Online Casinos Around the World

In this section, we explore the laws, challenges, and opportunities for online gambling in every country in the world. We also supply a list of online casinos accepting players in each of the countries.

Online gambling is only specifically regulated in a few countries.

Many countries only have laws that apply to land-based gambling. When these activities are legalized and codified they are also usually taxed and regulated.

When no laws exist specifically banning online gambling or directly legalizing it that country may be described as being in a gray area: The activity is neither legal nor illegal.

While players in most unregulated areas have no direct government-controlled player protections they're also not disallowed from gambling at offshore casinos. The same is often not the case for gambling providers even when no laws exist against playing online.

Laws that have been in existence since before the advent of the internet most often apply to all gambling providers. In the word and spirit above the law, a casino is a casino and a bookie is a bookie no matter where they are located - offshore or anywhere within the country.

Large publicly traded casino operations will usually not provide services in countries where their activity would be considered illegal even though players have no restrictions.

Many large privately-held companies, as well as smaller offshore operators, have no qualms about leaving the choice to play up to the consumer.

In some cases…

…international and even local law gives them tacit permission to provide online services as long as no servers or support personnel are located within the country.

In other cases, the operator simply makes the determination that they are not or will not be subject to the target country's laws as long as they never step foot on the sovereign land.

To learn about land casinos all over the world and to read in-depth reviews of any property of consequence including gambling games, casino square footage, the number of tables and slot machines, accommodations, amenities, dining, entertainment, and more please visit the World Casino directory.

To learn about online gambling regulators that issue licenses to internet casinos please visit jurisdictions.

The casinos listed on each of the country pages here have confirmed that they accept players residing or currently living under a particular flag. To find operators offering services to players in your location simply scroll down or search the page for the country of interest. Click the country's flag to read all about gambling law, bonuses created especially for players in your area, payment methods, and other important information about playing or betting online in that country.

While not all casinos listed here have been reviewed, many have been and they have all confirmed that they accept players from the reviewed country.

Many elements of the country pages are updated dynamically

We also strive to improve the format based on reader traffic an interaction. In the current page configurations, readers will find various up to date information about the casinos on the list. As we deploy the latest technology for our readers, page interactions may evolve or change over time. Hover over a casino's name or other list items to see details such as bonus values, basic terms and conditions, payment methods, payout times, and other information players may wish to know before making the decision to explore a property further.

The properties are also rated and ranked

The best casinos appear at the top of the list and the least favorable appear at the bottom of the list. We use the LCB.org scale of 1 - 5 in decimal increments to rank casinos. This method gives granular results as there are 51 possible rating values along the spectrum from 0.0 to 5.0. The data comes from player votes across the ever-expanding LCB Network of sites.

Most of the weighting comes from player votes on the world's largest and most visited online casino player forums. Votes from the online World Casino directory and other sibling sites carry equal weight with those on the million-member forum. you will never find a property rated 5.0 but many come close.

You will also never find…

…a venue with a rating of 0.0 unless it has just been added a few moments ago and no votes have been registered yet. However, an operator with a lengthy history of unsavory actions, zero transparency, unfair vague terms, unjustified seizure of winnings, extreme slow pay games, and other brigand behavior may clock in with a rating of less than 1.0.

We recommend sticking with the top list shown on the country's page, but the list is expandable. Please keep in mind that the top properties are at the Apex of the list because other people with personal experience have played there and have registered a vote of approval or disapproval.

You may notice that not all of the listed sites have been reviewed on the Online World Casino Directory. However, reviews to appear on one or more of our partner sites. That is where the ratings come from that contribute to the casino listing's final rank.

When you do see a review link on the list it will take you to an in-depth analysis of the particular site.

Some extremely long-standing operations may have a legacy review touting only the positive aspects of the gambling experience. If the ranking is favorable, it should still be a viable choice. You may also find casinos at or near the bottom of the list that have been blacklisted on this and other sites. Our blacklisting is independent of all other sites except occasionally those in the LCB Network.

For the past several years we have taken a more critical approach to our online casino reviews.

Among other relevant facts we take a look at the sites license, the operator's history the fair games and fair play, companion sites they may operate, any regulatory sanctions or unresolved complaints, the technology, software, and games, bonuses and promotions, customer service, payment methods, payout times, any potential pitfalls or drawbacks generally, and for players in certain regions, and finally we render a summary of our findings.

We think you'll find the reviews to be fair and balanced, taken with a property's rank and rating. We hope to give players in every country access to high quality, unbiased information to help in choosing a casino that will give them years of player satisfaction.

Below you will find some highlights from our "Online Casinos Accepting Players From..." pages:

USA - Top Casinos

On this page will find the top 8 online casinos in the USA. The list features bonus information, playthrough requirements, country restrictions, payment methods, and links to an in-depth critical review of each operation.

Please keep in mind that this is a living breathing dynamic document. Simply because a casino is in third place this week doesn't mean it won't rise to the very top of the list next week. By highlighting only the top-ranked casinos, players should be able to click right through without doing much more due diligence.

The ratings come from players and only players and several online casino review and advocacy sites including the world's largest online casino forum.

If you've been around awhile you might notice that some of the casinos on our top list have been in operation for a long time and some of them are brand-spanking-new.

When you see new operations near the top of the list that simply means that they're run by operators who have proved their mettle over the years. For example, Roaring 21, Cherry jackpot, and Casino Max were all launched within a short time of each other by highly trusted operators with decades of experience.

When players learned of this and tried them out they reported the results and that's why you see them ranked at the top of the page. If they've gone down in ranking that doesn't mean that players are less satisfied - it could simply be that other casinos have been pleasing players more recently whether with bonuses, immediate payouts, or even "loose" slots.

Check out the complete USA Online Casino review for the history and future of online gambling in the country, the top eight online casinos from over 500 USA casinos we have reviewed, all of the online casino games you'll find in the US, how to judge a new casino by looking at the operators history, and some pro tips on the best chances for a big cash out.

Canada - a gray area country where it's still legal to gamble online

While it's totally legal for any Canadian resident to gamble online at an offshore website it may or may not be legal for an operator to accept their bets.

Federal criminal code does not address online gambling in Canada - it's up to each province to set its own gambling laws. Were a casino to locate their servers, call centers, or administrative offices inside the country they would need to be licensed by the provincial government in their location in order to offer services to players in Canada.

We've been researching this issue for several years and have yet to find a single case of a player being arrested or prosecuted for gambling online. We have found cases of operators with servers or administrative officers in the country being prosecuted.

However in R. v Starnet a settlement was reached and no case law was established. Well respected legal opinions have established that the prosecution of foreign online operators has not been definitively settled by the courts.

Plenty of well-respected European and other online operators feel safe enough to provide online casino services do the players in Canada. Most experts agree that online gambling at offshore sites is absolutely legal in Canada.

Click on the Canadian flag to learn why it's still legal to play online at an offshore casino in Canada with an in-depth analysis of why. Find what sort of games are available, learn about live dealer casinos in Canada, Canadian mobile gaming, deposit and withdrawal methods, and find a list of preferred operators accepting play from Canada.

United Kingdom - Robust online gambling regulatory framework

The United Kingdom is home to the most celebrated regulatory framework in the world. The Gambling Commission in Great Britain (UKGC) serves as the benchmark for all others. They handle online gambling as well as land-based gambling, sports betting, and lotteries. They also provide some of the best player projections anywhere.

Gambling in the country is well regulated and this is done without the need for the government to implement payment blocking or ISP blocking of unlicensed casinos.

When players choose to play at an unlicensed casino they simply lack the player protections available from the Gambling Commission. There's nothing in the law prohibiting players from choosing an offshore casino that is not licensed in the UK.

Click on the flag of Great Britain to learn about UK gambling law modifications, gambling at non-UKGC-licensed to sites offshore, social responsibility, types of games available in the UK, authorized payment methods for UK casinos, the future of gambling in the UK, and the top casinos players have chosen.

Brazil - a work-in-progress likely to be strictly regulated soon.

Law and order may be coming to the wild wild west of Brazil soon. Some forms of gambling were authorized in the 1940s and even though there are no legal definitions, gambling activities that were not specifically authorized are considered illegal.

The government is involved in the oversight of horse racing and lotteries in the country. Every legislative session sees new bills presented to legalize, tax, and regulate gambling in the country. Unfortunately, not much of substance has come to pass.

The government plans to double tourism in less than 5 years. Destinations such as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are perfect candidates for Integrated Resort Casinos with all of the major world casino operators making plans behind the scenes to build resorts there.

Most observers assume that when any new gambling bill is finally passed it will protect land operators' revenues either by granting online casino licenses only to licensed land-based casinos or by making online gambling illegal outright.

For now, players have the luxury of playing at internationally esteemed overseas operations featuring games from such industry leaders as Microgaming, Playtech, IGT, NetEnt, and Betsoft to name a few.

Click on the flag of Brazil to read the legal status and definitions, the shape of things to come, whether players are at risk of civil penalties for gambling online, find bonuses for Brazilians, payment methods for use in the country, and the final word on online gambling in Brazil.

India - Under a patchwork of laws residents still gamble online

India has a huge population with a middle-class surpassing 600 million people. It's a ripe market for online gambling providers but there's more to the picture than that.

The country's Constitution established the States' rights to regulate gambling in the 1950s but older legislation going back as far as 1867 makes most forms of gambling illegal.

The courts are constantly in conflict sorting between state laws and federal law.

The people of India are big bettors. Sports betting is one of their favorite pastimes. Online casino games are also increasing in popularity along with the disposable income of the new middle class.

In 2018 the Law Commission of India published a report that was two years in the making. In the report they suggest legalizing and regulating sports betting and other forms of gambling.

However…

…as it stands today internet service providers are more than likely to block what is considered illegal websites operating offshore. This can be done with IP address filtering, content filtering, and domain name server (DNS) blocking. Bettors & players in India simply use anonymous relays and virtual proxy networks (VPNs) to defeat all those methods of censorship.

Click on the flag of India to find a list of top-performing casinos accepting players from the country. You can also learn about important Indian gambling laws, state laws and the Indian constitution, accessing online casinos in India, Mobile gaming, payment methods and banking for online casinos in India, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the future of gambling in India, and our India legal gambling FAQ.

Australia - Online gambling is legal but territories are not issuing licenses

While many publicly traded casino operators abandoned the Australian Market in 2017, many more remained and some operations were created simply to serve the playing public in the country when the big operators pulled out.

The Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016 (IGA) was signed into law on August 9th, 2017. It included some hefty criminal and civil penalties for any operator in violation of the law. However, Australians are fiercely independent people and the government stopped short of creating any civil or criminal penalties for Australians who choose to bet at unlicensed websites operating offshores.

The law also authorized states and territories to enact their own online gambling legislation, including for online poker regulations. However, none have yet done so nor are any expected to soon.

The government had a perfect opportunity to regulate and tax online gambling for the most prolific bettors in the world, but they chose the route of prohibition. Players are on their own to find reputable sites to play at.

Click on the flag of Australia to see the top casinos serving players there. All casinos are ranked from best to worst based on votes from players at multiple online casino forums and advocacy sites.

Visit our Australia online gambling country page to learn about recent legislation, licensing and regulation in Australia, legal online gambling, the Top Online Casinos, and to read our Australia legal gambling FAQ.

Wrapping it Up

While the examples above do not cover every element of safe online gambling from almost anywhere in the world it should give readers an idea about the depths we probe to create meaningful content around our lists of casinos accepting players from any particular country.

We can offer and professional layman opinions but nothing herein should be taken as legal advice, legal opinion, or legal analysis. All players should consult the law of the land where they plan to login from and when in doubt seek competent legal counsel.

We do not suggest that anyone in a restricted jurisdiction attempt to play for real money online. We also do not suggest that anyone plays at an online casino with a low rank or ratings on our list. With thousands of online casinos in operation around the world we simply cannot review all of them. More are opening each week and sometimes daily.

By using these pages you will be able to learn all you need to know about the legality and advisability of playing online anywhere in the world. If you heed the rank and ratings and read our in-depth casino reviews, you will be able to make informed decisions and become a bit of an expert in your own right without learning the hard way.

Best of luck wherever you are and thank you for visiting the Online World Casino directory!

Best of luck wherever you are and thank you for visiting the Online World Casino Directory!

the United States

Australia

the United Kingdom

Germany

China

Canada

France