Casinos in North Carolina
North Carolina is fairly gambling-friendly, but unfortunately the local lawmakers don’t seem to be all that interested in regulating online gambling within the borders of the state. Harrah’s Cherokee is the only casino in North Carolina, with the available games ranging from new online slots to classic live dealer table games like roulette, blackjack, and craps. In addition, North Carolina offers state-run lottery games and a limited number of charity gambling opportunities, but unfortunately the state doesn’t have its own racetracks or racetrack-casino venues.
North Carolina Gambling Laws
North Carolina gambling regulations have been designed to protect the local gambling industry, so it should come as no surprise that illegal gambling operators have to be prepared to face severe punishment. North Carolina is one of the few states that don’t allow their residents to play home games for real money, but individual players that participate in illegal gambling activities shouldn’t be charged with anything more than a Class 2 misdemeanor.
Finally, it is worth pointing out that while North Carolina doesn’t have any regulations pertaining specifically to online gambling, it would be possible to argue that individual gamblers playing on offshore casino sites can face charges under North Carolina Statutes § 14-301: operation or possession of gambling device. Fortunately, the local law enforcement officers don’t seem to be interested in individual online casino customers and no players have been prosecuted so far.
Online Casinos
North Carolina has no proper, regulated online casino sites. Consequently, most of the local online casino enthusiasts play on offshore online casinos. Those sites tend to offer better bonuses and games than their US-licensed counterparts that operate on the fenced intrastate markets. The reasons for this are simple: offshore sites attract gamblers from all over the world, which allows them to generate more revenue and invest more money into improving the overall quality of their services, particularly when compared with local gambling businesses that have extremely limited player pools to work with.
Offshore Casino Sites That Accept North Carolina Players
Most of the US-facing offshore gambling sites accept North Carolina players, which means that local casino enthusiasts have plenty of amazing Real Time Gaming-powered casinos to choose from. The games offered by those sites range from classic slots through modern video slots and video poker machines to traditional table games, but keep in mind that you won’t find any of the popular Microgaming or Playtech titles there. However, best RTG casinos give you access to some third-party games, including the latest three-dimensional slots developed by BetSoft.
Online gambling enthusiasts from North Carolina don’t have all that many banking options to choose from when dealing with offshore casino sites. The most popular way of making a deposit to a site of this kind is to use your credit card or a prepaid, but you have to keep in mind that your card has to be cleared for international transactions in order for the money to go through. Western Union and MoneyGram payments are also fairly popular, but using this method requires you to cover all the additional transaction fees.
On a brighter note, cashing out from a high-profile RTG casino requires considerably less hassle. Most sites will ask whether you prefer to receive your winnings via a bank wire transfer or via a check by courier, but keep in mind that the latter method is considerably more expensive.
Developing Legal Scenarios
As briefly touched on above, North Carolina is very unlikely to introduce any i-gaming friendly regulations, as the current lawmakers are concerned with protecting the local land-based businesses instead of keeping up with online gambling pioneers, such as Nevada or Delaware.
