Washington Online Casinos – An Inside Look At The Evergreen State’s Casino Gambling Industry
Washington has 29 federally recognized Indian tribes, and all of them have WA tribal gambling compacts. To date, 22 WA tribes operate 29 such venues, and all Indian casinos in Washington state operate as Class III facilities. Nevertheless, there are no online Washington casinos, as state law currently disallows online casino gambling at the domestic level.
In fact, WA law actually bars residents from gambling online in any capacity. This, unfortunately, rules out legit online casinos operating offshore, which are legally accessible in most states. And although all the best sites in the industry accept WA residents despite the state’s betting laws, we must insist that you abide by all local gaming mandates and refrain from joining any USA online casino services.
★ Top Rated Online Casino For Washington Players In 2024
Bovada Casino – Keep Your Bankroll In A Forever Green State!
Bovada is the most reputable and respected online casino in America, which makes it an easy pick for players from the Evergreen State. Of course, due to Washington online casino laws, you should only access Bovada if you’re actively outside the state. This is mandatory if you wish to stay in compliance with state gaming regulations.
Of course, once you join Bovada to bet real money online, you’ll have access to all the classic casino games you expect, including real-money online slots, online blackjack, online roulette, and more. Bovada is also a fully fledged online sportsbook, online poker room, and online racebook.
New players who join today can take advantage of the best-in-class Bovada online casino welcome bonus worth up to $3000!
Note: While Bovada accepts members who join and/or sign in and play from inside WA borders, using a VPN to make the site think you’re playing from outside the state is strictly against the Bovada terms of service. Please do not use a VPN when gambling at Bovada Casino.
- Established + launched in 2011
- Based in Costa Rica, Central America
- 250+ WA online slots + table games
- 30+ WA online live casino games
- Bovada Bitcoin + altcoins accepted
- Bovada Vouchers + MatchPay
- 1 acct. for Casino, Sports, Poker, Horses
- All Washington residents accepted (18+)
Is Online Gambling Legal In Washington?
No. Online gambling is technically against the law in the state, with the exception of domestic online sports betting hosted by Washington Indian casinos. However, as of 2022, no mobile WA sportsbook has launched, and online iGaming is not part of the mobile gaming allowance agreed to by the state and the tribes.
In addition, WA is the only US state that has explicitly barred online casino gambling at the individual level, though the allowance for online sports betting in Washington state could technically obviate that law going forward. Right now, it’s too early to tell whether or not that’s going to be the case.
It’s also worth pointing out that when it comes to online gambling, Washington state doesn’t appear to enforce its restrictive laws on the individual level. We’ve been reviewing online Washington casinos for over 20 years now, and we’ve never heard of a single WA resident being cited, fined, or arrested for the “crime” of real-money online gambling.
Nevertheless, we must insist that you follow all local gaming laws and gamble at our recommended WA online casinos only when you’re physically outside state borders.
Important: In order to comply with KYC standards employed by most legit online casinos, you’re encouraged to bet only with Bitcoin/crypto when gambling online outside of WA state borders, as other forms of deposit and withdrawal generally require you to use a verifiable in-state residential address to receive your winnings.
Legal Washington Gambling Age As Of 2024
In WA, it’s easy enough to abide by the legal casino age. At 10 of the state's 29 tribal casino venues, patrons only have to be 18 or older to enter and play. The remaining 19 venues are restricted to those aged 21 and up. The statewide legal gambling age is also 18+ for the Washington Lottery and even some tribal sports betting. Most of the offshore WA-friendly sites we recommend have also made their minimum age to play just 18 years old.
Are There Legal WA Online Casinos That Are Safe To Play At?
As long as you join the online Washington casinos we recommend with the exclusive intent to play only when you’re outside of state borders, these sites are exceptionally safe to use. In fact, even if you gamble at these venues from inside WA borders, they’re still perfectly safe.
In the case of the latter situation, the only real problem is that the state technically considers this to be a “crime.” While WA doesn’t police its residents’ online gambling activities and has no history of prosecuting online gamblers – and while there are tens of thousands or more regular online gamblers in WA – we still advise you to follow all Washington gambling rules and regulations.
That said, once you’re physically outside of WA, all the sites we recommend are legit online casinos that abide by all the most stringent industry best practices:
Washington Mobile Casinos
The reason WA residents are free to use legal WA casino sites to place real-money online bets is specifically because these sites are all mobile-optimized. Remember, due to Washington state casino laws and WA gambling laws, it’s technically “against the law” to gamble online (aside from placing online bets with domestic sportsbooks at local tribal casinos, once these options finally go live).
So again, even though no WA resident has ever gotten in legal trouble for online gambling (to our knowledge, that is), it’s still technically a risk.
To avoid that risk, then, you’ll want to participate in gambling at online Washington casinos only when you’re no longer inside the state itself. And, naturally, the best way to do that is to gamble via mobile.
The sites we recommend aren’t geofenced, which means they work from any location in America. Plus, since they’re all web-based, there are no Washington iPhone casino apps or Android casino apps to download or update. To play any game on the menu, all you need is an Internet connection, your normal smartphone or tablet, and an up-to-date web browser.
Online Casino Games In Washington
Like the best tribal casinos in the state, online casino games in Washington are generally focused on slots first and foremost. And since retail Washington slot machines are all digital these days, there’s no real difference between in-person slots and online slots. In fact, if you want the loosest slots in WA, online has the edge all day (and all night!) long.
Of course, this is true for most other casino games, too, with WA online blackjack and WA online roulette being especially popular with the Internet gambling crowd.
Ultimately, outside of the specific ambiance at a nearby WA Indian casino, the online games themselves play the exact same way as the in-person games. If you’ve ever hit the floor at the best casinos in Washington, you’ll find that online casinos are usually even better, with more games and bigger payouts across all the following categories:
- Online Slots (3-Reel, 5-Reel, 3D, iSlots)
- Online Progressive Jackpot Slots
- Online Blackjack (1-Deck, 2-Deck, 6-Deck, 8-Deck)
- Online Roulette (American and European)
- Online Baccarat
- Online Super 6 (aka Online Mini-Bac)
- Online Video Poker Games
- Online Keno Games
- Online Craps Games
- Online Bingo Games
- Online Lotteries
- Online Raffles
- Online Scratchers
- Online Live Dealer Games
Pro-Tip: Many of the online casinos in Washington we recommend have free-to-play games. At venues that offer these perks, you can access the free online casino games through by clicking or tapping on the titles of your choice and choosing the “demo” or “practice” options. When you’re ready to bet and win real money, simply flip the toggle back to the paid version of the game.
Washington Online Live-Dealer Casino Games
Live-dealer casino games used to be the sole domain of brick-and-mortar casinos in WA (and everywhere else). However, with the progress made in online mobile technologies over the last several years, live casino games are now readily available at all the legit online casinos we recommend.
At these sites, you can pull up a seat at the digital felts and watch a live dealer or croupier shuffle the deck, pass out the cards, and spin the online roulette wheel.
Real-time chat capabilities let you talk to the house and other players during games, and you can even watch the action in spectator mode when you want to take a break. Best of all, if the tables are ever full, the top sites feature unlimited bet-behinds so you’re never left out in the cold PNW winter.
- Live Dealer Blackjack
- Live Dealer Roulette
- Live Dealer Baccarat
- Live Dealer Super 6
Note: Live casino tables offer paid games only – you cannot play live online casino games for free. In addition, live casino games usually won’t contribute to any active online casino bonus playthrough requirements.
Brick-And-Mortar Casinos In Washington
There are 29 different Indian casinos in Washington, with numerous WA card rooms and several reputable WA bingo halls. When you want to experience in-person gambling, these are the venues you’ll want to circle on your Washington casinos map.
Gambling Resources For Washington Residents
For more information about Washington gambling laws, the first places to start your search can be found via the following links to the current Revised Code of Washington (RCW). We’ve also included a few more relevant WA gambling links for added context.
- RCW 9-46 – “Gambling – 1973 Act”
- RCW 67-16 – “Horse racing”
- RCW 67-70 – “State lottery”
- Washington Indian Casino Compacts – Federal Register index (select the state name from the dropdown menu to view all prior and current Washington tribal gambling compacts)
- Washington State Gambling Commission – Official state agency in charge of overseeing legal WA state gambling
Gambling should be a fun and engaging pastime, but if you ever feel like it’s become more than that, you could be struggling with gambling addiction. If you’d like assistance, help is available at no cost through the Washington chapter of the National Council on Problem Gambling.