North Dakota Gambling
FAQ / Q&A -- History -- Regulation -- Land Based Casinos -- Fun Facts
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Since North Dakota state government doesn’t get any revenue from tribal casinos, they aren’t exactly overprotective of the intrastate gambling industry. The ND gaming laws that could be applied in a hypothetical online gambling-related case use vague language. Nowhere in the ND statutes and criminal codes is internet gambling mentioned directly.
There haven’t been any cases so far of prosecution of someone who practiced gambling online in North Dakota. So, the state hasn’t ruled whether gambling on the web is unlawful of acceptable. One thing is certain – the market is unregulated and North Dakota Gamblers seek online betting opportunities on sites that accept US players and host their servers overseas.
A unique attempt to legalize online poker happened in 2005 in North Dakota when Rep. Jim Kasper introduced a legislation that would allow internet poker. The legislation was not supported by the Attorney General, the Senate, or the House. Otherwise conservative, North Dakota may have been a pioneer in regulating online gambling games in the United States.
Online gambling is not legal in North Dakota. This one doesn’t come off as a surprise, mostly because ND is one of the most sparsely populated states in the US. Due to a lack of people willing to partake in iGaming activities, the local government doesn’t have a strong incentive to make changes to the current legislation.
Some industry experts believe that this is the main reason for the lack of ND online casinos, but there are also other factors involved. Paradoxically, an argument can be made that existing gambling ventures in the state are another factor preventing North Dakotans from partaking in online gambling.
Believe it or not, this state has a pretty advanced gaming infrastructure in place. North Dakota was one of the first states to officially sign tribal gaming compacts, right after the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. More compacts were negotiated in 1999, followed by a second set of negotiations in 2013.
Currently, there are 5 mid-sized tribal venues in North Dakota, with 6 smaller operations offering mostly slot machines, table games, poker, and bingo. Even though this might not seem like much, it’s a pretty hefty amount of brick and mortar venues for a state that has barely over 700,000 inhabitants.
As all these venues are successful and attract a lot of locals and travelers, it is possible that legislators are wary of online gambling’s potential to disrupt this small, but bustling industry. When it comes to future developments, it’s unclear whether something will change.
Even though online gambling is theoretically illegal, there’s a loophole that you can use to play as much as you want. Many offshore sites allow North Dakotans to partake in iGaming activities. No laws exist that can get you in trouble for playing at a site that’s registered and licensed in another country. Additionally, the state government doesn’t have the power to force these sites to block ND players from creating accounts.
As such, you can register at any offshore site and play without the fear of being arrested and tried in court. No person has ever been charged with illegal gambling because they played at offshore casinos.
Brick and mortar gambling premises are allowed and supported by the government licenses in North Dakota, as long as they are located on Native American reservations. Charity organizations may spread games such as blackjack, bingo, pull-tab, paddlewheels and raffles, as well as up to two Texas Hold’em tournaments per year. The proceeds from such activities go towards funding the charity and aren’t allowed to go to the venue hosting the action.
Tribal casinos offer craps, roulette, blackjack, live poker games, slot machines and video poker. The lowest slot return is 80 %, and the highest bet allowed on a slot machine is $25, by the letter of the law. Most of the gamblers in North Dakota also live there. It is a fact that casino facilities in Roughrider State aren’t situated in top vacation areas and tourist destination cities.
If we set aside the two racetracks, one is Chippewa Downs in Belcourt, and the other ND Horse Park in Fargo, the locals are free to visit venues like 4Bears Casino in New Town, Dakota Magic Casino in Hankinson, Spirit Lake Resort in St. Michael or Prairie Knights Casino in Fort Yates. 4Bears Casino houses over 550 slot machines, offers services of two restaurants and several buffets.
Prairie Knights Casino stretches across 42,000 square feet, and features over 700 slot machines. Spirit Lake Casino is about the same size as Prairie Knights, offers 700 slots, over a hundred rooms, 3 restaurants and free valet parking.
Neighbouring States: Minnesota, Montana, South Dakota
The minimum age at which you can play casino games online is 21. We understand that you might be surprised at the fact that we picked this particular number. Even though there are no particular laws in place, our decision was backed by the fact that 21 is also the limit for entering all of North Dakota’s land-based venues.
ND police are known for their no-nonsense handling of underage gambling cases, so it’s best that you not partake in this activity if you’re not an adult.
As there are a plethora of quality offshore sites to choose from, you can basically play anything you want. Most of the big sites regularly update their offers by adding the latest titles, along with a hefty amount of cult classics. For those that are fans of indie games, you just have to dig a little deeper and you’ll find what you’re looking for.
Believe it or not, live dealer games are more popular in North Dakota than in most other states. Since the state is big and sparsely populated, people find it hard to travel to a tribal casino whenever they want to play roulette or other games that involve dealers. So, you’ll find that literally every offshore site that accepts ND citizens has an expansive live casino section.
Yes. This is mostly because offshore sites tend to do a lot of research before deciding to allow players from a certain state to create accounts on their platform. In North Dakota’s case, you can expect to see payment methods that are also used by casino aficionados in other states.
Credit cards are still the most popular option, despite it being easy to exploit some of their security-related defects. eWallets are poised to take the crown, as they provide a plethora of features for people who love to shop and conduct their business over the internet.
Wire transfers and ACH have almost disappeared, but are still used by more senior players. Anonymity advocates love cryptocurrencies, as this payment method allows for safe transactions that can’t be duplicated or manipulated.
Waiting times at North Dakota online casinos depend on two things - the measures sites use for verifying withdrawal requests, and the payment methods themselves. If the site doesn’t impose any identity verification protocol, then the waiting times depend on the payment platforms themselves. Here’s what to expect:
● eWallets - Instant
● Cryptocurrencies - 15-60 minutes (depending on the currency)
● Credit/debit cards - 3-5 business days
● Wire transfers - 5-7 days
● ACH - 4-6 days
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