Safe Online Casinos October 2024
Those in states with regulated online casino gaming have many licensed mobile casinos to choose from. This page has everything you need to know about how to gamble using safe online casinos and avoid unsafe, unregulated ones.
Top Safe Online Casinos in the US
Here are the best, and safest, online casinos in the US:
bet365 Casino
- Read our bet365 Casino Bonus Code & Review
- Bonus Offer: As a new user in NJ, you can use code ACTION to 10 Days of Spins - Get up to 200 Spins!. New users in PA should use the same code to Get a 100% Deposit Matched Bonus up to $500 with 100 Spins!
- Available State: New Jersey and Pennsylvania
Fanatics Casino
- Read our Fanatics Casino Promo Code & Review
- Bonus Offer: Deposit $5, Get $50 in Casino Credit! in (MI, NJ and PA) and West Virginia: Deposit $10, Get $50 in Casino Credit!
- Available States: Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey, and West Virginia
BetMGM Casino
- Read our BetMGM Casino Bonus Code & Review
- Bonus Offer: MI, NJ, and PA users — use promo code ACTIONCASINO and you’ll receive the following promo: Get a 100% Deposit Match up to $1,000 in Casino Credits + $25 on The House! WV users — use promo code ACTIONCASINO to claim this new user promo: Deposit $10, Get $200 in Casino Credits!
- Available States: Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, West Virginia
Caesars Palace Online Casino
- Read our Caesars Palace Online Casino Promo Code & Review
- Bonus Offer: Use promo code ACTION22500 to claim the following offer: Get a 100% Deposit Match up to $2,500 + 2,500 Rewards Points! Alternatively, new users can enter bonus code ACTIONLAUNCH to claim this offer: Get $10 on Registration + 100% Deposit Match up to $1000!
- Available States: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Michigan
DraftKings Casino
- See our DraftKings Casino Bonus Code and Review
- Bonus Offer: Play $5 Get $50 Casino Credits Instantly + $35 Extra on Deposit! No promo code required!
- Available States: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan, West Virginia, and Connecticut
Golden Nugget Casino
- Read our Golden Nugget Casino Bonus Code & Review
- Bonus Offer: No bonus code is required to claim this promo offer: Deposit $5, Get $50 INSTANTLY in Casino Site Credits!
- Available States: Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia
Borgata Casino
- Read our Borgata Casino Bonus Code & Review
- Bonus Offer: Use promo code ACTIONBCASINO to claim the following promo: Get up to a $1,000 Deposit Match + $20 in Bet Credits!
- Available States: Pennsylvania and New Jersey
Hollywood Casino
- Read our Hollywood Casino Promo Code & Review
- Bonus Offer: Use bonus code ACTIONMAXCAS to claim the following promo: Get up to $500 Cash Back Over the First 24h!
- Available States: New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia
FanDuel Casino
- Read our FanDuel Casino Promo Code & Review
- Bonus Offer: No promo code is needed to claim the following new user offer: Deposit $10, Get $20 In Site Credit & Play It Again up to $1000!
- Available States: Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia
What Makes an Online Casino Safe & Secure
If you are new to online casinos, it may be hard to tell at first what is safe and what isn't. Grey market offshore casinos have often intentionally muddled the waters, posing as a perfectly legal option. Let's discuss some of the things that will help you differentiate secure online casinos that are licensed in the US from those that aren't.
Licensing & Regulated Rights
A state gaming agency answers to the public first. Yes, the casinos pay taxes that help fund them. But their duty is to oversee those casinos, go through every line of code, investigate their owners, pore over banking records, and generally do as much due diligence as is necessary for them to be able to say they are 100 percent satisfied that this company is legitimate, that its software does what it is supposed to do, and that this state officially licenses it to allow online casino wagering.
If a casino has a state license, that is a stamp of approval that you can literally bet on. Their online casino games will be random, and your money will be safe. The state has officially decreed to the gambling public that this is a secure online casino.
Audits on a Consistent Basis
One of the roles of a regulating agency is to ensure that the casino is intermixing customer and company funds and that it has enough money to pay the winners without using players' deposits. They accomplish this by conducting monthly audits of the casinos' baking records.
They will also conduct quarterly audits of the gaming software. This ensures that trusted online casinos have their casino game codes checked and rechecked to ensure that they are legitimate and acting fairly.
Data & Fraud Protection
Safeguarding your money is the first key to safe online casinos, but your personal data and banking information must also be kept from prying eyes. Trusted online casinos will ensure that they frequently audit their IT departments and websites to ensure no data leaks into the black market.
Casino Game Integrity
State gaming agencies and the casinos themselves will want to make sure that the random number generators and software code at the heart of an online casino are legitimate and doing what they are supposed to do. Both the state and the casino will conduct quarterly audits of the gaming software. This ensures that trusted online casinos have their casino game codes checked and rechecked to ensure that they are acting fairly.
SHA-3 hash Algorithm
Let's keep this simple. We don't want to secure things like credit card numbers openly in case someone breaks into our system. We can use hashing to scramble those numbers, and then those with the proper key can put them back together again.
SHA-3 is the latest and greatest way to encrypt and decrypt sensitive data without allowing intruders to get a peek. While it is almost 10 years old now, it is still considered very safe and secure against nearly anything but a quantum computer attack, so we like to see online casinos use SHA-3 in their security feature set.
Hybrid RSA encryption
If we use the standard AES encryption method, it is sort of like sending a secret message with the key in it, but it is a widely used method because it can easily and securely encrypt large amounts of data. RSA encryption, however, has the advantage of using a pair of keys, so we don't need to worry about sending the key publicly; the private key will unlock the message. But it drains computer power like there is no tomorrow if we try to encrypt too much information.
Ideally, we want to use RSA to send the key to our AES encrypted message. This hybrid utilization keeps the public key safe without using all of that processor power.
Trusted Software
Software is complicated. While audits and checking code help, it might not be enough to prevent a bad actor from releasing code that doesn't always do what the casinos or the gaming control commissions think I should be doing. That is why many, if not most, online casinos prefer to use software from highly trusted vendors. These are ones that have themselves been vetted and inspected by multiple state gaming agencies and that have had third-party labs confirm their software is safe and secure.
Secure Payment Options
Obviously, the casino can be as safe as Fort Knox, but what if your money goes missing while you are trying to deposit it? Look for casinos with highly secure payment options so that your deposit will be safe. You may see reputable casinos with certifications that show that they are using secure payment options that are insured or guaranteed. These are the ones you should choose.
How Trusted Online Casinos Are Regulated for Safety
All of that sounds great, but who is regulating the regulators? All of this is only as safe and strong as the people who do the checking and auditing. Fortunately, in the US, at least, there is a lot of transparency and openness about these regulators.
US Casino Regulators
While all online casinos are licensed by individual states and overseen by state-run gaming agencies, that is not to say that there aren't federal officials who don't also oversee online casinos. The ease with which it is possible to launder money in online casinos is staggering. So some Know Your Customer oversight comes from the Federal government via FICen and the US Treasury Department. While they don't provide online casinos with licenses or seals of approval, they do ensure compliance and oversight of federal law and best banking practices.
State regulators drill down even more, auditing books and software code, conducting background checks on everyone from CEOs to casino dealers, and investigating all public complaints or concerns. In many states, they can operate undercover as gambling consumers. They can launch sprawling financial investigations of not only online casinos but their vendors and partners. And they handle the brunt of interaction with the gambling public when a problem arises.
Auditors & Testing Agencies
Not only will casinos online be exposed to software audits from state gaming agencies, but the very best online casinos will use independent auditors at trusted labs to review their code and casino games to ensure that everything works exactly as intended.
Companies like BMM, Ecorga, and GLI disassemble online code to ensure that neither the casino, the customer, nor the manufacturer has managed to insert any bugs or hacks that might imperceptibly change how online gambling games operate compared to real-world ones.
Casino Auditors
The huge internationally recognized companies operating in the US gambling market can't afford to leave anything to chance. So, they will also have auditors on staff, whose sole job is to review the numbers and ensure they align with expected values. Given the math and the millions of spins and hands, they can predict with very high accuracy what the outcomes should be over a large sample time over the course of a month or, even better, a year. Any discrepancies will probably result in both the casino audit team and the independent labs doing a deep dive into any irregularities.
Casino Game Auditors
While data tells a story, especially in the online gambling world, casinos also use casino game auditors. These auditors, much like their real-world counterparts, monitor the play of specified casino games, looking for irregularities in bets, payouts, or just the flow of the game. They act as a sort of last line of defense and real-world eyes to make sure that the data that the casino is seeing is what is actually happening in the games.
Role of Random Number Generators (RNG)
Software intended to produce random results indistinguishable from what we would expect to see in the real world is absolutely critical to the online casino industry and, of course, its regulators. In all fairness, these chips are called PseudoRandom Number Generators (PRNG) as they use complicated mathematical formulas and seed values to constantly provide long strings of numbers that the software will use to provide the next virtual card or spin of the slot.
Pseudorandom, not because they don't match extremely closely with what we see in the real world, but because they are created with algorithms and not real-world phenomena like tumbling dice or bouncing roulette balls.
Security Protocols at Secure Online Casinos
Certain security features and protocols indicate casinos that are more responsible for keeping your information and money safe than others. The table below includes some of the things you should keep an eye out for.
TABLE: SSL, Two-Factor Authentication, ID Verification, Segregated Funds, Responsible Gaming.
SSL is used to make sure communication between the player and the casino is encrypted.
Two-factor authentication is used in conjunction with either the player's mobile device or email. Upon using the player's password, a code is sent to one of these to ensure that it is, in fact, the customer using the code.
ID Verification: Every casino discussed requires a minimum age of 21 to gamble legally. ID verification checks any submitted ID against a state's database of issued IDs. It then uses facial recognition and a live picture to make sure the person submitting the ID is the person the ID belongs to.
Segregated Funds: Most state gaming agencies require online operators to keep players' funds separate from casino funds and, in many cases, deposit them completely separate from other players' money, preferably in an FDIC-insured account.
Responsible Gaming: A safe and secure online casino will have a robust set of responsible gambling tools, such as software that can help a player limit losses or deposits over a given time period.
Safe Deposit Methods at Online Casino Sites
Here are the most popular and safest casino payment methods available at many online casinos:
Tips to Make Secure Casino Deposits
Online casinos process thousands of deposits every day without a single hiccup, so there is no reason to be concerned as long as you follow some basic security precautions.
Click the Banking Section at a Safe Online Casino
The safest online casinos use SSL and encryption methods to ensure that your information is safe. Ensure your address bar reads the correct address for the casino page and uses HTTPS, not just HTTP, in that address. Paying attention here will ensure that you haven't been spoofed to some random site.
Submit Your Details
Carefully enter your details and check and recheck spelling matches against your government identification. A mistake here can slow withdrawal times if the spelling doesn't precisely match.
Play A Desired Casino Game
Now, you can play some casino games or perhaps even try a little sports betting. Remember, you don't have to jump in with both feet if you have concerns. Make sure you understand any difference in the way the online game is played. If you are sports betting, make sure you know what a parlay or money line is at the very least. The games may be fair, but it won't matter if you don't understand the rules.
Logo Indicators that an Online Casino Is Safe
You can tell a lot about online gambling sites by taking a quick look at the bottom of their home page. The best online casinos advertise their concerns about safety and security with the logos and certifications proudly displayed on these casino sites. Also, make sure to look for responsible gaming info, as that is another good indicator of trustworthy online casinos.
Casino Regulator
Every state regulator will have a license or certificate to show that this online casino has been thoroughly checked and vetted and is licensed for online gambling in this state. The license or certificate will be prominently displayed on the website's home page and will let you know that this is not some offshore fly-by-night operation but a trusted partner of the state gaming agency.
eCORGA
eCORGA is probably the best-known of the I-gaming safety certificates. They have been around for over two decades, have stringent testing certifications and inspection protocols, and stand behind their results, whatever they may be.
iTech Labs
iTech Labs is another meticulous and well-known certifier of trustworthy and legitimate casinos online. They will know the online gambling laws for that jurisdiction for USA online casinos, and they will test and certify not only casino games but also platform test player registration to ensure that it is private and secure.
Norton Secured
Norton offers a certification ensuring that data sent between online gamblers and the website is encrypted and secured. This certification is less about the safety of the casino games and more about showing that your communication and information will be private and secure.
TRUSTe
TrustArc offers compliance programs and certifications under its TRUSTe brand that demonstrate a company's adherence to privacy and confidentiality. This certificate/logo shows that the company will meet a high standard for safely storing your personal information and data.
Secure SSL Encryption
Moving data across the Internet can be tricky, as there are a lot of prying eyes along the way. Since the early 90s, Secure Socket Layer encryption and, nowadays, Transfer Layer Protection have been keeping your information safe. You will often notice a padlock at the top of your browser screen. This shows that the website you are communicating with has SSL/TSL protection in place to move your online gambling data securely.
Safe & Secure Mobile Casino Apps
The ability to pull out your phone and mobile device and play casino games anywhere, anytime, is a luxury that shouldn't be taken for granted. A safe online casino experience is a crucial component of your entertainment and a casino site that is secure, beautiful to look at, and fun to play online is the holy grail of real-money gambling.
Again, reviews in the various app stores are a great place to start when reviewing an app's security, as many tens of thousands of users will have already tried it and shared their experience. You should also look for many of the same licenses and certificates listed above. Last, make sure to Google the casino app's name + mobile security to be aware of any outstanding issues with its safety or privacy features.
How We Analyze if an Online Casino Is Reliable & Secure
There are some easy benchmarks to use to ensure that your casino games are reliable and secure. We will lay them out for you so you can use them to decide which casinos have the right mix of security features.
Player Trust & Security
The internet is like being able to ask your closest one million friends how they feel about their online gambling experience. You can go to the Google or IOS app store or websites like Trust Pilot and get thousands of people's unvarnished opinions about a casino online.
You can read about safety concerns or any reliability or customer service breakdowns that you would want to know about long before you deposit money with a casino online. And you can get a feel for how the online games payout. If you are into sports betting, you can read about the odds and parlays offered.
Software & Casino Games
There are some very reliable and safe software providers out there that do nothing but manufacture legit online casinos for online gambling sites. They have taken gambling online to a whole new level of sophistication, and when you see casino games from Light and Wonder, Net Ent, Pragmatic Play, Playtech, Evolution, and BGaming, just to name a few, you can rest assured that you are playing with a safe and secure casino site.
Bonuses & Promos
When it comes to gambling online, all other safety and security features being equal, we want to play with the online gambling sites that offer the most bang for the buck. So, we need to consider the welcome bonus and promotions that each casino offers as well. Don't get us wrong.
Don't trade a great casino bonus for playing with some online gambling site with misspelled words and live dealer games like Rock, Paper, Scissor, or Guess the Number. But if it is licensed and regulated by the state that you are playing in, then weighing the ongoing bonuses and promos to cut the house advantage is the intelligent thing to do.
Customer Support
Problems happen even at the safest and most secure, legitimate online casinos, but the ability to contact a live, knowledgeable person 24/7 can mitigate that. Go to Trust Pilot or, even better, visit the online casino gambling sites themselves before you play online. Check out the customer service options. Do they have phone service or at least 24/7 customer chat? Do you have to resort to email to describe your problem? Does the casino site have a reputation for well-informed and up-to-date customer service reps? The online casino's reputation is going to be important to how we make our decisions.
Mobile Gaming
Having access to thousands of slot and casino games on a device in your pocket 24/7 may not be the best part of the 21st century, but it is certainly up there. As discussed earlier though, mobile devices and online casino gaming apps also leave us open to some safety and security concerns from the high-tech to the decidedly low.
If you leave your mobile casino app open and your younger brother decides to go on a blackjack spree, that is on you. However, the casino sites are responsible for ensuring that the app uses the latest encryption and that the casino games are fair and audited.
Localization
Lastly, we want to make sure that the online casino fits in with its customer base. Many of these online casinos operate very similar, if not identical, platforms in five or more states, some thousands of miles apart. It is important that each state's players are seen as cookie-cutter customers but that the state uses promotions, bonuses, and marketing that is aimed at the locals.
Unsafe Casinos to Avoid
Online casinos operating out of the Caribbean or Eastern Europe have been available to US players for several decades. But they operate in, at best, a grey market that isn't legal and can leave you vulnerable if something happens.
There are dozens of examples of these online casinos rigging games, failing to pay winnings, and, in some cases, just flat-up disappearing with your deposit. There are also many examples of these casinos selling your personal info, spamming your phone and email with advertising, and sometimes hosting software that may steal your bank account or credit card info.
While some of these offshore casinos may advertise themselves as legitimate and owned by some of the biggest names in European gaming, what happens if the stock market collapses, they are hacked, or there is a bank run in their country?
Do you think your funds sitting in some offshore account down in the sunny islands can't vanish instantly if some state attorney general orders an online casino out of, say, Michigan? And the company doesn't have the funds to cover all deposits, or they are hit with a couple hundred million dollar fine for not acting within the letter of the law and being licensed by a state gaming agency, and they don't have the money to pay?
It is far safer and legal to gamble with a licensed US online casino with deposits held in FDIC-insured bank accounts and corporate insurance that should cover just about any contingency.
Here are just a few of the several hundred sites we could list that have been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
Online Poker: In the early 2000s, online poker sites experienced a raft of cheating scandals. Most of these revolved around operators giving players superuser status so that they could see others' cards. Sometimes, it was as simple as a player registering many accounts and players finding themselves playing against three or four accounts on the table played by the same guy.
Casino Girl: Blacklisted by many online casino affiliate sites since they slow- and no-played gamblers, and then were caught using pirated casino software in their games.
BoomBet: Hid high fees and small withdrawal limits in their terms and conditions and then used other parts of the terms and conditions to refuse to pay.
Gibson Casino: Flagged by Google as a potential phishing site playing fast and loose with customers' personal information.
Black Diamond Casino: Pirated and probably cheating software.
Tips to Play Safely at Trusted Online Casino Sites
Some simple tips and tricks will make your visits to gambling sites much safer by just following some straightforward best practices.
Avoid Saving Banking Info on a Shared Device
We aren't entirely thrilled about using a shared device for gambling, but if you must, please don't share any personal banking info while on the device. Remember to clear passwords and cookies when done, and just be ultra careful. Shared devices are just inherently unsafe for most financial transactions, including visiting gambling sites.
When Connected to Public Wi-Fi, Don't Share Information
Public Wi-Fi can be easily intercepted unless you are very careful. If feasible, you may wish to use your mobile connection instead of public Wi-Fi. At the very least, turn off file sharing, don't enter personal info into apps, and seriously consider using a VPN.
Play Casino Games at Regulated Online Casinos
Only play at regulated licensed casinos. You have zero expectation of ever seeing your money again with many offshore operators, and some of these online casinos will do their very best to convince you that their grey or black market operation is legal in your state. Caveat Emptor has never applied more strongly than it does with the online casino market.
Check that Games are Verified for Fairness
One way the buyer can beware is by checking for Ecorg, Itech Labs, or other certificates showing that the casino games offered have been audited by an outside, neutral party for fair play. If you are playing live dealer games, look for a certificate from Gaming Laboratories International, as they audit many live dealer studios for fairness and proper gameplay.
Sign Up with Online Casinos We've Approved
When you are ready to start your online gambling adventure, look carefully at the casinos we have provided on this page. We've already done all the leg work to ensure that casinos are licensed, fair, and audited.
Responsible Gambling at the Safest Online Casinos
No online casino is safe if we aren't responsible with our wagering. Most regulated online casinos in the U.S. take responsible gambling seriously and now have myriad ways to limit your gambling on casino games. These include limits on how much you can bet per day, week, or month, limits on how much you can deposit across different time periods, and even limits on how much you can afford to lose.
You can also self-exclude for short periods up to a lifetime. But none of these technological fixes will work if you don't sign up for them at registration. Don't tell yourself you will set them up later. Set them up now. Use reasonable numbers that fit your budget and lifestyle so that you won't be tempted later to chase a series of losses or bet more than you meant to in a moment of weakness. Take advantage of any responsible gambling software provided.
If you or someone you know needs to talk with someone about disordered gambling or a gambling problem, technology now lets you find like-minded people no matter where you are. One of the best tools is the national gambling helpline. You can call, text, or live chat 24/7 at 1-800-Gambler.
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