Online Gambling Don’t Roll the Dice. If you’ve ever thought about visiting a cyber casino, here’s something you should know: it’s illegal to gamble online in the United States. “You can go to Vegas. You can go to Atlantic City. You can go to a racetrack. You can go to those places and gamble legally. But don’t do it online. 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 modern slots to classic live dealer table games like roulette. There have been arrests related to illegal gambling in the state before, but those have all amounted to illegal sports betting operations, illegal poker games and illegal gambling parlors guised as, “Internet Cafes.” Online Gambling In North Carolina. No law makes it so gambling on the Internet is illegal in the state, so it is pretty safe to assume that online gambling is legal in North Carolina. There are also no federal laws to worry about, as the remaining statutes all target sportsbook and gambling house operators rather than individual players.

1. Is Online Gambling Legal In Nc
2. Is Online Gambling Illegal In North Carolina

• Casino Gambling: Legal
• Tribal Gaminb: Legal
• Poker: Legal
• Horse Racing Betting: Not Legal
• Dog Racing Betting: Not Legal
• Lottery: Legal
• Daily Fantasy Sports: Not Specified
• Charitable Gaming: Legal
• Social Gambling: Not Legal
• Online Gambling: Not Specified

Located in the American South, North Carolina doesn’t have to lot of gaming competition. This is especially the case with the anti-gambling South Carolina on their southern border.

That said, the Tar Heel State has been slow to adopt new forms of gaming. But this has changed in recent decades, with North Carolina looking for ways to fund their schools and education.

Their lottery has played a role in saving the state’s higher education system, while tribal gaming creates thousands of jobs.

For a state that’s concerned with illegal gambling, North Carolina has an odd history of tolerating video gambling at businesses. In the late 1990s, numerous video poker machines could be found at bars and other business.

This isn’t to say that North Carolina is suddenly the new Vegas. But they’re trending in the right direction when compared to the rest of the conservative South.

Let’s discuss what gambling options you have in the Old North State along with info and stats on their gaming industry.

North Carolina’s biggest source of gambling is their lottery, which generates between $1.5 billion and $1.9 billion every year. Minus fees and commissions, 26% of this amount goes towards the K-12 school and higher education funds.

Facing a budget shortfall in the mid-2000s, this revenue has been instrumental in keeping North Carolina’s schools running, and college students receiving scholarship money.

The state features two tribal casinos – both which are on Cherokee lands – along with several bingo parlors. These establishments collectively bring in around $500 million every year.

North Carolina used to allow video poker machines in businesses throughout the state. But many businesses tried taking advantage of the law by offering more machines than they should, or offering video poker without approval.

State officials and law enforcement grew tired of the battle and eventually banned video poker machines altogether in 2007.

North Carolina features over 4,300 slot machines and 170 table games. This isn’t a lot when considering that their population is 9.95 million, but it’s significant when compared to neighbors like Georgie, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

The biggest casino is Harrah’s Cherokee, which features 3,300 slot machines and 100 table games. The next largest is Harrah’s Cherokee Valley, with 1,050 machines and 70 table games.

Both casinos are located in the Smokey Mountains on the eastern side of the state. North Carolina residents can also find tribal bingo venues located throughout the state too.

Article 37 of North Carolina’s criminal code defines what’s legal and illegal with regard to gambling. The best place to start here is with status 14-292:

As you can see, both operators and gamblers are addressed in statue 14-292. Examples of other gambling violations discussed in Article 37 include:

• Advertising and / or dealing lotteries as an unlicensed agent.
• Selling “numbers” tickets, such as raffles and certificates.
• Establishing or participating in a pyramid scheme.
• Allowing illegal gambling on your property or business.
• Dealing illegal slot machines and / or gambling tables.
• Manufacturing illegal slots and / or gambling devices.

Other sections of the gambling code state that residents should abstain from keeping illegal gambling tables, faro tables, punchboards, and slot machines.

Of course, exceptions are made for state-approved forms of gaming like the lottery, tribal gaming, and charities.

One more point worth addressing here is statue 14-7.20 (a), which covers the worst gaming crimes:

North Carolina has one of the most straightforward criminal codes we’ve seen, and it addresses lots of common sense points.

While this state isn’t bursting with gaming options, they offer enough that you can gamble without breaking any laws.

The only federally recognized tribe in North Carolina is the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who own both casinos.

Harrah’s Cherokee Casino is located in the Qualla Boundary territory, while Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel is located in the Nantahala National Forest. These establishments are operated in conjunction with Caesars Entertainment Corp, which owns the Harrah’s brand.

Both casinos offer a full range of games, including blackjack, craps, roulette, slot machines, and bingo.

If the state had their way, there might not be any casinos in North Carolina. The Cherokees began offering bingo in 1982 without permission, and were validated by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), which allows tribes to negotiate gaming compacts with states.

They negotiated a compact with North Carolina in 1994, allowing them to open Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in 1997, followed by Valley River in 2015.

The Catawba Tribe is also pushing to open a casino, gaining support for their proposed King’s Mountain resort in 2016.

The casino would be built in the Charlotte area, about an hour and a half from both of the Cherokees’ casinos. That said, it’s little surprise that the Cherokee Tribe is heavily opposing a third casino.

North Carolina features three bingo establishments, including Cherokee Tribal Bingo in the Cherokee territory; Eastway Beach Bingo in suburban Charlotte; and Stumbilicious BINGO!! in Greensboro.

We expected these to be Class II bingo facilities, meaning they could offer slot machines that determine results through bingo cards. But all three venues are strictly bingo parlors with side entertainment.

The state constitution has a different section for charity gambling called Charitable Gaming Statues of North Carolina.

Statue 14-309.6 (1) covers which organizations can offer charity gaming, including “civic, religious, fraternal, patriotic or veteran’s organizations or as a nonprofit volunteer fire department, or as a nonprofit volunteer rescue squad or a bona fide homeowners’ or property owners’ association.”

Accepted charities are limited to bingo and raffles, and they must adhere to more stipulations, as defined in statues 14-309.9 and 14-309.15(d). These include:

• Bingo prizes not exceeding $500 for a single game.
• Not exceeding $1,500 in total bingo prizes for a single session.
• Raffle prizes not exceeding $10,000 for a single raffle.
• Not exceeding $10,000 in rafflecash prizes for an entire calendar year.
• Not exceeding $50,000 in raffle non-cash prizes for a calendar year.

Other stipulations include that participants must be members of the organization; 100% of the proceeds must go to the charity’s cause; and charities are limited to eight or fewer fundraisers every month.

Is Online Gambling Legal In Nc

We’ve thoroughly read charitable gaming sections from many different states. And while it’s good that North Carolina allows this type of gambling, they’re also among the most-restrictive states in this capacity.

Horseracing has always been outlawed in North Carolina, while greyhound racing had a brief legality window from 1948 to 1954.

The state has two racetracks in Moyock and Morehead City where greyhounds raced. But the North Carolina Supreme Court shut both of them down amid allegations that special privileges were given to a private company.

The state’s racing industry has been dormant ever since. And with racing declining in many states across the US, we don’t see North Carolina ever attempting to revive greyhound betting.

North Carolina is one of the youngest lotteries in the country, having legalized it in 2005.

This operation has been a huge boon for the state’s school system, having contributed almost $5 billion to various levels of education since being created.

While the vast majority of school funding still comes from municipal taxes, funds from the North Carolina Education Lottery have put a fortune towards teacher salaries, assistant salaries, K-12 school operational budgets, school construction, and scholarship funds.

Games offered by the lottery include scratch cards, Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5, Mega Millions, Powerball, and Lucky for Life.

The only legal poker room in North Carolina is found at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino.

Launched in 2012, this poker room offers 20 tables and regular tournaments. Harrah’s Cherokee also offers World Series of Poker Circuit events every year.

Other businesses have tried to offer poker but to no avail. The Poker Tavern League was one such entity, which grew a membership base of over 2,500 and wanted to host poker tournaments in different North Carolina bars.

While there’s nothing wrong with playing free poker with no prizes, the Tavern League offered small cash prizes, which violates state laws.

5th Street Entertainment began holding poker tournaments in Charlotte, with non-cash prizes being given to top players. They were eventually shut down by law enforcement and launched an unsuccessful lawsuit in 2005.

As covered in the Legal Status section, statue 14-292 makes any bet in unlicensed games of chance illegal. No exception is given for private gaming, meaning it’s illegal to hold gambling functions in your home or business.

Law enforcement is unlikely concerned with a low-stakes poker game among friends – especially if the host isn’t collecting rake. But this is still something you need to be aware of, given North Carolina’s history of busting home poker games.

A simple Google search reveals several news stories and forum discussions on home games being raided. And while this is a tiny percentage of all the home poker games happening in North Carolina, it shows that you do need to be careful.

If you’re going to engage in private gaming, our tips are to keep the stakes low, avoid bringing drugs and / or weapons, and keep the game as low-key as possible.

For a state that’s concerned with illegal gambling, North Carolina has an odd history of tolerating video gambling at businesses.

In the late 1990s, numerous video poker machines could be found at bars and other business. State lawmakers tried to curb the problem in 2000 by imposing a limit of three machines per property, while requiring that no new gambling machines be installed.

The limitations didn’t work, though, because businesses continued adding more machines and exacerbating the problem. A StarNews report from 2006 estimated that there were 20,000 illegal video poker machines in the state, compared to only 10,000 legal machines.

With politicians and law enforcement growing tired of the problem, North Carolina eventually solved the dilemma by banning video poker machines in 2007.

No sooner did lawmakers get rid of illegal video gambling that they dealt with a new problem: sweepstakes cafes.

Sweepstakes shops exploit a loophole in the gambling criminal code by selling internet time to players, then giving them an opportunity to win prizes through slots-like games.

As reported by TheTimesNews, lawmakers responded by shutting down these cafes under the banner that they amount to illegal gambling. But more sweepstakes cafes continued cropping up around the state.

Congress attempted to ban the cafes in 2010, but they fought back in court and won. The matter was then taken to the North Carolina Supreme Court, where they upheld the ban and many sweepstakes cafes were shut down afterward.

Despite the ban, Royal Palace Theatre in Roanoke Rapids attempted to challenge the state by using a new type of “pre-reveal software” that shows prizes before playing.

A 2015 report from the RR Daily Herald states that the business was ordered to shut down sweepstakes-style games by U.S. Attorney Thomas G. Walker.

Online Gambling Options in North Carolina

North Carolina makes no mention of online gaming in its criminal code.

While this isn’t uncommon, many states often have an excerpt(s) that could potentially make a smartphone or computer an illegal gambling device. But the Tar Heel State doesn’t even have this in their statues.

And given that North Carolina has never busted somebody just for gambling online, you’re likely safe to play at offshore casino, poker, and sports betting sites.

Nevertheless, North Carolina has set a precedent for pursing internet gaming operators. Here are a couple of incidents we found:

• One element of the state’s battle against sweepstakes cafes is that they were offering internet-based forms of gambling. But the unique aspect of this is how the cafes exploited a loophole by having players purchase internet time, rather than slots spins.
• Police executed an “online gambling” warrant to arrest Chan Ji Byung in 2014. The Vietnamese man was offering sweepstakes games and accused of offering internet gaming.

The key takeaway here is that these businesses were prosecuted for some level of internet gaming. On the other hand, police only went after the operators of sweepstakes cafes over offering online gaming.

Based on the fact that North Carolina criminal code doesn’t include any language that applies to online gamblers, computers, or mobile devices, we feel confident that residents can bet online without concern.

At the time of this writing, there’s currently a bill circulating through North Carolina’s legislature that would legalize daily fantasy sports (DFS).

Sponsored by Rep. Jason Saine, House Bill 279 seeks to allow anybody 18 and older to play DFS in the state. Furthermore, operators would pay a registration free worth between $2,500 and $10,000 to operate in North Carolina.

We have little idea on if HB 279 has a chance because it’s a new bill. But given that North Carolina is on the conservative side regarding gambling, we don’t see HB 279 gaining much traction.

As mentioned earlier, the Catawba Indian Nation wants to build a casino in the Charlotte area. Dubbed King’s Mountain, this $600 million project would be a joint operation with Orlando’s Hard Rock International.

The arrangement would be similar to what the Cherokee Indians have with the Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment.

The Catawba Tribe is also building a $350 million movie studio just south of Charlotte, which may enhance their odds of gaining local support. But they must also gain approval from the U.S. Department of Interior Justice before opening King’s Mountain.

The Cherokees are currently protesting the casino, as are some residents in the Charlotte area. At this time, no decision has been made on whether or not King’s Mountain will become a reality.

No. We see nothing in the state’s criminal code that specifically points to online gaming being illegal. Furthermore, North Carolina’s constitution doesn’t even have vague language that could apply to internet gaming.

The only statue that law enforcement could use to prosecute you is 14-292, which basically outlines anything outside licensed gaming options as an illegal bet.

But this is a reach considering that North Carolina has never arrested somebody for online gambling. The only thing that they seem concerned with in this regard is arresting operators, namely anybody who continues running a sweepstakes cafe.

For this reason, many residents continue to play at offshore sportsbooks, poker rooms, and online casinos.

No. This is an area where statue 14-292 is enforced because state lawmakers don’t want residents engaging in private gambling.

We see several instances where law enforcement has cracked down on home poker games. Of course, one of these private games had 39 players; but others were low-stakes affairs that police raided.

Based on the raided games, we don’t recommend that you engage in private gambling. But odds are very slim that you’re in danger of being arrested if you keep stakes low and don’t advertise the game.

The Tar Heel State had a short time period where they offered greyhound racing from 1948 to 1954. But they closed down the only two tracks in Morehead City and Moyock amid allegations that a private business was being given special favors.

Horse racing has never been legal in North Carolina, which makes them one of the few states without a pari-mutuel industry right now.

Odds are that this will never change for two reasons:

• North Carolina isn’t crazy about new forms of gambling.
• The US pari-mutuel industry is declining as a whole, so this would be a bad time to start horseracing.

Yes, but there are a number of restrictions that you must be aware of first.

For starters, the only approved forms of charity gaming are bingo and raffles. This means that even skill-based games like poker are off the table.

You also need to keep bingo and raffle prizes under certain amounts to ensure that you’re not violating any laws.

We strongly urge you to look over statues 14-309.9 through 14-309.15(d) to see what restrictions apply. Also note that only certain organizations are approved to run charity gaming, which is covered in statue 14-309.6 (1).

No. You can only purchase lottery tickets from North Carolina retailers with cash, check, debit card, and gift card.

This is a common rule among many state lottery retailers so that addicted players don’t overspend on tickets.

Is Online Gambling Illegal In North Carolina

Once again, North Carolina is located in a region that’s been slow to embrace gambling. The fact that the Tar Heel State offers tribal casinos, charitable gambling, and a lottery makes them stand out in the American South.

Nevertheless, North Carolina isn’t a progressive gaming state when compared to the United States as a whole. They only offer two tribal casinos on one side of the state along with a handful of bingo establishments.

Based on their criminal code, this state also frowns upon social gambling and includes a number of restrictions on charitable gaming. Throw in the fact that North Carolina only has one poker room, and they don’t have as many options as their large population would suggest.

The one bright spot is that the Old North State takes a lax approach to online gambling. While they’ve busted sweepstakes cafes for offering internet gaming, they appear to have little interest in pursuing online bettors.

Because of this, North Carolina residents should be fine to continue playing at internet casino and poker sites.

Sweepstakes casinos busted

Two businesses in Davidson County, North Carolina were raided on Monday after residents reported them to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office for operating as sweepstakes casinos.

The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office supplied deputies to help with the bust. The North Carolina Department of Alcohol Law Enforcement also assisted.

Raids followed complaints

The Welcome Business Center in Welcome and The Fish House in Thomasville were the businesses raided on Monday.

several residents alerted the local Sheriff’s Office of the illegal operations

The raids were a result of complaints raised by concerned citizens living in Davidson County. According to law enforcement, several residents alerted the local Sheriff’s Office of the illegal operations.

After the complaints were received, Davidson County Sheriff Richie Simmons filed a request with the North Carolina ALE Gaming Section. The sheriff requested assistance in investigating the matter.

The investigation

Undercover ALE Special Agents provided assistance and visited the locations. Their investigation confirmed that the properties were operating as illegal casino gaming facilities.

Illegal activity

Gambling with and/or operating illegal gaming machines is a crime in North Carolina.

According to Sheriff Simmons, such locations can attract other illegal activity, namely drugs and prostitution. In a press release that Davidson County will not tolerate establishments operating illegal gaming machines.

Chris Poole, ALE special agent in charge, provided insight on state gambling laws. Currently, the law does not allow cash payouts to be made for credits won via any type of video gaming machine.

According to Poole, forms of illegal video gambling games are located across the state. Such games include video poker, video slots, video keno, and other types. He highlighted how these games aren’t regulated, stating:

There is no customer protection or regulation to ensure players are playing something that is fair.”

Poole went on to say that the games advertise false hope to people that they could win huge prizes by playing the ‘skill’ games. In reality, the amount of money that they will win was predetermined before they sat down to play the illegal machine.

Officials are still investigating the incident and arrests could be made.