Paige | January 4, 2023 | Updated on: February 5th, 2024
North Dakota gambling is a topic that has been of interest to our players, and it is for a good reason. North Dakota may be the last place that you would expect to do gambling in. Less than 740,000 people are living in the state.
However, that does not mean that gambling should not be an activity. Despite the freezing weather, North Dakota gambling has been rising to greater heights.
North Dakota currently has 27 gambling facilities that people can use when they feel like winning real money. There are six tribal casinos and close to 12 charitable business. When you are in North Dakota, you will find some charitable gambling, social gaming, the lottery as well as pari-mutual wagering.
You can also play video lottery games. If you want to know more about the best casinos in North Dakota, all you have to do is read further. We will let you know about the various laws that govern gambling in the Roughrider State. You’ll also find out about all the games that you can play when you are in North Dakota.
Top North Dakota Gambling Sites
North Dakota Gambling Key Information
Permitted Gambling Age: 18 for the lottery, 19 for Bingo and 21 for Casinos
Estimated Annual Gambling Revenue: $460 Million
Approximate Annual Gambling Levies: $20 Million
Commercial Casinos: 0
Racinos: 0
Tribal Casinos: 6
Charity Casinos: 12
Regulatory Body: North Dakota Gaming Division
Lottery National Rankings: 44th
Types of North Dakota Gambling Allowed Online
The legal gambling that is allowed online in North Dakota is off-track. There are two main sites that you can visit when gambling in the state, which are TVG and TwinSpires. In these two sites, you will be able to place pari-mutuel bets.
There are daily fantasy sports websites that will allow North Dakota players. The issue of North Dakota players being accepted at daily sports fantasy websites has to be addressed by the Attorney General as well as the legislature. For the moment, bettors in North Dakota can continue to place wagers on these fantasy sports websites.
North Dakota Gambling Live Games
- North Dakota lottery: The lottery has multiple retail facilities across the state that players can place bets on. Interstate lotto drawing tickets are the only tickets that are sold in North Dakota. The lottery does not offer scratch-off tickets, nor can it hold intrastate lotto.
- Horseracing: Betting on horses is legal in North Dakota. You can also bet on live horse racing as well as off-track wagering. There are only has two racetracks where bettors can place bets. These places are North Dakota Horse Park as well as Chippewa Downs. You will find a lot of live horse races. When it comes to off-track betting, gamblers can place their bets at places such as Fargo, Bismark, as well as Jamestown.
North Dakota Charity Gambling
North Dakota charities are allowed to offer a range of games such as slots, blackjack, poker, roulette as well as craps. For non-profit organizations, the game of bingo and raffles are allowed. Charities may also offer blackjack games. When gamblers are betting at charity organizations, the minimum bet that is allowed is $3, and the stakes can go to a maximum of $25.
However, organizations are allowed to reduce the wagers to $1 or $2. However, this depends on the demand. All the revenue that is acquired during the particular games will be given to the charity organization that is operating the games.
Gambling Games in North Dakota
When you visit North Dakota, you will find 6 Native American casinos. However, these establishments are quite small, and they offer regular casino games. Here is a list of all the game you will find at these casinos:
- Blackjack – Players may place bets up to a maximum of $250
- Poker – In this game, this game will be limited to a maximum of $50 and players can only raise three times.
- Craps – This game has a bet limit of $60, and no more than double odds can be offered at the craps table.
- Roulette – If you decide to play this game, you should know that there is a bet limit of $60.
Laws of North Dakota Gambling
According to the North Dakota gambling legislature, casinos are allowed to operate in the state. However, all these casino establishments have to be located in Native American reservations. If you are interested in gambling, then you can play games such as roulette, craps, poker, blackjack, slots as well as video poker.
The gambling laws in North Dakota state that each casino game must have its own betting limit. There is also a legislature that stipulates the minimum and maximum game returns. Just a reminder, the return is the percentage that a game will pay to a payer for winning.
For instance, if the return of a game is 90%, that means that the game will pay nine out of ten times. The highest return on any given game is 100%. The lowest return on slot games is 80%, and video poker games are obligated to pay a minimum of 83%.
When we look at the lottery, North Dakota is only allowed to sell tickets for one type of game. This game is the interstate drawing, and it includes the Mega Millions draw as well as Powerball.
When it comes to charity gambling, these organizations are allowed to operate blackjack games in taverns, and the max wager is $25. The minimum bet can $1. However, it cannot be higher than $3. All the revenue accumulated during a charity gambling event must go to the charity organization that hosted the event and not the establishment that the event was held in.
In the Roughrider state, only people who are 18-years-old can take part in lotteries and bingo. However, people who want to gamble at casinos and participate in off-track betting should be 21-years-old and older.
Casinos in North Dakota
As we have stated before, there are ten Native American casinos in North Dakota. Each of these gambling establishments offers video poker as well as slot machines. The more extensive gambling facilities offer blackjack, live poker, craps and roulette.
Charity organizations are allowed to offer off-track betting. However, none of them have done so. Here is a list of all the casinos that you can visit in North Dakota:
| Casino | Games | Address | Website |
| Spirit Lake Resort | 700 Slot Machines | 7889 ND-57 | www.spiritlakecasino.com |
| 4Bears Casino – New Town | 550 Slot Machines | 202 Frontage Rd. | www.4bearscasino.com |
| Dakota Magic Casino | 900 Slot Machines | 16849 102nd St SE | www.dakotamagic.com |
| Chippewa Downs – Belcourt | Just Horse Races | Highway 5 west | www.chippewadowns.org |
| Prairie Knights Casino – Fort Yates | 725 Slot Machines | 7932 N Dakota 24 | www.prairieknights.com |
| Sky Dancer Mini Casino – Belcourt | 61 Slot Machines | 1 Sailor Ave. | www.skydancercasino.com |
| Sky Dancer Casino – Belcourt | 525 Slot Machines | 3965 Sky Dancer Way NE | www.skydancercasino.com |
Evolution of North Dakota Gambling
In 2002 there was a massive gambling scandal in North Dakota. An off-track operator was arrested and charged for money laundering; he had taken $99 million worth of bets. His company was not permitted to operate off-track horse race betting. This is a privilege that is reserved for charity organizations.
Gambling for the purposes of gambling was approved in 1977 in North Dakota. This was the first type of legal gambling in the Roughrider state. Non-profit organizations began offering bingo and raffles and then quickly moved on to blackjack.
As mentioned before, charity organizations are allowed to offer off-track betting as well as sports pools. These forms of betting were allowed right after the first law was put in place.
In 1992 casinos in North Dakota were legalized. You will find ten casinos that are operational in the state. All ten casinos are located in the Native American reservations.
The lottery was legalized in 2002. However, the North Dakota lottery is not permitted to offer games that are not drawn from other states. All lottery games are interstate.
North Dakota Gambling FAQs
Yes. That is the short answer. Horserace betting in North Dakota is legal. Off-track betting may be permitted only in charity organizations. If you want to play some casino games, you can do so in the casinos that we have mentioned above.
There are ten casinos in North Dakota, and they are all located in the Native American reservations. Charity organizations are also allowed to offer gambling games.
Currently, there are no laws that state that online gambling is not permitted. However, Land-based casinos that don’t have licenses are banned. Therefore, this could apply to online gambling sites because they do not have licenses.
Slot machine games and video poker have a minimum bet of $25. However, blackjack has a max bet of $250. Roulette and craps have a maximum bet of $60.
In North Dakota, you will find interstate drawings. Therefore you will discover Powerball and Mega Millions.
Yes, it is. Charity organizations are the only establishments that are allowed to offer off-track betting.
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