see over elsewhere on the site.
We take an in-depth look at the online reputation of the operator and their parent company if they have one.
We look at the bonuses on offer and if you would be better off taking your opening deposit somewhere else
Operators don’t just give the bonus money away, so we check the wagering requirements are fair and reasonable.
We check if you can place a bet easily or find the slot or table game you were after, even if you’re a complete newbie.
We report on which payment methods are accepted, and if there are any extra charges or delays on seeing it appear in your account.
We also check the process in reverse and make sure it’s as easy to get your money out as it was to fund your account.
One of the 5 points on the checklist earlier for a reason, we check that any problems you come across aren’t just greeted with silence.
We check that KYC verification is carried out to make sure the only person withdrawing your money is you.
We also check the operator is doing enough to keep your custom, and that you aren’t just racking up points for benefits you don’t want.
A general area where we see if the operator has some unique feature or service you can’t get anywhere else.
Even though the answer to the question ‘is online gambling legal in North Carolina?’ is still ‘no’, you’ll want to be ahead of the game should it happen and checking out each of the many online casinos and sportsbooks which can operate in your state individually will take a very long time.
Also, as this will be a brand-new experience for you, there are bound to be a heap of questions that you won’t know to ask, let alone know the answer to.
Elsewhere on our website, you’ll see we’ve done all the homework for you firstly, there is an excellent guide to finding the best NC online casino bonus when the time comes. We also have an extensive, objective, and insightful operator comparison area that will go a long way to answering all of your questions and help you whittle down all of that choice into a few solid options.
So, if you want a genuine casino experience, you’ll be looking at somewhere that is part of a real-world casino, or if you want to play poker in your breaks at work, you’ll want one that offers sit ‘n’ go tables as one of its services.
Even though you can’t act on it right now, taking a look at that comparison today can give you an idea of the operators, bonuses, and other options that will be open to you should ever be allowed to place an online wager in North Carolina.
Should gambling online become a reality in North Carolina, you will be faced with some interesting choices of where and how to open your first online gambling account. After reading this guide, however, you should have a better idea about what to look for, whether you want to play on desktop or download the best NC gambling app to play on the move.
Not only do you have a checklist to make sure that your choice is a secure and fair one, but you have also seen the criteria that every operator has to meet, to get our seal of approval. This should give you a good idea of what to expect from an operator, even if you don’t choose to use our operator comparison to do all of the hard work for you.