USA Casinos
Las Vegas and Atlantic City, New Jersey are no longer the only games in town for USA casinos. In fact, according to the American Gaming Association, there are 917 full-fledged casinos in the US, and if you broaden the term to include very small gambling halls, the number shoots up to 2,157—the largest amount of gambling venues in the world. Thanks to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, there are nearly 525 American Indian casinos today.
The majority of casinos are in Nevada, Oklahoma, California, and Colorado, but this includes both Indian and private casinos. In the US, only 8 states do not have at least one casino:
- Hawaii
- Utah
- Kentucky
- Georgia
- South Carolina
- New Hampshire
- Virginia
- Vermont
Racinos and Riverboat Casinos
Ten states have racinos, where gamblers go to a racetrack to not only bet on the horses, but play slot machines, and now play regular table games such as blackjack, poker, and roulette. Meanwhile, dozens of cruise ships operate casinos from US ports. With the exception of Disney Cruises and Norwegian cruise lines, the vast majority of cruises that operate in international waters have casinos of a decent size. Meanwhile, several thousand more annually in the states of Iowa, Illinois, Mississippi, Louisiana, Indiana, and Missouri board riverboat casinos to gamble on riverboats offering not only slots but table games.
Mega Casino Resorts
The biggest and the best casinos are the casino resorts, which operate in a number of states but get their reputation primarily from those in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. These are mega-resorts with thousands of rooms, entertainment, shopping centers, and thousands of feet of gambling space. The Wynn/Encore is currently one of the largest casinos in the US with close to 200,000 square feet of gambling entertainment, followed by the MGM Grand and the Bellagio.
The Largest Casinos in the World
In actuality, the Chickasaw Nation operates the WinStar Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma—with a population of just 535—which is actually the world's largest casino, offering a massive 600,000 square feet, over three times the size of the Wynn/Encore. Second on the list of large casinos in the US is the Foxwoods Casino, another tribal casino in Mashantucket, CT, with over 344,000 square feet of gambling terrain. The Foxwoods casino is probably the most profitable Indian casino in the US, as it draws clientele from many large cities on the East Coast.
Card Rooms and Mini-Casinos
Then there are card rooms and mini-casinos. Believe it or not, Montana has a staggering 200+ legal cardrooms thanks to Indian tribes. California legalized card rooms in 1984, long before it began to recognize casinos. People love to play poker, as well as other Asian card games such as Pai Gow.
Online Gambling in the USA
Finally, there is online gambling. Currently, only 7 states allow online gambling from within their state: Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia—but many foresee that California, New York, Illinois, Indiana, and Massachusetts are not far behind.
Online gambling has popped up throughout the world, and though most states put up a front that says you must be within the actual state to gamble, the huge question is how the casino or state knows. If you are in, say, North Dakota, and you gamble at a Delaware online gambling site, how do they know whether you traveled by plane or car to Delaware? The answer is they can't. Very much like marijuana, in the foreseeable future, gambling in some form will be pretty much allowed everywhere, with the possible exception of Utah, which is conservatively affected by the whim of the Mormon majority.
Top USA-Friendly Online Casinos
Discover some of the top online casinos available to USA players: