Best Real Money Casinos for US Players

Emma Trotter

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Emma Trotter

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Lee James Gwilliam

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Lee James Gwilliam

Senior Vice-President

Last Updated on 26th April 2024, 08:12 AM

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Wondering what separates the everyday real money casino from the rest? Youโ€™ve come to the right spot. Having explored plenty of online casino real money platforms in my time, I know what the top sites have to offer. But it can be a minefield out there, and choosing the โ€˜wrongโ€™ sites is an easy mistake to make.

Without the right experience, itโ€™s totally understandable if you feel the real money casino world can be confusing! That said, my intention today is to remove any confusion surrounding this topic. And Iโ€™ll do so by highlighting what features to look for in a quality real-money casino. Iโ€™ll also cover where to find the best sites, which real money games are most enjoyable, and much more!

Top 3 Real Money US Casinos

Real Money Casino

All Casino Games

Star Feature

Caesars Palace Online Casino

1120

๐ŸŽฐ Over 700 slots
BetMGM Online Casino

3034

๐Ÿ† Digital Operator of the Year (Global Gaming Awards, 2023)
PlayStar Online Casino

430

๐Ÿ“ฑ Mobile experience & compatibility

 

So, ready to learn all thatโ€™s necessary to find the best real money casino platforms in the USA? Letโ€™s get started.

Our Top Real Money US Casinos

If you want to begin your search for the most rewarding real money websites tailored to your location, just click on the dropdown menu and choose your state from the available options provided below. Our selection of leading online slot platforms is carefully assessed and rated according to factors such as user satisfaction, the variety of slot games offered, quality of customer support, available banking methods, and the attractiveness of bonuses and promotions โ€“ all to help you find the ideal gaming experience that suits your preferences.

Affiliate disclosure: At Casinos.com, we want to ensure that players are matched with the right casino and sportsbook offers for them. For this reason, some of the recommended site links are affiliate links. This means that if you visit a website through our link and make a deposit, Casinos.com will receive a commission payment at no extra cost to you.
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Overview of Our Top Real Money US Casinos

I can assist you in finding the best real money online casino in the US. To do so, I have closely examined our top three casinos and prepared a brief summary of why they are the best picks.

Please Note: From time to time, the offers below may not match the highlighted casinos. This happens when the offer is not currently available in your region. In this case, we may show you the next best offer available to you.

Caesars Palace Online Casino

Do gambling brands get more prestigious than Caesars? Of course, the most famous venue linked to this brand is Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. But since a trip to Caesars Palace in Sin City isnโ€™t feasible for most, itโ€™s great that the brand is now available online in states like Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

In joining Caesars Palace Casino, you instantly get a chance to redeem as much as $1,000 in bonus funds through the 100% first deposit match. This gives you a healthy balance in which to explore hundreds of real money games if you maximize the offer. As for whatโ€™s in store, Caesars Palace supports a solid range of jackpots, table games, and slots.

Best of all, pretty much the full gaming range is accessible through an awesome mobile app that you can install on Android or iOS. And for the finishing touches, Caesars Casino has a dedicated loyalty scheme to boost the range of bonuses available.

Oops! It seems this offer isn't available in your location right now. Click here to check out the best casino deals for your area!

BetMGM Online Casino

Much like Caesars Casino, BetMGM Casino is available in several US states, including West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Michigan. For those of you lucky enough to be based in West Virginia, the 100% deposit match welcome offer offers a sensational $2,500 in bonus funds. 

As for the other states, the offer isnโ€™t quite so large, but itโ€™s still sitting at a nice $1,000. Both deals come with an extra free real money casino no deposit promo, too - $50 for West Virginia and $25 for all other states. Beyond the sign-up offer, however, is where you see the true magic of the BetMGM Online Casino. First and foremost, BetMGM is one of the few platforms with exclusive real-money games, meaning you wonโ€™t find them anywhere else.

Other verticals include live dealer play, classic table games like blackjack and roulette, and a large poker setup. You may access these sections on the well-polished desktop site or the responsive native app.

Oops! It seems this offer isn't available in your location right now. Click here to check out the best casino deals for your area!

PlayStar Online Casino

If immersive real money casino sites are what you desire, the PlayStar Online Casino really is the perfect choice. This platform prides itself on dynamic and engaging visuals, 3D gaming, and interactive features overall. PlayStar Casino also welcomes newcomers through the door with a 100% deposit match of up to $500, which comes with 500 free spins! Needless to say, thatโ€™s an offer that just cannot be missed.

This platform offers a more condensed selection of real money games, but each one comes from some of the industryโ€™s top software developers. Key titles to look out for include Starburst, Stinkin Rich, Divine Fortune Megaways, and Wheel of Fortune Megaways.

PlayStar Casino also provides a solid range of payment methods with options like Neteller, Skrill, debit/credit cards, and PayPal available (among others). But if these benefits donโ€™t quite make you want to sign up, you should know that withdrawals often take less than 24 hours, there is a structured loyalty scheme, and youโ€™ve got a top-rated native app for iOS and Android.

Oops! It seems this offer isn't available in your location right now. Click here to check out the best casino deals for your area!

Introduction to Real Money Gambling

The terms โ€˜real money casinoโ€™ and โ€˜real money gamblingโ€™ go hand in hand. To enjoy real money games, you need a real money casino that supports them, and vice versa. Yet, the connection between these terms still links back to the involvement of real funds when playing games. As a result, whenever you join an online casino real money site, you must deposit funds to access games and satisfy the real money wagering criteria.

However, if you perform a search for โ€˜real money casino USAโ€™, youโ€™ll soon realize that this activity isnโ€™t available in every state. In fact, only Connecticut, West Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island, and New Jersey allow real money games at online casinos in the USA. But as legislation changes, this landscape will inevitably change with it. 

What Sets Real Money Casinos Apart

As you might be aware, many different types of casinos are available in the US. 44 states have some form of brick-and-mortar land-based casino, whether tribal, commercial, or both. While you can stake your hard-earned cash and immerse yourself in the exciting land-based gambling experience at these venues, there are travel times and costs to think of.

The convenience of online real-money casinos sets them apart from their land-based counterparts. You can still wager real money on your favorite games, you can do so from the comfort of your couch. These sites also offer around-the-clock gaming and a wide range of games to enjoy.

Next, US social casinos and sweepstakes casinos mirror real money sites in many ways, but the cash element is removed. These sites arenโ€™t classed as โ€œgamblingโ€ since you donโ€™t play with real money. Instead, you use virtual currency to power games. You can collect these free sweeps coins through bonuses or by purchasing coin bundles.

This means that the key factor separating real money casino platforms from the rest, once again, boils down to the involvement of real funds. It really is that simple. While you can still win real-life prizes and gift cards at sweeps cash casinos, these pale in comparison to the real-money winning potential at real-money casinos online. 

Understanding the Basics of Online Gambling

The term โ€˜gamblingโ€™ covers a wide range of activities in both an online and offline setting. Examples include sports betting, lotteries, casino gaming, bingo, poker, and more. Yet, while the act of gambling differs across these forms, thereโ€™s always the act of making a real money wager in the hope of gaining a return on your stake. In a nutshell, thatโ€™s what gambling is, and the thrill experienced from risking our hard-earned dollars is enjoyed by many.

In the USA, however, not all types of gambling are legal or accepted across all individual states. As I mentioned earlier, online casino real money sites are only available in just a small number of states. However, other forms of betting, such as sports betting and lotteries, are more widely available. 

Strategies for Winning Real Money

If there were a magic recipe for guaranteed success in online gambling, weโ€™d all have a few extra bucks in our account and then some! But unfortunately, there isnโ€™t. Casino games like slots online, table games, and live dealer titles are games of chance, meaning there is nothing you can do to influence outcomes. 

However, that doesnโ€™t mean there arenโ€™t certain strategies out there you can implement to extend your bankroll and improve your chances of scoring a big win. Check out some of my top tips below:

Managing Your Bankroll Effectively

Ask any professional gambler, and they will tell you that effective bankroll management is important. Thatโ€™s because losing streaks are inevitable at some point when playing real money games. So youโ€™ve got to be able to ride those out and learn to stake the right values at the right times. As a general rule of thumb, youโ€™ll never want to risk more than you can afford to lose. Thatโ€™s because a few consecutive losses could wipe you out if going too big!

Understanding Casino Odds and RTP

All real money games have individual odds and RTP values that tell you what you can expect when playing them. Odds show you what returns you could get by making certain bets, and RTP values reveal what percentage of all bets a game pays back to its players (on average). By learning these values and picking out games with favorable odds and RTPs, you can avoid those that could rapidly deplete your balance.

Using Casino Bonuses and Promotions

Almost all the best online real money casino sites offer big casino bonuses. These tend to include deposit matches, free spins, cashback, and more through VIP or loyalty schemes. The more you take advantage of these, the more you can boost your bankroll, therefore reducing your overall risk when playing real money games. For example, if you grab 50 free spins and use them on a top slot game, you get 50 free shots to land a payout without dipping into your real-money casino balance.

Join Multiple Casinos 

Lastly, as long as youโ€™re willing to take the time to register at several casinos, this strategy is one we recommend for all ambitious gamers. By joining multiple casinos, you can access a wider range of welcome bonuses, games, VIP/loyalty incentives, and reload offers than just a single account. This way, you get the luxury of picking and choosing the most competitive bonuses and cast a much wider net in the games you can play.

Popular Real Money Casino Games

Letโ€™s be honest: we all believe we will be the โ€˜chosen oneโ€™ to land a scorching payout at real money casinos. Whether thatโ€™s through slots, jackpots, live dealer gaming, table games, or another category, we all want to hit the money shot. Regardless of whether we do or not, the foundation of this activity gives us lots of excitement and is a source of entertainment.

That said, Iโ€™d like to quickly cover some of the key game categories youโ€™ll encounter at real money casino USA.

Online Slots

Slots remain the most popular real money casino game of all time. The best real money casino platforms offer thousands of them - literally! And they come in all shapes and sizes, too, with jackpots, 3D titles, old-school arcade slots, Megaways, and others taking center stage at leading online casinos. These are also the easiest of all casino games to play, as they require no real skill. All you need to do is hit a button to spin the reels and see if the symbols fall in your favor. 

As for some truly awesome titles you should try, we recommend Starburst, Immortal Romance, Book of Dead, and Mega Moolah for an immediate thrill.

Table Games

In contrast to online slots, table games require some brain power to play for real money and potentially win some cash. While this takes a bit of patience if youโ€™re a beginner, once youโ€™ve mastered the basics, youโ€™ve got a wealth of games to try under this category. Again, let me take you through the main examples.

Blackjack

The game of 21, blackjack is a fan favorite at online casinos. The goal is to amass a hand total as close to 21 as possible without running over, and your cards dictate your score. But be careful - you need to be closer than the dealer to win. As for popular blackjack games, you should check out Perfect Pairs Blackjack, Classic Blackjack, or European Blackjack at blackjack sites.

Roulette

We mentioned that table games often have rules you must learn before playing, but roulette takes a different spin on that - no pun intended. Sure, it has basic rules about what you can bet on and the related payouts. However, at its heart, roulette is a true game of chance, which is why people love options like American Roulette, European Roulette, and Lighting Roulette. In this casino classic, youโ€™ll need to predict in which numbered pocket a ball will land on the roulette wheel. 

Baccarat

Baccarat also uses a blend of point totals, cards, and super simple bets. In this traditional table game, you essentially wager on whether the player or the banker will get a score closer to 9. However, further wagers might be necessary in the event of a tie, making it a fun and somewhat unpredictable game. 

Variations like Speed Baccarat, Dragon Tiger, and Live Baccarat remain popular choices at real money sites, and with average RTPs above 98%, the expected value in baccarat is excellent.

Live Dealer Games

Live dealer gaming is one of the most immersive products available on online real money casino sites. In a nutshell, live dealer gaming offers the excitement of real-life gambling alongside the convenience of online gaming โ€“ you never need to step outside of your front door. Thatโ€™s because top live dealer games stream to your device from studios all over the globe. 

Titles like Lightning Roulette, Side Bet City, Casino Holdโ€™em, and Crazy Time rank as some of the best live dealer games in the business.

Real Money Gaming vs Free Slots

It goes without saying that real-money casino gaming is very different from playing for free. Each form of online casino gaming has its fair share of advantages and disadvantages. I feel that highlighting these is important so you can choose the best route to take.

Starting with real money casino games, since these include the wagering of real funds, there is always the chance of hitting the jackpot or making a profit. However, there is no such thing as a free lunch in the gambling industry. I say that because the chance of financial gain comes with the possibility of financial loss, too. Yet, those who love real money casino gaming will argue that this is where the excitement stems from. Then again, youโ€™ll no doubt have your own list of reasons that guarantee the โ€˜fun factorโ€™ for this particular category.

As shown by the description of free casino gaming, you are totally protected against financial loss when playing games in demo mode. However, while you can play free slots for fun and test different strategies without risking a cent, you never get that adrenaline rush that often accompanies a real money wager. 

Pros and Cons of Real Money Casinos

Chance of winning real money
The thrill of risk
Access to real money bonuses
Possibility of losing your money
Play time is limited by bankroll size

Pros and Cons of Playing Demo Casino Games

Unlimited experimentation with casino games
Zero financial risk
Chance to test strategies and techniques for set games
The thrill of real money wagering is missing
Not all real money games are available in demo mode

Meet The Author

Emma Trotter
Emma Trotter
Editor Editor

Emma Trotter is a Senior Editor at Casinos.com. Emma has worked as a staff writer and editor for nearly two decades, extensively covering celebrity news and the Las Vegas entertainment, casino and tourism scenes. She spent several years in in-house roles at Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Las Vegas before stepping into iGaming affiliate site content.

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