Top Guide to North Dakota Online Casinos
Located in the most northern part of America, and not surrounded by any states that have legalized online casinos, there’s no rush for the peace garden state to make any drastic changes to its current gambling law.
While the best online casinos in America would provide a unique advantage to the less-than-one-million-residents state, it’s not like no gambling activity is available. With six tribal casinos and over 20 other gambling activities, residents have multiple options, thanks to a thriving gambling industry.
In 2024, all forms of unlicensed gambling remain illegal, including sportsbooks and online casinos in North Dakota. While some offshore online casinos continue to provide their services, most sites are untrustworthy, commonly unsecured, and provide unfair gaming results. American players making use of these sites have no resources to turn to and have no way of knowing when gaming software is being manipulated.
In our guide to North Dakota online casinos, we’ll explore the various gaming opportunities and look at legal ways to enjoy the latest games at Sweepstake online casinos or other social casinos, which are entirely legal, secure, and trustworthy.
Are Online Casinos in North Dakota Legal?
Although North Dakota has a long tradition of tremendous land-based tribal casinos, it has not legalized online casinos. There have been discussions about legalizing online casinos, but there are no concrete plans at this time.
You can still register with a legal online casino in North Dakota. That means you can get the casino’s bonus offers or deposit and then play whenever you’re in states where it’s legal (even in a layover at the airport). (Do be aware of the casino bonus’s expiry date, though.)
Are any Types of Online Casinos Legal in North Dakota?
North Dakota prohibits all forms of unlicensed gambling, which means all forms of unlicensed playing games of chance for real money are illegal. However, Sweepstakes online casinos provide access to games from top-rated providers catering to online casinos without wagering real money, making them 100% legal.
These licensed sites provide exciting rewards in site credits and a unique currency called “Sweeps,” which you can exchange for cash prizes and gifts. We’ll look at the best legal sweepstakes casinos further down in this guide to online casinos in North Dakota.
Brief Gambling History in North Dakota
The gambling history in North Dakota is relatively short and dates back to the mid-70s when the blanket that banned all gambling was lifted to permit charitable Bingo.
Since then, additional forms of gambling entered the state, including pari-mutuel horse race betting in 1987, followed by the first compacts to permit tribal casinos. The compacts were up for review and a new agreement was signed to permit these casinos for another ten years in 1999.
Gambling laws haven’t changed much since the break of the century as only two notable changes were introduced, including a state lottery that was legalized in 2002 and legal sports betting in 2019. However, the state only legalized in-person betting, leaving online betting illegal for the time being.
Best Sweepstakes Online Casinos in North Dakota
Sweepstakes online casinos in North Dakota are 100% legal, licensed, and safe. These sites are legal because you won’t use actual money to play games. Instead, you’ll use the site currency and have the added benefit of converting your “Sweeps” into real money cash prizes and gifts.
While there are many options, the the best Sweepstakes online casinos in North Dakota are the ones that provide excellent service, welcome rewards, and optional packages that suit all budgets.
| Rank | Sweepstakes Casino | Welcome Reward |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Stake.us (Crypto) | 250,000 Game Coins + $25 Sweeps |
| 2. | Funrize | 75,000 Coins Welcome Bonus |
| 3. | Wow Vegas | 5,000 Wow Coins |
| 4. | Pulsz | 5,000 Game Coins + 2.3 Sweeps |
| 5. | BetRivers.net | 10 to 1,000 VC$ |
In which States are Online Casinos Legal?
America’s first legal online casinos entered the market in 2013. New Jersey was the first to launch multiple sites and was followed by six other states, the latest being Rhode Island, which provides legal online casinos from March 2024.
Closest State with Legal Online Casinos from North Dakota
None of North Dakota’s neighboring states provide access to legal online casinos. You’ll need to travel to the eastern states to access real money games with Michigan being the closest.
A distance of over 1,000 miles would undoubtedly make an incredible road trip along Lake Superior, but a short flight might be better if you aim to access legal casino games.
The great part is that you can register your account with any online casino from the states mentioned above before your arrival, giving you access to the welcome bonus. With a registered account, you can play games in the state, even during airport layovers.
Land-Based Casinos in North Dakota
There are two types of casinos in North Dakota. First, more than 800 sites throughout the state offer blackjack.
Additionally, there are Indian casinos in North Dakota that offer: blackjack, craps, roulette, slots, video poker, and video keno. Optional games include Spanish 21, Caribbean stud poker, let it ride, ultimate Texas hold em, poker, three-card poker, keno, bingo, big-6 wheel, and off-track betting.
The terms of the state’s compact with the tribes require gaming machines to return a minimum of 80% and a maximum of 100%. However, if a machine is affected by skill, such as video poker or video blackjack, the machines must return a minimum of 83%.
In many states, the slot machine payback statistics for their casinos are released as a matter of public record. However, North Dakota is not one of those states.
A Gambling-friendly State that’s Yet to Go Online
Since no neighboring states provide legal online casinos, there’s nothing pushing lawmakers to legalize online sports betting and online casinos in North Dakota. However, as more states to the east provide legal online gaming, states located in the mid-section of the US are likely to follow and compete.
The fact that North Dakota has no forms of legal online gambling, it’s likely to be one of the last to provide access to the best online casinos in America, especially since no commercial casinos are currently available.