Online casino license check: start with the state
A casino license in the United States is issued by a state. A New Jersey permit is a New Jersey permit, and a Pennsylvania certificate is a Pennsylvania certificate; each appears only on its own state's list. The first question is therefore where the player is located, and the second is whether that state licenses online casino play at all.
Industry trackers count seven such states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island. The by-state table shows the status of every state. If the state is not among the seven, a state license for online casino play does not exist there to be checked, and any claim of one deserves a closer look at who issued it.
Find the regulator's own list
Each of the seven states has its own regulator, and each publishes information differently. New Jersey and Pennsylvania post a downloadable document. Connecticut and Delaware describe their operators on web pages. Michigan, West Virginia and Rhode Island are harder: the Michigan and West Virginia sites did not answer our client on November 11, 2026, and Rhode Island's Lottery publishes no list page we found.
The regulator pages on this site link to the list where one exists: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island. The authority is the regulator's document or page, not a third-party summary, and the document's own date is worth noting, because lists are replaced as licenses change.
Worked example: the New Jersey list
The Division of Gaming Enforcement's permit holder PDF is headed "Internet Gaming Permit Holders" and "Last Update: September 22, 2026." It has two columns, a permit number and a name, and lists nine permits.
Three details show how to read it:
- Numbers follow one pattern. The first entry reads NJIGP 26-001 and belongs to Marina District Development Company, LLC d/b/a Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. The next reads NJIGP 26-002 and belongs to Golden Nugget Atlantic City, LLC.
- The names are legal entities, not the brand names a player sees. A site that calls itself something else has to be connected to one of these names.
- One company can hold several permits. Three entries (26-007, 26-012 and 26-013) name Caesars Interactive Entertainment New Jersey, LLC as the affiliate of three different Atlantic City casino companies.
The list carries no websites. Matching a site to a permit therefore takes a second source, such as the operator's own legal notice, and the match is only as good as that notice.
Worked example: the Pennsylvania list
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board's document is organized differently. It lists each interactive gaming certificateholder, then any interactive gaming operator, then the types of gaming authorized, the authorized websites or mobile apps, and the date operations began. It carries no license number, so the legal name is the identifier.
The Board's own introduction says that if no operator, type of gaming or website is listed for a certificateholder, interactive gaming has not yet been authorized for it. That wording matters when a site claims a license that a list does not support.
An entry such as Golden Nugget Online Gaming, LLC d/b/a Golden Nugget Casino shows the site, goldennuggetcasino.com, and a commencement date of August 10, 2023. That is the whole check: the legal name appears, and the website printed on the player's screen is the website printed in the Board's list. Other entries show an operator separate from the certificateholder, as with a Mount Airy certificate worked by The Stars Group, so a different company name on the site's legal page can still be consistent with the list.
What a mismatch looks like
Some patterns do not prove anything alone, but each is a reason to read further:
- The site names no license holder, or names a company that is absent from the regulator's list.
- The website differs from the one on the list, even by a word or a domain ending.
- The license cited was issued by a place outside the United States. That can be a real license in its own country, but it is not a state license, and the player's state decides what that means.
- The state the player is in does not license online casino play.
- The "license" is described in terms of a sweepstakes or a promotion, not a regulator.
A list that omits a holder shows only that the holder is not on that list. It does not explain why.
Sweepstakes casinos have nothing to check
Sweepstakes casinos operate under sweepstakes law and hold no state gambling license, so there is no register to look them up in. Each brand page in the sweepstakes register says so and shows what can be documented instead: the operating company as listed, restricted states and the enforcement record.
What our license boxes show
Pages for licensed holders carry a box built from the regulator's list. Each field has a plain origin:
| Field | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Regulator and state | the regulator that publishes the list |
| License holder, as listed | the name printed in the list, unchanged |
| Permit or certificate | the number where the list prints one; otherwise the box says the list shows none |
| Status | "On the regulator's list" means the holder appears there, and nothing more |
| Websites on the list | the sites the regulator prints, linked with nofollow |
| List date | the date the regulator shows, not ours |
| Read by us | the day we opened the list |
The method is described further on the how we check page.
Frequently asked questions
Does a license number prove a site is licensed today?
A number on a list shows that the holder appeared there on the list's date. Lists change, so the list's own date and the regulator's current page both matter.
What if the state's list shows no websites?
New Jersey's list prints only permit numbers and names. A second source, usually the operator's own legal page, has to connect the site to a name, and the connection should be read as a claim until it matches.
Where is each regulator's official site?
Every regulator page on this site links to the regulator's own site and to its list, where one exists.