
Author:
Ashley
Last Updated:
05/02/2025
Topic:
US States
Experiences:
CA born, casino expert
Topic:
US States
Experiences:
CA born, casino expert
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Finding the best online NC casinos can be hard, because gambling laws, especially those about online gambling are different in each state. With that in mind, here is everything you’ll need to know about finding online casinos in North Carolina.
As you already know, finding all of the online casinos NC has to offer is not possible because you can’t currently play slots, blackjack or poker online in North Carolina. However, as soon as this becomes a reality, you will want to know about the best casino operators to get started with, and that’s what you’ll find in this guide.
If you have an ambition to play slots, table games or poker online, then this guide to online casinos in NC is for you. Also, if you’ve previously lived somewhere online casinos were legal, and you long for those days when you used to bet at online casinos in West Virginia, then this guide will remind you of all the possibilities should online casinos North Carolina become a reality.
As and when that happens, you’ll be able to use this guide to online casinos in NC to find a safe and secure casino operator to sign up with, and you’ll be able to find the best online bonus easily, knowing the criteria to use to get the measure of your casino operator. Not only that, but you’ll also be among the first to take advantage of the offers available in your state, and if that sounds like something that interests you, then you’ve come to exactly the right place.
There is plenty to cover in this guide, however, before we look forward to how to pick the right online casino for you when the time comes, we need to look back to see why we can’t do that right now, and what the chances are of the law changing anytime soon.
This is important, because, while online gambling is currently illegal in North Carolina, it’s not the whole story, as gambling has not always been illegal in North Carolina. In fact, it was widespread throughout the state in the late 18th century, but that was mainly because at that time there wasn’t any legislation at all.
As mentioned in our extensive free guide to online gambling in North Carolina, the law then changed frequently over the next few years, with gambling being banned, then allowed, but only so it could be taxed to create revenue for the new government – and then finally banned altogether before the end of the century.
Some features you might expect to find in online casinos in North Carolina, like lotteries and bingo are allowed but these involve evolving laws that have been changing since 1945 and depend on the stakes involved, or whether the lottery is to raise funds for a charitable cause.
While you cannot play casino games online, there are legal casinos in North Carolina that were opened after the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, something that happened right across the whole country. While these didn’t offer an online alternative, that box will have been ticked by the large number (over 30,000) of video poker machines available across the state.
However, you would be unable to access any of those today as they were phased out in 2007. On top of these, there have also been various incarnations of sweepstakes machines, with the gameplay and prize offerings changing frequently to stay just ahead of the law. The debate around what is a game of skill and what is a game of chance is behind much of this to-ing and fro-ing that does not seem to be heading toward any sort of resolution.
Looking at the popularity of the alternatives to online casino games in North Carolina, it might be easy to think that legislation making online casinos legal was just a matter of time. However, as those advocating online gambling at online casinos in Louisiana have discovered, the situation is far from simple and looks to remain unchanged for the immediate future.
Should this change however, there are some operators with tailor-made services that would be ideal for online casinos North Carolina. Our choice would be BetMGM (you’ll see why in more detail in a minute) because they already offer bespoke services in several other states.
They offer sportsbooks in CO, IN, IA, MI, NV, NJ, PA, TN, VA, and WV, with additional casino services available in states where legislation allows like PA and NJ, and even a more bespoke app service in NV. As mentioned above, this is the only area where BetMGM caught our eye when it was the focus of one of the in-depth, objective reviews that we carry out for all operators.
These reviews look at a number of criteria and finally rate the operator out of 100. BetMGM currently tops this list with a rating of 98, which means it’s excellent in all of the factors that make up a casino operator, and makes it top of the list as far as we are concerned for any state about to allow online casino wagering for the first time.
This is carried over to the casino bonus, which is covered in more depth in our guide to finding the best NC online casino bonus, and currently sits at 100% deposit match up to $1000 which our bonus review highly recommended.
Should online casino ever become a reality in North Carolina, (although at the moment, is seems as likely as finding a legal online casino in Louisiana) every single online casino operator will have something available in this state. It goes without saying that some will be better than others but knowing what to actually look for isn’t quite so obvious. For that reason, here are five points to look at so you can decide whether or not the online casino in NC offering you that massive bonus is safe and fair.
Even when an operator ticks all five of those boxes, it’s not the full story. In the sections above we’ve mentioned the online reviews we carry out for every online casino operator we encounter. This includes the ones you’ll find on desktop sites and those found in NC online casino apps.
This means that our reviewers are old hands at checking out casino operators, something you might have little or no experience in doing yourself. To come up with the rating of 98/100 for BetMGM, (and the lower ratings for some other operators), we looked at them according to these criteria and rated them accordingly:
We take an in-depth look at the reputation of the operator, both online and offline, and check for signs their parent company is established, like being listed on the stock market. This goes a bit further than just checking for the license, which, as you’ve seen, we also cover.
We look at the casino bonuses on offer from the operator and if you would be better off with another operator (or looking at the sportsbook or poker bonus instead). We will even have a separate review of the bonuses if we feel they are important enough.
Getting the bonus is less than half the story, so we check the wagering requirements for the casino bonus are fair and reasonable so you don’t spend your time just giving the operator all of their money back and most of your deposit too.
Online casinos pride themselves on the number of slots they offer, so chances are you’ll be confronted by several hundred of them. We check you can find your way around both those and the table games, as well as how quickly they load, and if play is glitchy or clunky.
We report not only on which payment methods are supported by the online casino, but look at acceptance rates, deposit times, and any additional fees and if they are covered by the operator if a larger deposit is made.
Operators try and make it easy to fund your account, but some are nowhere near as helpful when it comes to taking any winnings out. We look at the withdrawal process to make sure it is secure but call out any obstacles that look like they don’t need to be there.
Most of your time as an online casinos NC customer will be trouble-free. However, when something does go wrong it is a sad fact that it tends to be something financial. For this reason, you are going to want answers quickly, and a fast solution to your problem. We check the answers you get aren’t just generic automated replies that are copied and pasted from the FAQs.
While verification can be a pain, uploading a copy of your driving license or tax statement can mean it is being done properly and the only person opening an account in your name is you. This also means the site is doing what it can to make sure it’s not being accessed by minors or anybody else who shouldn’t be there.
After the welcome bonus has been played through, the casino operator wants to give you a reason to stick around. This usually involves a loyalty program, so we check out the benefits on offer are enough for the casino operator to keep your custom, or if you’ll just spend weeks or months racking up points for next to nothing.
While you are with the operator because of the casino, we check out the sportsbook as well to see if there might be anything there to catch your eye like live betting or eSports. We also look to see if there are Poker tournaments available from the operator as well, in fact, anything and everything you can access from the same login.
Even though playing at an online casino in North Carolina is not currently possible, you’ll want to be ready as soon as it does. Should online casinos in NC become a reality, going around each of the many online casinos you’ll have access to, checking out the slots and table games will be a time-consuming business.
Even if you do have time, as online casinos will just have been launched in NC, there is a very good chance you won’t know what you are looking at and feel out of your depth very quickly.
Luckily you can avoid any pain there, as we’ve done all of the research for you in the shape of an extensive range of reviews in our online casino comparison area. Using this instead of hours of your own time and quite a bit of guesswork can turn a lot of uncertainty into a shortlist of informed choices.
This means if you’ve visited one of the three offline casinos in NC, but you want to repeat the experience – then you can go to an online casino that is connected to a real-world casino where the live dealers you see online would be the same ones you’d see on the casino floor.
Of course, this is something for the future, but by doing the groundwork today, you can put yourself at the front of the line to find the best online casino in NC when the time comes.
The number of choices you’ll have should online casinos become a reality for people in NC are huge. So many in fact, that without some sort of guidance it could easily become overwhelming. However, by using what you’ve found in this guide, making the right choice for you should be an easier prospect.
You know to make sure that your choice of the best online casino in NC will be a secure and fair one. Also, you’ll know how we review online casinos, and you can use this and our operator comparison to your advantage. Most importantly though, you now have somewhere you can go to keep up to date with the best deals, and the progress towards making online casinos possible in NC, but you’ll need to check back regularly to make sure you’re not missing out.