Gambling in the state that is most famous for being the home of the Grand Canyon has opened up recently, both online and offline, with sports betting now widely available.
Several online licenses have now been issued – split between the state’s tribal operators and professional sports franchises in partnership with gambling sites – offering bettors several sportsbooks to choose from when they want to place online bets on their sport of choice.
With so many licenses already issued, the competition in the Arizona online betting market is fierce – gambling giants like BetRivers, BetMGM and Caesars Sportsbook all have an online presence in the state – so it is advisable to shop around for the best offers available for new members before you sign up to one.
With the state boasting the largest area of tribal land in the US, there are dozens of casinos available for those who prefer to bet in person, with extensive sportsbook and gaming options for visitors. Gambling in the state, and the gambling operators, are overseen by the Arizona Department of Gaming (az.gov), and along with sports betting and casinos, horse race betting and the state lottery are open to residents.
Arizona Legal Gambling Overview
It shouldn’t be surprising that a place known as the Grand Canyon State would offer a vast array of gambling choices.
There is sports betting, both online and retail. Land-based casinos have been legal in the state since 1988, although online casino gambling is still against the law.
The state lottery was introduced in 1980 and several horse racing tracks around the state offer pari-mutuel wagering. Daily fantasy sports is another gaming option in Arizona.
Arizona’s Best Gambling Sites
Sports betting was legalized in Arizona on April 12, 2021 and officially launched on Sept, 9, 2021. Several professional sports venues and tribal casinos offer retail sports betting. Sportsbook partners include the NFL Arizona Cardinals, the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, WNBA Phoenix Mercury and Arizona Diamondbacks of MLB. There’s even a partnership between DraftKings and TPC Scottsdale, a PGA Tour course.
All of the major sports betting sites in the US operate online sportsbooks in the Grand Canyon State. There are 17 online sports betting sites currently operating in Arizona.
Here’s a look at some of the more prominent of these sites.
Bet365 Arizona: British-owned Bet365 is gaining a stronger foothold in the US by the day. They are known for their massive lineup of betting markets, an outstanding menu of live in-play wagering and a steady supply of unique promotional offers, including parlay insurance, early cash out options and regular profit and odds boosts.
BetRivers Arizona: With their daily special odds boosts and other recurring promotions, BetRivers is always giving you a little something extra. They’ve built their reputation around their industry-low 1x wagering requirement on all bonus funds. Wager that money once and then you’re free to withdraw any of those funds from your BetRivers account.
Caesars: Serving as the official sports betting partner of MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks, the Caesars sportsbook is credited as having the finest loyalty rewards program in the industry. Perks offered include stays at Caesars world-class resorts. You’ll get a failed first bet back in bonus bets up to $1000 if you’re a newcomer to Caesars.
BetMGM Arizona: When it comes to the overall sports betting experience, it’s difficult to top what you’ll find at BetMGM. They also offer a rewards program including stays at their resorts, a first-rate mobile app and numerous betting types, markets and regular promotional offers.
Arizona Online Casinos
Arizona’s tribes have compacts that enable them to offer both slots and table game wagering inside their tribal casinos. There are 26 tribal casinos in operation across Arizona.
Some of these land-based casinos have been operating since 1988. And with online sports betting launching in 2021, logically, you’d think that the next step for the state would be moving toward online casino gambling.
However, that isn’t the case. At the present time, there’s been no attempt in Arizona to get an online casino bill on the table in front of the state government.
Arizona Sweepstakes Casinos
There is an online casino option in Arizona, although it’s one where you’ll be pursuing fun over fortune. Social casinos, also often classified as sweepstakes casinos, are legal in the state and can be played online.
Instead of winning cash, you either play for entertainment purposes with gold coins, or by using sweeps coins, you can win prizes and merchandise. However, a perk of playing in social casinos is that you can do so without ever spending any of your own money.
These are among the popular social casinos available to Arizona players.
WOW Vegas Casino: Offering over 800 slots to play, there’s lots to say wow about at the WOW Vegas Casino. Use WOW coins to play for fun, or go after prizes with sweeps coin play. You’ll get 250,000 WOW coins and 35 sweeps coins for free when opening a new WOW Vegas Casino account.
McLuck Casino: Sign up with the McLuck Casino and they’ll start you off with a cache of 7500 gold coins and 2.5 sweeps coins. Carrying more than 400 games, along with slots and table games, the McLuck Casino also delivers a live dealer area featuring such games as blackjack and roulette.
High 5 Casino: There’s an incredible library carrying in excess of 1200 games inside the High 5 Casino. Play slots, table games, or go for the real casino experience with their live dealer studio. There’s free daily rewards. Along with gold and sweeps coins, you’ll also find diamonds at the High 5 Casino, a secondary currency which enables you to purchase and activate in-game boosts.
Online Casino Laws in Arizona
There are no regulations in place for online casinos in Arizona. The introduction of regulated Arizona online casino sites has been discussed, but no decision has been made on the subject to date.
What can we expect if new laws are introduced surrounding online casino in Arizona? The sites that have been given licenses in other American states give players numerous banking methods to choose from and make it easy to fund a new account and get started. They tend to offer generous bonuses and have lots of different games too.
There are no Arizona online casino sites to choose from right now. This is something that may change at some point, but we can’t be sure which operators will look for licenses here if it does.
It seems likely that some of the popular sites already operating in other states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan will look to set up new casinos in Arizona, though. This would see some of the industry’s top names open up state-based casinos eventually.
Based on the current laws in Arizona and sports betting operators already live in the state, BetMGM, Caesars, Hard Rock and Wynn Casino are among the first casinos expected to go live in the state in 2024.
Arizona’s most expected online casinos:
- BetMGM Casino
- Wynn Casino
- Caesars Casino
- Golden Nugget
- Hard Rock Casino
- DraftKings Casino
- Fanduel Casino
- Unibet Casino
- bet365
- Fanatics
A look ahead suggests that there will be a big collection of casino games in Arizona online casinos, as this approach has been seen in other parts of the country once laws have been put in place.
A typical selection covers several well-known game developers, with games like Starburst, Raging Rhino, and Asgardian Stones a few of the titles that have earned a lot of fans. The rest of the selection on offer usually covers table games.
Best Casino Apps in Arizona
Again, we can understand better what to expect by looking at the top casino apps available in other states. Many casinos now offer this sort of app, which is free to download and gives a more complete mobile experience on any type of device. Another option is to navigate to your chosen casino using your mobile browser. This flexibility means that playing on the go or at home is easy to do.
Top Land-based Casinos in Arizona
All of the land casinos are operated by native tribes. Casino Arizona at Talking Stick Point has a large Native American art collection, restaurants, and over 100,000 square feet of gaming floor.
The Apache Sky Casino near Dudleyville is run by the San Carlos Apaches and features slots and table games. Casino del Sol is based in Tucson and is run by the Pascua Yaqui tribe. Golf, dining, and entertainment options are all offered.
If online casino in Arizona is legalized, expect to get started with some extra funds or free spins when you sign up to a casino site. Most good internet operators encourage new members to join by offering a welcome bonus on the first deposit, or on more than one deposit.
Current casino bonuses usually begin with a percentage added to your first deposit. An alternative promotional deal gives you a bunch of free spins on a popular slot. If you see a promotion for a no deposit bonus, then this makes it easy to give the casino a try.
Legal Betting Sites In Arizona
The law opening up sports betting was signed back in April 2021; the online betting market is particularly popular with many licenses already issued; there is a range of sites and promotions for those wishing to open an online sports betting account.
Horse betting in Arizona: The state has several race tracks offering live racing and on-site betting, with parimutuel gambling legal since 1935. Online horse race betting is allowed through sites like TVG and Twinspires.
Arizona daily fantasy sports, DFS: A bill in 2021 legalized Daily Fantasy games throughout the state, with events operated by the likes of DraftKings and FanDuel available.
Arizona online casino ↗
No legislation has been passed to allow for online casinos, with dozens of land-based venues across the state offering slots, roulette, blackjack, and a range of other table games.
Poker in Arizona ↗
While online poker is outlawed, land-based tribal casinos have a variety of poker options available to players as well as card rooms.
Arizona lottery ↗
The state lottery has been running since 1981 and tickets are available through numerous retailers across the state. There are no online facilities for purchasing lottery tickets in Arizona.
Arizona Online Gambling FAQs
Partly yes, sports betting, both college and professional, is legal in Arizona, while online and mobile app casino and poker games are not legal. With online sports betting in Arizona now legal, you do not have to be a resident of the state to sign up for one of the many gambling sites operating, but you must be inside state borders to place bets.
The Arizona Department of Gaming regulates and licenses online gambling operators on non-tribal lands under the 2021 Gambling Act.
Yes, both online sportsbooks and sports betting apps are legal in the state.
If you are worried about your own gambling habits or are concerned about a friend or relative, help is available. You can either self-exclude (find more info here) or get assistance from the problem gambling hotlines, the Arizona Division of Problem Gambling Helpline, with phone number 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342. Also, find more info here on AZ – National Council on Problem Gambling (ncpgambling.org).
The legal gambling age in Arizona is 21.
There is nothing concrete at the time of writing so it’s hard to say when online casino regulations will be brought in.
Since real-money gambling isn’t involved in social sweepstakes casinos, they can be played in Arizona. These sites use an alternative approach that makes them safe to play.
The Arizona online casino scene will be subject to the same laws as other states, so you will need to declare any winnings to the IRS. The same applies in land casinos and with any other type of gambling activity in the state.
