Arizona Online Casinos and Real Money Slots

Neighbouring States: California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah

Regulation and legality of online gambling

Just like in Alabama and Alaska, the Arizonian legislature is outdated when it comes to the many forms in which gambling exists nowadays.

Legally, online gaming doesn’t exist in Arizona, as no bill or law even acknowledges the existence of casino sites, offshore bookmakers, or any sort of game of chance that’s played over the internet.

However, there is one exception to the rule, a loophole of sorts. Because there is a total of 23 brick-and-mortar casinos within state lines, the state’s legislators agreed to allow each operator to launch an online version of their games. They are allowed to include any title they want, but it has to be a free-to-play version.

Thus, social gambling is completely legal in Arizona, but any site that involves the use of real money exists in a legal grey area. While the authorities can’t enforce law and arrest, you are devoid of any kind of legal support in case of a potential dispute.

Due to the lack of definite legislature pertaining to online gaming, some out-of-state sites don’t allow Arizonians to play live dealer games. More often than not, you’ll encounter next to no problems, but there are certain situations where casinos are extra careful when treading legal grey areas and simply refuse to accept players from states with nonexistent online gaming laws. Read the rules of every casino that interests you, if you wish to know whether you can access the live dealer section or not.

The situation in Arizona is similar with many other US states; the online gambling component is not explicitly mentioned in the legislative codes, and there is a general belief that online gambling is, therefore, against the law. The federal law only finds online casino operators guilty of providing gambling services and making financial transactions possible between patrons and banks through their sites. Clients themselves are doing nothing wrong, except using what is offered to them.

Due to such inconvenient conditions, Arizonians are using US-facing offshore sites to satisfy their gambling needs, and that is aright that no one can take away from them. There are no indications that online gambling activities will be regulated anytime soon in the Valley of the Sun state. Some interesting questions have been raised, though; for example, would online poker be legal from tribal lands?

Daily fantasy sports betting contests, although loved by Arizonians, are banned by the Daily Fantasy Sports Law and there are no legitimate sites operating within the state.

Gambling history in Arizona

Arizona has impressive landscapes that can include either deserts or mountains and is known worldwide for its specific climate. Once a Mexican state, Arizona achieved statehood in 1912. As in most US states, the gambling industry relies mostly on Indian reservations. One quarter of the state of Arizona is covered by Indian reservations, which favors the development of tribal gaming. State and national lottery are also popular and charitable bingo and raffles are allowed. Casino games for charity are strictly controlled and need to be licensed in advance.

The racing industry in Arizona dates back to the 1950s. It was in 1958 that horse racing was regulated in the Valley of the Sun state; it was also when the Arizona Racing Commission was founded. Lottery was legalized in 1981, making Arizona the first state west of the Mississippi to legalize a lottery. Tribal casinos were launched even before they were legalized; the state then negotiated gaming pacts with the Native Americans and established table limits, as well as which games are restricted from such establishments. Compacts were signed from 1992 onwards.

Today, Arizona residents can engage in sport betting (pari-mutuel greyhound and horse racing), table games, slot machines, pull-tab cards, bingo and lottery (state-controlled and interstate).

Land Based Casinos in Alabama

When it comes to land-based casinos in Arizona, many describe the situation by using the term ‘Indian monopoly’. AZ tribes are, for now, the only group of people in the state that are allowed to regulate casino gaming within their territory and run gaming establishments, and they make pretty good use of the liberties they are given.

There are over 25 tribal casinos in AZ, on reservation land, hosting games from poker to slot machines. Class 3 games are allowed, which include slots and video poker, as well as most card and table games. To be more exact, only skill-based table games are offered (blackjack, poker), but games such as craps, baccarat and roulette are not. Poker tables are required to have a limit of $500, whereas other table games have table limits worth double the amount.

The casinos located in Arizona reservations are lavish; they offer great entertainment and non-stop gambling, imitating the Las Vegas style. Some of the biggest casino facilities are Casino Del Sol Resort with 1,300 gaming machines and over 20 tables and Harrah's Phoenix Ak-Chin Casino Resort with over a thousand gaming machines and nearly two dozen tables. Other notable venues include Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino with 2,600 slot machines, Desert West Valley Diamond Casino (over 1,000 machines), Apache Gold Casino Resort (690 slot machines) and Blue Water Resort & Casino (over 450 slot machines).

Horse racing enthusiasts are welcome at several venues, namely Yavapai Downs in Prescott Valley, Rillito Downs in Tucson and Turf Paradise in Phoenix. All the racing tracks in AZ use the pari-mutuel (pooled) model of betting.

Top Arizona Casino Slots and Games

References

[1] Arizona Department of Gaming

[2] Arizona Lottery

[3] Online gambling - are players at risk of prosecution?

[4] American Gaming Association - https://www.americangaming.org