Casinos in Arizona
The current gambling-related laws in Arizona are often considered to be rather vague and contradictory due to the fact that the definition of gambling is broad enough to criminalize betting on games of skill, including fantasy sports. Nevertheless, state officials focus on penalizing illegal gaming operators instead of individual players, which means that online casino enthusiasts who’d like to play on offshore casino sites have nothing to worry about.
Arizona Gambling Laws
All gambling is covered by Arizona Revised Statutes 13-3301 to 13-3312, which criminalizes all the land-based forms of casino gaming aside from social gambling and playing at one of the regulated Arizona casinos:
13-3302. Exclusions
A. The following conduct is not unlawful under this chapter:
1. Amusement gambling.
2. Social gambling.
3. Regulated gambling if the gambling is conducted in accordance with the statutes, rules or orders governing the gambling.
4. Gambling that is conducted at state, county or district fairs and that complies with section 13-3301, paragraph 1, subdivision (d).
Social gambling and amusement gambling is legal as long as there is no operator to benefit from the games in financial terms and there’s no rake involved. Gambling online has a rather ambiguous legal status, but you should keep in mind that no players have been prosecuted so far. However, the existing regulations clearly prevent Arizona gambling companies or tribal casinos from launching their own gambling sites, which means that Arizona residents are pretty much forced to play at offshore casinos, such as Bovada or WinPalace.
Online Casinos
Arizona residents don’t have the access to any regulated USA online casinos unless they cross the border into Nevada and use one of the intrastate sites available there. However, all Arizona casino aficionados are free to join one out of numerous offshore casino sites, which offer plenty of quality casino games while simultaneously being 100% safe to play on. Those casinos generally give you access to better promotions and larger player pools than their intrastate counterparts.
Offshore Casino Sites That Accept Arizona Players
As mentioned above, there are many offshore casino sites that accept Arizona casino enthusiasts, giving you access to bigger bonuses and jackpots than in the case of regulated intrastate gambling sites like the ones that are available in the neighboring Nevada or New Jersey. In fact, most of the international casinos that have no qualms about providing their services to US-based customers shouldn’t have any problems with accepting Arizona players. This includes all the popular Real Time Gaming casinos, many of which offer amazing three-dimensional slots from BetSoft Gaming.
The most popular way of funding your offshore casino account from Arizona is to deposit via a credit card payment. Please note that Visa and MasterCard tend to have the highest acceptance rates, but the only way to guarantee that your transaction will not be refused is to use a Western Union or MoneyGram cash transfer. Most of the aforementioned sites allow you to cash out via traditional bank wire transfers or check by courier, but sites like Bovada support money orders as well.
Developing Legal Scenarios
While there’s no denying the fact that Arizona isn’t one of the most gambling-friendly states in the country, it’s also worth pointing out that it isn’t completely hostile to the idea of regulated casino gaming. Arizona hasn’t made any official moves towards legalizing intrastate gambling, but Arizona Senator John Kyl is well known for trying to pass several federal online gaming bills along with Nevada Senator Harry Reid. Consequently, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that it is possible for Arizona to introduce regulated gambling in the foreseeable future, particularly in cooperation with Nevada or California.
