How to choose an online casino

How to choose an online casino: start with your state's law

The first filter has nothing to do with bonuses. Seven states license real-money online casinos: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Delaware, Connecticut and Rhode Island. If you live in one of them, a state-licensed site comes with a state regulator, rules on how player balances are held and a formal complaint route.

Maine legalized tribal-run online casinos in January 2026 under LD 1164, but nothing had launched by October 2026 and a lawsuit is pending. In the other states, no state licenses online casinos, so every real-money casino site you see there is operating from offshore. Our list of states with legal online casinos tracks the changes.

Federal law sets the background but doesn't settle the question for players. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act targets payment processing for unlawful internet gambling, and its definition of unlawful internet gambling (opens in a new tab) points back to the law of the state where the bet is made. So your state's law is what counts, and some states are blunt: in Washington, RCW 9.46.240 makes knowingly transmitting or receiving gambling information over the internet a class C felony, and Oklahoma's SB 1589 bans online casino games from November 1, 2026.

We never tell readers that playing at an offshore casino is legal for them, or that they'll be prosecuted. Read what your own state's law says on our state-by-state pages before you pick a site.

Our online casino guides for US players cover each later step, from signing up to cashing out, in more depth.

Check the license, the operator and who would hear a complaint

An offshore casino can hold a license from Curaçao, Anjouan or elsewhere, and some hold none at all. None of these is a US state license. The Curaçao reform is a good example of what an offshore license does and doesn't mean: the Curaçao Gaming Authority's online gaming page (opens in a new tab) says its new National Ordinance on Games of Chance took effect on December 24, 2024, with direct licensing replacing the old sublicense system. That reform governs Curaçao law, not yours.

Among our partners, only one names its license on its own site. Silver Oak's terms and conditions (opens in a new tab) name Primrose Media Limited and say it is licensed in Anjouan under the Computer Gaming Licensing Act 007 of 2005, with no separate license number shown. Even there, sources clash: one third-party listing shows no license, and its narrative mentions Costa Rica.

Miami Club's Terms of Use (v2.1, September 28, 2026, section 1.6) list the United States as a prohibited jurisdiction, while the site owner's affiliate program confirms US players are accepted. Confirm your eligibility at sign-up.

Look for regulator actions and complaint patterns

State regulators publish enforcement actions, and they're the most reliable red flag you'll find. The Michigan Gaming Control Board, which calls these sites illegal offshore operators, has sent cease-and-desist letters naming five of the seven brands we cover. Silver Oak and Planet 7 appear in its April 9, 2025 release (opens in a new tab), Miami Club and Slot Madness in its August 14, 2025 order (opens in a new tab), and SlotoCash in its October 8, 2026 batch of letters (opens in a new tab).

Complaint sites are a second, weaker signal. Third-party reviewers report slow payouts at several offshore brands, including warnings about payments that usually take more than a month at Planet 7 and Royal Ace. Treat any single complaint with care, but repeated themes across sources (withdrawal delays, rejected documents, voided winnings) tell you where the risk sits. Our cease-and-desist letters explainer covers how to read them.

Compare withdrawal caps, fees and payout times

A casino's cashout rules shape your experience far more than its welcome offer. Weekly and monthly caps decide how long a large win takes to reach you, minimums decide whether a small balance can leave at all, and fees come straight out of what you receive.

Here's the math on a $10,000 win. At a $2,500 weekly cap, it takes four weekly payments. If the same casino also caps you at $5,000 a month, as Royal Ace and Slot Madness reportedly do, it takes two months instead. At SlotoCash's published $5,000 weekly cap it's two weeks, inside its $20,000 monthly limit. Our pages on withdrawal limits and the sibling guide on how to withdraw from an online casino go further.

Choosing a real money casino by its bonus terms, not the headline

Every welcome bonus is a set of conditions attached to a number. The conditions that matter are wagering, max cashout, eligible games, minimum deposit and expiry. A big headline with a low max cashout can be worth less than a small one with none.

Take SlotoCash's welcome terms as published: 25x (deposit + bonus), a $20 minimum per bonus and no max cashout. Deposit $100 with a 200% match and you'd hold $300, so you'd need to wager $300 × 25 = $7,500 before cashing out. On slots with an illustrative 4% house edge, the expected cost of that wagering is $7,500 × 4% = $300, which shows how much of a bonus the play-through can absorb.

Game rules matter too. Silver Oak's terms set 60x for table games and video poker and exclude games such as baccarat, craps and roulette, and third-party reviews report a $1,000 max cashout on Planet 7's welcome match. Our explainers on wagering requirements and max cashout rules show how to run the numbers yourself.

Check the games, the software and the house edge

Most of the casinos US players meet offshore run RealTime Gaming or its SpinLogic brand. SlotoCash's homepage advertises 400+ titles in partnership with SpinLogic, Decode's site lists 300+ RTG slots, and Silver Oak's mobile page names RealTime Gaming. Third-party game counts vary widely, so treat any number as approximate and check the lobby.

The house edge is the cost of playing, and it differs by game. RTG's European Roulette is listed by a third party at 97.3% RTP, a 2.7% house edge. Wager $500 in total and the expected loss is $500 × 2.7% = $13.50, though any single session can swing far either way. Our house edge guide and European roulette page explain the math.

Make sure the banking works for US players

Many US card issuers block gambling transactions coded MCC 7995, and some treat a credit card gambling payment as a cash advance with extra fees. That's why crypto dominates offshore cashiers. Read our page on card declines before you count on a card.

Check deposit fees too. Silver Oak's banking page lists card deposits from $30 to $1,000 with a 3% to 10% fee, while its Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum deposits carry no fee. SlotoCash lists Bitcoin deposits with no fee from $25. If you plan to use crypto, our guides on how to buy Bitcoin for casinos and how to deposit with Bitcoin cover each step.

Read the published support and safety tools

Support details are a quick honesty check. SlotoCash's support page lists 24/7 live chat and a callback option but no phone number. Silver Oak's contact page gives an email address with replies within 48 hours. For Decode, the responsible gambling page didn't render for researchers, so its tools aren't published in a form we could read.

Responsible gambling tools tell you whether a casino will help you stop. SlotoCash lists deposit limits and time limits on request and self-exclusion for at least six months by email. Silver Oak's terms list deposit limits, cool-off periods and self-exclusion through live chat. One third-party reviewer lists no tools at all for Planet 7, Royal Ace and Slot Madness. Our deposit limits guide explains how to set your own if the casino won't.

A step-by-step checklist for choosing an online casino

1. Read your state's law and check whether state-licensed online casinos exist where you live.
2. Decide your monthly gambling budget in dollars before you look at any offer.
3. Find the casino's operator and license on its own site, and compare what third parties report.
4. Search the Michigan Gaming Control Board's releases and other regulators' actions for the brand name.
5. Read the withdrawal page: minimums, weekly and monthly caps, fees and processing times.
6. Read the bonus terms: wagering, max cashout, eligible games, max bet and expiry.
7. Check which deposit methods work from the US and what each one costs.
8. Read the verification rules so you know which documents a first withdrawal needs.
9. Confirm the casino offers deposit limits and self-exclusion, and note how to request them.
10. Start with a small deposit and a small withdrawal before trusting the site with more.

That last step costs little and tells you a lot. Our guide on how to read casino terms expands on steps five and six.

Red flags that should rule an online casino out

• No operator or license named anywhere, and no third party able to agree on one.
• A cease-and-desist letter from a state regulator, especially a recent one.
• Terms pages that contradict each other on wagering, caps or fees, with no date or version number.
• Withdrawal caps that are low compared with the bonuses on offer.
• Bonus terms that hide max cashout limits or void winnings for vague reasons.
• No responsible gambling tools, or tools that exist only on request with no written process.
• Copycat or mirror domains that look like the brand but name no operator.

One flag doesn't always rule a site out, but several together should. Our guide to spotting a rogue casino shows what each looks like in practice.

How our partner casinos measure up, with offers via our links

The three casinos below are offshore and not licensed or regulated by any US state, so none of them carries state-backed protection for your balance or a state regulator to complain to. Check your state's law before you sign up. We earn a commission from these links and list partners in a commercial order, not as a test result. All offers are for new players, 21+ (18+ where allowed), and terms apply.

SlotoCash Casino: $6,000 Welcome Bonus + 60 Free Spins, via our link (new players, 21+ or 18+ where allowed, terms apply). The casino's terms set 25x (deposit + bonus) wagering, a $20 minimum deposit per bonus and no max cashout, with slots, keno and scratch cards eligible; its own site advertises a different five-deposit package, so the terms shown at sign-up apply. Michigan named SlotoCash in a cease-and-desist letter on October 8, 2026.

Decode Casino: $5,000 Welcome Bonus + 50 Free Spins, via our link (new players, 21+ or 18+ where allowed, terms apply). Its terms aren't readable on its own site; third-party reviews report codes such as DECODE111 (111% up to $1,111 at 25x deposit + bonus, $25 minimum), and codes change. Reviews also report that it refuses players in Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Washington. See the Decode review.

Silver Oak Casino: $2,500 Welcome Bonus + 50 Free Spins, via our link (new players, 21+ or 18+ where allowed, terms apply). The casino's own pages conflict on wagering (30x on the offer page, 40x for slots in the terms, 60x for table games and video poker), state no max withdrawal on the welcome match and list deposits from $30. Read the Silver Oak review for its Anjouan license and April 9, 2025 Michigan action. Free spins and bonuses are slot-focused, and table games are often excluded or weighted lower.

21+ (18+ where allowed). Every casino game has a built-in house edge, so over time you should expect to lose what you stake. Set a budget before you play and stop when it’s gone: responsible gambling tools and free help. Gambling problem? Call or text 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738).