Best New York Online Casinos

Many gamblers prefer to place their bets online in New York state. Sports betting, for instance, is prevalent among New Yorkers, and these people have moved away from gambling at brick-and-mortar casinos since the option to  wager online came to fruition.

Before we can find the best New York online casinos, we must first understand the laws that apply to online gambling in the state of New York. We’re also going to cover the current laws surrounding online gambling in New York. Before we can find the best New York online casinos, we must first follow some helpful pointers so that we can have an enjoyable and safe online gambling experience. The same rules apply to offshore casino sites, which are a viable option for New York residents.

Is Gambling Legal in the State of New York

In New York, online gambling has been frowned upon by the state’s lawmakers. However, legislators have made a fair amount of progress in legalizing and opening up land-based casinos.

It is important to remember that lawmakers are focused explicitly on websites rather than individual gamblers. For instance, the Federal Wire Act of 1961 was signed into law by President John F. Kennedy to stamp out organized crime. The Act is a federal statute that makes it illegal to pass on gambling instructions and information through electronic wires.

For online gambling activities to be legal, the state of New York needs to approve them. Lawmakers have not approved online gambling, which makes online New York casinos illegal. New York is the only state in the USA to have purposefully cracked down on illicit websites in New York.

Timeline of New York Legislation on Gambling

Here is a breakdown of the legalization of gambling activities within the state of New York:

• 1967 – New York launches its state lottery
• 1970 – Horse Racing betting is legalized
• 2001 – VLTs (Video Lottery Terminals) are legalized at racetracks
• 2002 – Selling multi-state lottery tickets becomes legal
• 2010 – New York becomes part of the nationwide Powerball lottery
• 2013 – Four commercial casinos obtain permits to operate in upstate New York
• 2018 – The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) is judicially overturned, forcing lawmakers to set action into legalizing sports betting
• 2021 – In the state of New York, Online Sports Betting is legalized

What We Look for in New York Online Casinos

We have looked through hundreds of different real money online casino sites. There are always essential characteristics that stand out, separating the reputable and trusted online casinos sites from the substandard online casino sites. We will share our checklist to help everyone on their quest to find the best online New York casinos.

Transparent and Honest Bonus and Promotional Offers

When judging a new online casino for transparency and honesty, we first look at the terms and conditions section of the online casino. We should be able to find this quite easily by scrolling down to the bottom of the homepage.

Click on the terms and conditions and be sure to read them carefully. We must understand each line as it refers to promotions and bonus policies and offers. A transparent and honest online casino will always reveal the strings attached to the no deposit bonus, the welcome bonus, or any other promotion for that matter. 

This way, customers are informed on how much they will need to deposit to qualify for an online casino bonus, how many wagers they need to make and what games they can play with each prize or promotion awarded.

The best New York online casinos will always have clear policies and wagering requirements that are not exploitative, proving to be both transparent and honest. We’ll always be asked to accept the terms and conditions before we can receive any bonus or promotion. Always read it carefully and make sure we understand the contents.

Games Variety and Games Developers

Everyone may wonder how this influences an online casino’s reputation, trust, and safety. It is, in fact, a very crucial aspect. Games from well-established and respectable software developers indicate how safe it is to play online casino games, as well as how much we can expect to win on these games.

Gaming providers also have a reputation of their own when it comes to online casino games in the online gambling industry. The best New York online casinos have partnerships with safe developers, as they are both licensed and reputable. A safe and trusted online casino will always offer a variety of games from a well-respected brand of gaming software developers.

No matter what online games we like to play, these games are brought to us by a gaming developer. All respected gaming developers have to go through strict inspections, and the games are audited for fairness before reaching the online casino lobby. Beware of unknown brands and check to see if the online casino has games from well-known and well-respected developers in the industry.

Diversity of games is essential, but all the games do need to promote fairness, quality and reasonable payout rates. Popular inclusions that you can expect to see from all are classics such as roulette and blackjack.

Does the Online Casino Offer Fast Withdrawals

A safe online casino will always offer its customers reliable deposit methods and fast withdrawals. It offers its customers various payment and withdrawal methods with no fees or minimum fees for processing.

Options should include bank transfers, credit cards, debit cards, eWallets, or cryptocurrencies, to name a few.

Customers playing with real money want their winnings to be paid within a reasonable timeframe. Trusted best New York online casinos will always attempt to complete withdrawals promptly, and they will not charge us excessive processing fees. 

Long waiting periods, extended processing times and high fees are clear red flags.

Customer Service Efficiency and Availability

The best New York online casinos will always have reliable, professional, available and efficient customer support staff.

We should have access to customer service via phone, email and live chat. One of these customer support services should be available at least 24/7. We should also be able to access a FAQ section on the website. 

Reputable online casinos are also starting to exhibit their presence on social media. All these channels have made it easier for customers to measure the reliability of the online casino, as well as creating another avenue.

We can test out the customer service of an online casino by using the live chat feature on the website. Trusted online casinos allow non-members to contact their customer service to answer any questions that a prospective customer may have before joining the site. It also shows that the online casino goes the extra mile in customer satisfaction.

We’ll quickly get a glimpse into the efficiency and professionalism of the customer service team.

Gaming Licenses, Regulations, and Audits

All trusted and reputable best New York online casinos have gaming licenses regulated by a gaming commission.

Proof of the gambling license information can be inspected on the home page by scrolling down to the bottom of the page. We should find a license number and a mention of the gambling commission through which the site is regulated.

All online casinos that have licenses are considered safer because they are regulated. Currently, there are no licensed online casinos in New York. We are, however, allowed to take part in online sports betting.

The only states in the USA that have obtained licenses to operate online casinos are Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. None of these sites may accept online casino wagers from players residing in the state of New York.

There are, however, online casinos with offshore licenses currently operating in the USA. The most reputable off-shore licenses are from Curacao, Kahnawake, Malta and the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. These licenses do not allow these online casinos to accept wagers from players of the USA.

Other online casinos have licenses from Costa Rica and Panama that allow players from the USA to bet on their sites. However, technically it is still illegal for them to operate in the USA. Customers of these sites are cautioned to play at their own risk.

When an online casino is regulated, the regulatory body supervises the online casino’s operations. When customers feel mistreated or cheated, they can contact them to assist them with their issues. 

Lastly, we need to check if the casino has regular independent audits. Highly respected online casinos will have partnerships with reputable auditors. The online casino will have its site tested by third parties regularly to determine fairness and safety. Reputable online casinos promote the fact that they are independently audited to establish their integrity and fairness.

Verify the Sites SSL Encryption

The best New York online casinos should always have encryption tools built into their websites. Players’ financial and personal information must be secured. We should always have a login as standard security. Encryption techniques keep data away from unauthorized persons. Reputable online casinos will always have 128-bit SSL encryption.

Read Our Reviews

Take the time to read the online reviews that we have produced for each of the brands listed. We’ll learn a lot about the online casino’s reputation within the industry, and we’ll get an idea of what other users have experienced using the site.

An online casino with a good track record for safety, reliability and security improves the online casino’s popularity on the internet. Online casinos with nasty track records disappear quickly. Going through the online reviews of the online casino will paint us a pretty good picture  of whether we should sign up or not.

Compatibility with Mobile Devices

If we intend on playing games on the go, then we must check out the online casino’s compatibility with mobile devices. The best New York online casinos offer downloads to their platform where we can play demo games for free. 

There are some online casinos that do not have downloadable applications for mobile devices, but they should then have their website menus and search features adaptable to our device in HTML5 format.

Summary

Unfortunately, there are crooked operators in the online casino industry. That’s why we’ll need to make sure that the online casino we join guarantees us both safety and security. As mentioned, we must check that the online casino is licensed and regulated by a gaming authority in the jurisdictions from which they operate. We’ll be able to view this certification on their respective home pages.

Online casinos that a third-party independent testing agency regularly audits should be able to provide us with extensive information regarding the online casino’s payouts in individual games categories and percentages monthly.

Make sure the online casino employs gaming software from well-established software developers. It means that we’ll play within a fair gaming environment. Reputable software gaming developers all guarantee the randomness of their Random Number Generator (RNG), which means their games can’t be changed or controlled by any online casino.

Lastly, ensure that the online casino has transparent and responsible gambling terms and conditions. It includes adequate age verification procedures, voluntary self-exclusion times, loss limiting facilities and support contact details for problem gamblers.

We trust that online gamblers will have a fun and thrilling experience when they keep these pointers on hand. Best of Luck!