Online Gambling in Washington D.C. in 2024

Washington, DC was one of the first territories to legalize online sportsbooks in 2018, but more than four years later, there are still many limitations on where and what you can bet on as a resident in the nation’s capital city.

While nearby states such as Pennsylvania and Maryland are offering full-fledged online casino gambling, poker, and sports gambling from the comfort of your home on your phone, you will not find that in DC just yet.

The good news is you can play online casino games, including blackjack, slots, keno, baccarat, and more on your phone in the District of Columbia. You can enter poker tournaments and bet on your favorite sports teams from anywhere, including live bets during games. You just have to find the right offshore gambling site that has enticing sign-up bonuses, a wide variety of games, quick payouts, and plenty of perks and promotions. 

With so many to choose from these days, it can be a daunting task if you are a beginner or even if you are already familiar with some of the legal sports betting apps in DC such as Caesars, FanDuel, BetMGM, Fanatics, or the GambetDC app. Our guide will direct you to 10 of the best options for DC online gambling of various types.

Best Washington DC Online Gambling Sites

There are hundreds of online gambling sites to choose from, but we have reviewed many to find the best user experiences for sites that will accept District residents. We run each site through our performance metrics and give it a grade in a variety of areas focusing on things like payment options, design, ease of use, available markets, promotions, and customer service. 

From there, we sort out the highest-graded online gambling sites that will accept D.C. bettors and this is the list we feel confident about presenting:

1. Bookmaker – The earliest sports betting lines
2. Heritage Sports – Top choice for live sports bets
3. Bovada – Famous for great poker action
4. BetOnline – Biggest library of casino games
5. BetAnySports – Best reduced juice for sports fans
6. BetUS – Get access to exclusive analysis
7. Everygame – Great site design
8. WagerWeb – Big crypto bonuses
9. SportsBetting – 50% Welcome Bonus up to $1,000
10. JustBet – $500 Cash Welcome Bonus

The Best Washington DC Gambling Site Reviews 

Our top 10 list is filled with sites located in places such as Costa Rica and Antigua where online gambling is legal. The District of Columbia does not regulate any of these sites because they are not located in American territories. But these offshore sites are legitimate for you to use as a DC resident and they are all reputable options we have personally vetted with many years of operating experience. 

We have included more in-depth reviews for the top 10 offshore gambling sites for DC players.

1. Bookmaker: The Earliest Sports Betting Lines

Whether you are interested in the NFL playoffs, the NBA regular season, or the upcoming MLB season, you can always be trusted to get the earliest sports betting lines in the industry. That is the reputation Costa Rica’s Bookmaker.eu has earned since 1996, and it is one of the best experiences for sports bettors, both new and old.

This site also offers wagering on horse races with fixed odds, and while they lack a poker room, there is an assortment of video poker and other casino games, including live dealer games with high limits.

New users are instantly enrolled into the first level of Bookmaker’s excellent loyalty program, which provides great reload bonuses. There are other great bonuses available even if you don’t join the loyalty program. The third and highest tier is only available to recreational accounts, so you may need to contact Bookmaker’s excellent customer service to check your eligibility. 

But Bookmaker is a sports bettor’s first choice, especially if you have some previous experience as they will not limit winning players. 

2. Heritage Sports: Top Choice for Live Sports Bets

Heritage Sports is an A+ graded site from Costa Rica that has been offering a well-rounded online gambling experience for over 20 years now. It used to be for VIPs who needed an invite, but it is open to all users now.

The sign-up bonuses are not as large as some competitors, but you get access to a great cashback program with bonus funds that can be used anywhere on the site with no restrictions. You also can get a free parlay on your birthday worth up to $500, and every eighth deposit is free on the house.

Heritage Sports offers a great variety of options for gambling, from a dedicated racebook with daily rebates, a casino with demo versions of its games, a sportsbook with reduced juice (-108 lines) and a great mobile site for live betting. They also do esports better than most of the competition.

3. Bovada: Famous for Great Poker Action

Bovada is an excellent choice for an all-around online gambling experience whether this is your first offshore site or if you are an experienced player. Poker players especially favor Bovada due to it running on the country’s busiest network for American poker players. Play against other players in tournaments or cash games.

The sportsbook is also one of the best for DC sports bettors to use from the comfort of their own home. Bovada’s site can be added to your phone’s home screen and quickly accessed like an app to instantly make bets on a wide variety of sporting events and horse races from around the world, including many live betting markets at all hours of the day.

Bovada has a solid selection of casino games and live dealer games. They run well on the site that is optimized for use with mobile devices. The racebook is also one of the best designed in the market. 

The ongoing promotions for loyal users are a bit lacking at Bovada, but they have huge sign-up bonuses, especially if you use crypto as your deposit method. But you can accumulate points in the rewards program that can be used on free bets and other perks. Overall, the promo codes at Bovada can provide a lot of value.

4. BetOnline: Biggest Library of Casino Games

Here we go again with another A+ graded online gambling site from Costa Rica. BetOnline has poker tournaments that can rival Bovada. You simply download some poker software and can play tournaments or cash games with ease.

The sportsbook has opinionated lines on major markets that you won’t find elsewhere. BetOnline offers many fun sports contests with big prizes (many can be entered for free), and their unique promotions offer users insurance on their bets and risk-free bets. The promo codes at BetOnline can be used to gain additional perks as well.

The casino section is one of the best out there with hundreds of newer games, which look flashier than what you’ll find at sites like Heritage Sports and Bookmaker. The only complaint there is they do not have free-to-play versions to try as there are so many choices.

5. BetAnySports: Best Reduced Juice for Sports Fans

One of the coolest, most exclusive features at BetAnySports is the ability to play your favorite lottery numbers for drawings in different states each day. Winners also get 80% better payouts. For those in Washington DC, you can play the Pick 2, Pick, 3, Pick 4, and Pick 5 District lottery drawings all from the comfort of your home or wherever you use your mobile device. DC is one of the only areas where all four of those online lottery games are available on BetAnySports.

But if the lottery is not your style, then you still get access to a sportsbook with a very underrated prop builder and the best reduced juice in the market, with -105 reduced juice lines on a variety of sports. There are also some generous bonuses available.

They also have seven different casinos to choose from, each equipped with its own selection of games with only minimal overlap. Video poker, slots, 3D slots, and live dealer games are all available here. 

6. BetUS: Get Access to Exclusive Analysis

Originating in 1994, BetUS has long served customers in DC and other areas who want a robust online gambling experience. They offer the usual assortment of sportsbook bets, casino games, and a racebook.

BetUS has a few stand-out areas, including its unique promotions, with the bonus funds split up between the casino and sportsbook so that you can sample the best of both worlds. Then there is the BetUS TV service consisting of programs on their YouTube channel with original analysis and expert predictions for just about every sport you can think of. 

The site also offers guides with tips on how to gamble better, perfect for beginners. The casino section is also huge and loaded with newer games, and they offer demo versions for each game. 

7. Everygame: Great Site Design

The Antigua-based Everygame lives up to its new name by offering a wide variety of sports markets from around the world. They also have niche and non-sports betting markets, including the South African Powerball drawing.

If you seek poker tournaments, then you are in luck, as Everygame is one of the few contenders on the list that have them. They also have one of the best site designs of any site out there, and you can really see that shine through when you play the casino games. 

New users can get up to $750 in bonus money over their first three deposits with Everygame. Plus, with an Everygame promo code, users can get additional perks and benefits. The sportsbook is solid for a first-time bettor, but more experienced sports bettors will prefer the likes of Bookmaker and Heritage Sports. 

8. WagerWeb: Big Crypto Bonuses

WagerWeb is a sister site of Heritage Sports with many similarities and some differences, both minor and large. First, it will remind you of Heritage with the way it handles live betting well, offers reduced juice (-108) and cashback programs with a solid racebook.

Something new is an NFL contest you can enter for free on a weekly basis, plus, the casino has over 200 games, which is more than Heritage Sports.

WagerWeb also has bigger welcome bonuses than Heritage Sports, but you will not get the best bonuses if you do not use Bitcoin or MoneyGram as your deposit method. You also have to make nine straight deposits without a successful withdrawal to get a 10th deposit for free. Heritage Sports has a better perk, with every eighth deposit being on the house.

WagerWeb is a great choice for crypto bettors, but non-crypto fans may find more value in Heritage Sports, which also has a dedicated e-sports section that WagerWeb lacks.

9. SportsBetting: 50% Welcome Bonus Up to $1,000

Everything from poker tournaments to fun sports promotions and contests to hundreds of casino games can be found at SportsBetting.ag. Not coincidentally, all of this can be found at BetOnline too, as the sites are owned by the same company.

If you like BetOnline, our No. 4 offshore gambling site, then you should no doubt enjoy SportsBetting as well. It just may not be logical for you to have an open account with both as you are largely going to be offered the same ongoing promos and betting markets.

10. JustBet: $500 Cash Welcome Bonus

Bookmaker is our No. 1 rated offshore sportsbook, and you can also find a similar experience with JustBet, its sister site. JustBet has been around for a decade and offers the early lines you come to expect from Bookmaker, they also do some casino gaming and have a dedicated racebook.

New users can get up to 25% cash back (up to $500) on their first deposit, which is a lower match rate than most competitors. Like Bookmaker, JustBet does not have a poker room, but it does have video poker.

Washington DC Online Gambling – The Top Sites Compared

To give you some side-by-side comparisons of our top 10 offshore gambling sites, we have included this chart:

Sportsbook	Rating	Online Since	Payment Methods	Read Review
Bookmaker	10	1996	Credit Card, Bitcoin, P2P, Crypto	Bookmaker.eu Review
Heritage Sports	10	2001	Credit Card, Bitcoin, Cashiers Check, Bank Transfer, P2P	Heritage Sports Review
Bovada	10	2011	Credit Card, Bitcoin	Bovada Review
BetOnline	10	2001	Credit Card, Bitcoin, Crypto, Cashiers Check, Bank Transfer, P2P	BetOnline Review
BetAnySports	10	2002	Credit Card, Bitcoin, Electronic Check	BetAnySports Review
BetUS	9.3	2000	Credit Card, Bitcoin, Bank Transfer, P2P	BetUS Review
Everygame	10	1996	Credit Card, Bitcoin, Skrill, Neteller, Bank Transfer, P2P	Everygame Review
WagerWeb	9.5	1994	Credit Card, Bitcoin, Cashiers Check, Bank Transfer, P2P	WagerWeb Review
SportsBetting	9.5	2002	Credit Card, Bitcoin, Crypto, Cashiers Check, Bank Transfer, P2P	SportsBetting Review
JustBet	9.5	2000	Credit Card, Bitcoin, P2P, Crypto	JustBet Review

Is online gambling legal in Washington DC?

Yes, Washington DC has legal online gambling, but it is very limited. You basically have a choice of playing daily fantasy sports (DFS) or betting on sports. Things such as horse racing, casino games, and poker are not legal in Washington DC.

Even with legal online sports betting, you must be physically located within a two-block radius of the venues where it is offered in DC:

• Capital One Arena has Caesars Sportsbook
• Nationals Park has BetMGM
• Audi Field has FanDuel
• FedExField has Fanatics

The only option that will work regardless of your location in the District of Columbia is the GambetDC Sportsbook app, which is run by the DC Lottery. If you want online gambling of all sorts available on your phone right now, then your best bet is an offshore site like one of the 10 reviewed above.

When will online gambling be fully legal in Washington DC?

Washington DC is not exactly known for things moving in a quick and logical fashion. No one can answer this with any real certainty, but DC is even more nuanced than most situations since it is technically not one of the 50 states in America. But it was one of the first territories to legalize online sports betting after PASPA was overturned in 2018. Since that landmark decision, many states have moved forward with some kind of legalized action on online sports betting.

However, we are still seeing a very limited number of states that have legalized all online gambling, including casino games and poker. For example, FanDuel Casino is only available in five states (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, and Connecticut) as of 2024. The number of states with legal online poker is not much better at six, and that includes Nevada along with most of the ones offering casino games on apps. Nevada aside, most of the current states offering fully legal online gambling are located near the east coast.

There are currently no bills in place to expand the online gambling platform in Washington DC. The best one could say is that things are doing way better now than five years ago before PASPA was overturned, so hopefully there will be significant movement on the fully legal gambling front before the end of this decade.

But until that happens, players in DC who want to gamble to win real money today should look into joining a trustworthy offshore site like the ones we reviewed above. There is no law against you doing that in Washington DC and these sites offer plenty of options, from sports betting to casino games and betting on horse races.

Is my financial info safe with an online gambling site in Washington DC?

Yes, as long as you are using a reputable online gambling site, you can feel safe in sharing your financial and personal info. While data breaches happen from time to time in even the most well-known companies, if you stick with trusted online sportsbooks that have been around for many years, you should not be overly concerned with your financial info in their databases. Just be sure to choose a legitimate site like one of the 10 we reviewed above. We would not include a site if it had a spotty reputation.

Make Your Best Bets Online in Washington DC

To close things out, we hope our friends in the District of Columbia will find this guide useful in finding the right online gambling site for their betting needs. The main thing to remember is that no DC gambling law prevents you from using an offshore site to play poker or gamble on slots and table games. You are well within your rights to do so because these online sportsbooks are following the laws in their local jurisdictions where online gambling is legal.

Hopefully it will be fully legal one day soon in DC too. Until then, enjoy the games and bonuses found at the offshore sites you end up choosing from our list above. 

FAQs – Washington DC Online Gambling