Ohio Online Casinos – An Inside Look At The Buckeye State’s Casino Gambling Industry
There are 10 commercial casinos in Ohio, but only three of them can truly be considered “Vegas-style” properties. Gambling in the state is actually more centered around Ohio Lottery slot machines (VLTs) and limited “racino” gaming. As such, it’s not surprising that online Ohio casinos haven’t been legalized at the domestic level just yet. And what’s more, there’s no telling exactly when that’s likely to happen.
However, it’s perfectly legal and safe for OH residents to play real-money online casino games with international providers. So if you want to win some “dead presidents” in the Mother of Presidents, these legit online casinos are a great option. (And if you don’t like that pun, they’ll pay you out in crypto, instead!)
★ Top Rated Online Casino For Ohio Players In 2025
Bovada – The Ace Up Your Sleeve In The Heart Of It All
If you’re after a convenient, casual, and fully featured Ohio casino experience, Bovada LV is a great place to start. The site has been serving OH gamblers since 2011, and with over 250 of the best electronic Ohio slot machines and table games – along with dozens of live-dealer casino tables for blackjack, roulette, and baccarat players – very few brick-and-mortar OH casinos can compete.
But Bovada isn’t just a casino, as the site covers all online gambling. At Bovada, you’ll get access to real casino games along with legal Ohio online sports betting options, a robust online poker room, and an international racebook. Yes, Bovada is also an Ohio “racino”!
State residents who join Bovada today to take advantage of the site’s $3000 Casino Welcome Bonus or enhanced $3750 Bitcoin Casino Bonus.
- Established 2011 (Costa Rica)
- 250+ electronic OH casino games
- 30+ live-dealer OH casino games
- Bitcoin + crypto accepted
- Bovada Vouchers + MatchPay support
- 1 account for Casino, Sports, Poker, Horses
Is Online Gambling Legal In Ohio?
Yes! However, at the domestic level, Ohio gambling online is limited to sports gambling online (launch TBA). The state’s casinos and racinos will host these mobile sportsbooks, but they still won’t be able to host real-money online casino games. To play those, you’ll need to join an online casino site operating outside of OH and US borders.
All the sites featured here are internationally based and thus safe to use, as local Ohio gambling laws and federal US gambling laws apply only to domestic/interstate operators. International operators are exempt from these. And because OH/US laws never target individual gamblers, it’s legal and safe to use online services to bet real money on all the online casino games you wish.
Legal Gambling Age In Ohio As Of 2025: The legal gambling age in Ohio is 21+ for domestic casinos. However, most offshore OH betting sites we recommend take OH players at just 18 and up regardless on the gaming market in question.
Are There Legal OH Online Casinos That Are Safe To Play At?
Yes! That being said, not all sites offering online betting in Ohio are reputable and trustworthy. This is the Internet, after all. As such, when it comes to legit online casinos, Ohio residents should insist that the sites they choose employ all the standard online gambling best practices.
The most important of these are listed below, and you should never play with any online casino in Ohio – or anywhere else! – that doesn’t check all the following boxes for true gaming legitimacy:
Ohio Mobile Casinos
When it comes to online gambling, Ohio residents probably wouldn’t be interested if they couldn’t play via their smartphones and tablets. Most of the Internet traffic in the state comes from mobile devices these days, and that trend is going to continue. In other words, Ohio online gambling wouldn’t be worth its payouts if it wasn’t mobile-optimized first and foremost.
Luckily, it is! All the best online casinos in the state employ responsive, web-based menus and layouts to ensure everything works perfectly across a broad range of devices, from the smallest iPhones and biggest iPads to the hundreds of sizes and styles of Android phones and tablets in between.
There are no OH casino apps to download or update and there are no geofencing/GPS restrictions, either. As long as your device has an up-to-date mobile browser, you can enjoy real online casino gambling in Ohio 24/7 from anywhere.
Online Casino Games In Ohio
While you might expect the casinos in Cleveland or casinos near Columbus (or other major casinos in Ohio) to offer the biggest, best selection of games, you’d be wrong. Even venues like the Cincinnati Hard Rock – which has the most games in the entire state – can’t compete with online Ohio casino games.
Each venue featured here offers hundreds of different fair-iGaming-certified RNG (random number generation) titles made by the industry’s biggest, best online casino software developers. From the loosest slots in Ohio and the biggest blackjack and roulette payouts to the busiest Ohio bingo tables and more, online has it all:
- Online Slots (3-Reel, 5-Reel, 3D, iSlots)
- Online Progressive Slots
- Online Blackjack (Single-Deck, Double-Deck, 6-Deck, 8-Deck)
- Online Roulette (American and European)
- Online Baccarat
- Online Super 6 (aka Online Mini-Bac)
- Online Video Poker
- Online Keno + Online Craps
- Online Bingo + Scratch-Offs
- Online Lotteries + Raffles
- Online Live Casino Games
Ohio Online Live-Dealer Casino Games
One reason you might prefer brick-and-mortar OH casinos to legit online casinos is that the former venues offer live table games. After all, nothing compares to the feeling of ponying up at the felts and letting it ride.
But today, online gambling in Ohio actually offers live-dealer gambling, too! With state-of-the-art online streaming technology and ubiquitous Wi-Fi and cellular Internet, every OH gambler has access to live online casino games.
Each site here features live tables for all the classics, including live blackjack, live roulette, and live baccarat/mini-bac. You can talk to your dealer or croupier in real time, and you can even chat with your fellow gamblers. And if the tables are full, the best OH casinos also offer unlimited bet-behinds and free spectator options.
- Live Dealer Blackjack
- Live Dealer Roulette
- Live Dealer Baccarat
- Live Dealer Super 6
Note: Live casino tables at legit online casinos are paid games only. That is, you cannot play free online casino games in your site’s live casino. Additionally, live-dealer games typically don’t contribute to online casino bonus rollover/playthrough requirements.
Brick-And-Mortar Casinos In Ohio
Online gambling is the best. At least, when you play with a legit Ohio casino site, it is. That being said, sometimes we want to experience the magic of a real night on the town – wherever that town is.
It doesn’t matter if we’re near the casino in Toledo or one of the casinos on the Ohio River, or whether we’re closer to casinos in northern Ohio or southern Ohio. When we want to play, we want to play.
As such, we don’t limit our gambling to online exclusively. So, when we want to hit up the real OH slot machines (and not those wimpy gas station Ohio Lottery slots) or a legit local poker room, we pull out or Ohio casinos map, find the closest hotspot, and head on over.
Note: There are no Indian casinos in Ohio. While the Seminole Tribe of Florida owns the Cincinnati Hard Rock, this venue is operated as a commercial casino with a standard state license. There are currently no federally recognized Indian tribes in the state, so Class III Ohio Indian casinos are not on the horizon.
Gambling Resources For Ohio Residents
Our overviews of the Ohio online casino laws – and the OH gambling laws in general – should be more than enough to give you a solid understanding of the state of play. However, if you’d like more detailed information, you can check out the following links to the current Ohio Revised Statutes (ORC) and other relevant resources:
- ORC Chapter 2915 – “Gambling”
- ORC Title 37 – “Health-Safety-Morals”
- ORC Ch. 3769 – “Horse Racing”
- ORC Ch. 3770 – “State Lottery”
- ORC Ch. 3772 – “Casino Gaming”
- ORC Ch. 3774 – “Regulation of Fantasy Contests”
- ORC Ch. 3775 – “Sports Gaming”
- HB 29 (2021) – Gambling bill legalizing in-person Ohio sports betting, Ohio online sports betting
- Ohio Casino Control Commission – State agency in charge of overseeing legal domestic OH casino operations
Gambling is for entertainment only. If you or someone you know is struggling with gambling addiction, help is available at no cost through the Ohio chapter of the National Council on Problem Gambling. Please play responsibly.