Table of Contents
Online Gambling in Ohio in 2024
-
Shawn West
- July 19, 2024
In the start of 2023, the gambling market in Ohio took a step forward after the local sports betting market went live. However, other forms of gambling like online poker or online casinos are still unregulated.
Nonetheless, Ohio gamblers have plenty of options available to them when it comes to online casino sites.
The number of online betting sites that are willing to take action from Ohio residents can be overwhelming. It can be tough to figure out how to tell them apart and choose which one is the best to trust with your money online.
That’s where we come in. We’ve looked at dozens and dozens of online gambling sites and evaluated them to come up with our top 10 most recommended options. The best betting sites in Ohio have a wide range of gambling platforms, including sportsbooks, racebooks, casino games, and online poker.
The online sports betting sites we round up have years of experience and are trusted and dependable, giving you an environment to enjoy multiple types of gambling, knowing that your money is safe and your personal information is secure.
We evaluated the various offshore sportsbooks on a number of different factors, and we go through the top-rated sites on our list in detail, explaining what they do well and where they might not be as impressive. We’ll also take a look at gambling regulations in Ohio—what’s legal and what’s changing in the future thanks to the new sports betting law, and more.
|
SPORTSBOOK
|
TRUST SCORE
|
ONLINE SINCE
1996
|
Expert Review
Read Review
|
BONUS
$500 Cash Bonus
|
CLAIM BONUS
CLAIM BONUS
|
|
SPORTSBOOK
|
TRUST SCORE
|
ONLINE SINCE
2001
|
Expert Review
Read Review
|
BONUS
20% Cash Bonus
|
CLAIM BONUS
CLAIM BONUS
|
|
SPORTSBOOK
|
TRUST SCORE
|
ONLINE SINCE
2002
|
Expert Review
Read Review
|
BONUS
30% Cash Bonus
|
CLAIM BONUS
CLAIM BONUS
|
|
SPORTSBOOK
|
TRUST SCORE
|
ONLINE SINCE
2001
|
Expert Review
Read Review
|
BONUS
$250 Free Bet
|
CLAIM BONUS
CLAIM BONUS
|
|
SPORTSBOOK
|
TRUST SCORE
|
ONLINE SINCE
1996
|
Expert Review
Read Review
|
BONUS
100% Cash Bonus
|
CLAIM BONUS
CLAIM BONUS
|
|
SPORTSBOOK
|
TRUST SCORE
|
ONLINE SINCE
2011
|
Expert Review
Read Review
|
BONUS
$750 Cash Bonus
|
CLAIM BONUS
CLAIM BONUS
|
Table of Contents
Best Ohio Online Gambling Sites 2024
We present our rankings of the 10 best online betting sites in Ohio. Each of the sites on our list below is experienced and dependable with trusted reputations for secure wagering.
They offer a wide variety of betting markets, including teasers, props, live betting. Many also feature casino games, poker, and a racebook.
- BookMaker – Welcomes all levels of skill, experience, and risk
- Bovada – The biggest menu of prop bets
- BetOnline – The leader in opinionated lines
- Heritage Sports – Best in Ohio for live betting
- BetAnySports – The best reduced juice in OH
- BetUS – Biggest bonuses in the state
- WagerWeb – Three decades of experience and fast Bitcoin payouts
- JustBet – Fast, responsive live betting platform
- Everygame – The world’s oldest sportsbook, worldwide menu of games
- SportsBetting.ag – Great bonuses
Each of the gambling sites in our top 10 is located offshore. That means they are outside the jurisdiction of U.S. federal law and state regulations on gambling. So, even though online gambling may not be legal for companies located in Ohio, it’s perfectly legal to use these sites to play real-money casino games. They’ve been in operation for years, many of them for decades, and they’ve each built a reputation.
Online poker and casino games are still prohibited, even now that sports gambling has been legalized. That means that gamblers in Ohio will need to continue using offshore sportsbooks to access everything in one place.
The Best Ohio Sportsbooks Reviewed
Below we go through each of the sites in our top online gambling sites for Ohio bettors in detail, to explain what they do well and what we found faults with.
1. Top Overall Online Gambling Site in OH: BookMaker
Key Features
- The earliest to release lines and odds
- Limits are high and minimum bets are low
Bookmaker.eu gets the nod from our team of experts as the best all-around online gambling site in Ohio. It appeals to gamblers of all skill levels, experience levels, and appetites for risk. Professional gamblers will like the fact that Bookmaker has some of the highest limits in the state and releases its lines earlier than most of the competitors.
Newcomers will benefit from the user-friendly interface that makes it easy to navigate and place a bet, even if you haven’t done it before. They’ll also like the low minimum limits for betting. The only drawback is the lack of online poker rooms. However, the online casino is outstanding and fully optimized for mobile betting
Bookmaker features flexible promos and a loyalty program based on a points system that rewards loyal customers who can earn bonuses and other special prizes.
2. Best for Prop Betting and Online Poker: Bovada
Key Features
- More prop bets than anyone else
- America’s busiest poker room
- Mobile platform is as good as the full site
Bovada has been around for about 10 years, relatively young considering some of the sites in our top 10 started in the early 1990s. Over that time, however, it’s built a large following of rabidly loyal customers.
There are plenty of reasons for the loyalty they inspire. Bovada has outstanding software that works well, regardless of whether you’re using a mobile device or the full-blown site on a computer. It gives you a smooth, stylish user experience, and it’s easy to win money at Bovada, with a wide array of prop bets, including some that are extremely low-risk, basically luring you in with some nearly free winnings.
Bovada offers casino games, a racebook, and the busiest poker room in America, in addition to a world-class sportsbook. Bovada is also home to some of the juiciest welcome bonuses in the industry, however, they tend to have high rollover requirements. The promo codes at Bovada can enhance the overall experience even further.
3. Offers Opinionated Lines in Ohio: BetOnline
Key Features
- Betting limits are very high
- Customer service and user interface are world-class
BetOnline is another site that appeals to gamblers of all experience levels. Pros will be comfortable with the high limits and will try to take advantage of BetOnlines promo codes, betting odds and their opinionated lines on select sporting events.
Newcomers will find the site easy to use and will browse the large menu of sports betting options available. BetOnline is also known to offer more novelty markets than other competitors so if you are interested in betting on politics, the Oscars, or other mainstream events, you can do so here.
People of all experience levels will appreciate that BetOnline is one of the quickest sites to pay out in Ohio. The customer service, should you need it, is also very professional and responsive to your needs. Their mobile software is one of the best, allowing them to offer an outstanding online casino as well as poker rooms on the go.
4. Great for Live Gambling in OH: Heritage Sports
Key Features
- Live betting interface is best in Ohio
- Cash back rebate program for loyal customers
- Offers reduced juice lines on sporting events
More and more gamblers are participating in live betting on sporting events while they’re in progress, rather than just putting in a bet on the outcome before it starts.
Heritage Sports is a good choice if you plan to do a lot of live betting. It has a user-friendly live-betting interface that makes it easy to find the bets you want to make and get your money down quickly.
That’s important when you’re trying to place a bet as the action is going on. On top of that, users will also be able to access an online casino fully optimized for mobile betting, including games with live dealers.
Heritage Sports also offers several promotions like a rebate program and is known for its quick payouts when you win. They also boast an outstanding customer service team.
5. Best in OH for Reduced Juice: BetAnySports
Key Features
- Reduced juice is the best in Ohio
- Odds on moneylines, props, and futures are generous as well
- Payouts are fast, reliable, and easy
If you’re looking for value, BetAnySports is probably the online gambling site for you. Their reduced juice is more generous than any other site in Ohio.
Instead of offering the standard -110 odds on either side of a point spread or over/under total, BetAnySports offers -105. That means the edge you need to turn a profit shrinks from about 53% for standard juice to about 51.5% at BetAnySports.
It also offers an extremely low house edge on moneyline bets and many other markets, making it still easier to cash in.
In order to provide this value to customers, BetAnySports eliminates some of the frills. Is user interface isn’t as slick as other sites, and welcome bonuses are smaller.
Online Gambling in Ohio: Legal Status
Our readers ask us all the time: Is online gambling legal in Ohio? The short answer is “it depends”. It depends on what you want to bet on, for one thing.
Betting on horse racing has been legal in Ohio since 1933, and there are a number of racing betting sites that operate in the state. The state also passed a law legalizing casino gambling in person in 2009, and four land-based casinos began operating within the state within three years.
Other types of gambling, such as online casino games and online poker, however, are still illegal under state law. This is why players turn to offshore casinos for online slots, table games, poker tournaments, and more.
As for sports gambling, well, that depends too—on what the date is. Currently, the Ohio sports betting law says it’s still illegal. A pivotal piece of sports betting legislation was passed at the end of 2021 legalizing sports betting in the state that went into effect on January 1, 2023.
The state took all of 2022 to prepare for the advent of legal sports gambling by enacting rules and distributing licenses to proprietors. That process is still ongoing, and more than 3,000 companies have applied for the 50 gaming licenses the state plans to give out initially.
Throughout the whole process, betting with offshore sportsbooks, which are not under the jurisdiction of local laws, was still legal for Ohio residents and will continue to remain so.
Online Sports Betting in Ohio
Under the new Ohio sports betting bill, the state will distribute 25 in-person gaming licenses for sports betting—to tracks, casinos, and arenas.
Another 25 mobile licenses will be given out, for online sports betting apps. Each in-person proprietor can partner with up to two mobile providers. Not all the licenses are expected to be distributed in time for the law to go live at the start of 2023, and everyone with a license is not expected to be ready to go on that date.
There will also be sports betting licenses distributed that cover sports betting kiosks, which can be found throughout larger cities like Cincinnati, in bars and restaurants.
Offshore Gambling
As you can tell, there is a crowded scene as horse racing venues, commercial casinos, and professional sports teams line up to try to get in on the sports betting game. Some of the licenses will go to establishing gambling proprietors, but other newcomers to the scene will be learning as they go, and the early days of legal gambling in the state promise to be chaotic.
Until in-state gambling goes live in January, anyone in Ohio wanting to bet on sports will need to rely on offshore sportsbooks, and those sites aren’t going anywhere.
They may want to avoid the madness of everyone starting from square one within the state and stick with the offshore companies, who will be operating business as usual, as they have for years.
Payments at an Online Gambling Site in Ohio
Most online betting sites offer a variety of ways to deposit funds in your gambling account. Payment methods for Ohio residents include
- Credit and debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express)
- Bank transfer, wire transfer, P2P transfer
- Digital wallet providers like Skrill and Neteller
- Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies
Since offshore sportsbooks are located outside U.S. borders, there may be additional fees or charges for sending money overseas, and the process could experience delays as your money crosses national borders.
Many gamblers at offshore sites have turned to cryptocurrency, which is designed to easily and seamlessly cross national borders.
Many of these sites offer another way to get in on the casino game action using crypto options, including Bitcoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and others, many sites offer same-day payouts.
Online Gambling Laws in Ohio
The gambling laws in Ohio are in a period of flux as the state is making its first major change to sanctioned gambling options in nearly 90 years.
The Ohio Casino Control Commission painstakingly laid out the regulatory framework, and now the launch of legal sports betting in the Buckeye State is just a few months away.
It was a long road, though. Since 1933, horse racing was the only legal gambling available to Ohioans. Horse racing tracks have been taking wagers since as early as the 1800s.
Since the beginning of 2023, it has been legal to bet on sports in Ohio. State officials have spent the year preparing for sports gaming to go live, and companies are scrambling to get ready to meet the needs of Ohioans waiting to place bets at in-state companies.
Advantages of Offshore Gambling Sites in Ohio
As long as you’re 18 years old and physically located in Ohio, you can bet online in Ohio using offshore sportsbooks. There are many benefits to using these online betting sites in Ohio, including:
More Gambling Options
Ohio is legalizing one form of betting at a time, and it’s taken them 90 years to get to two—horse racing and sports. Offshore sites give gamblers a wide variety of betting markets. You can bet on just about any game or match of any sport, around the world, from football to darts to rugby to snooker and all other types of sports betting.
You can also bet in a number of ways, including point spreads, moneylines, point totals, prop bets, and live betting for in-progress events. Offshore sites also offer online casino games, online poker rooms, racebooks, entertainment, and political betting as well as esports in addition to the most popular sports.
Less Hassle and More Privacy
You can bet from anywhere, and, with every site in our top 10 offerings some type of app or mobile-optimized site, you can bet from your phone literally anyplace that has service, and you’ll have all the benefits of in-person betting without having to go anywhere.
Our top-rated sites are also completely secure. You can also play in complete privacy. No one will have access to your information.
Online Casino Bonuses Codes & Promo Codes
All the online gambling sites want your business, and they’re willing to pay. Every site offers promotions, bonuses, and other perks to bring you in and keep you betting. Among the bonuses and other promotions you’ll find at online sportsbooks are:
- Welcome bonuses
- Deposit matching
- Reload bonuses
- Free bets & bonus bets
- Risk-free bets
- Rebates and cash back
- Odds boosts, profit boosts, and parlay boosts
- Reduced juice
- Loyalty programs
Ohio Gambling Online – Conclusion
Ohio has in-state providers of online racebooks and soon online sportsbooks will join them. Residents can also use offshore sportsbooks for online gambling—racebook, sportsbook, casino games, and poker. Our top 10 sites in Ohio are the best offshore sites, that have decades of dependable, stable operation.
FAQs — Online Gambling in Ohio: Is it legal?
What is the legal gambling age in Ohio?
Residents of Ohio must be 18 years old to gamble legally in Ohio. For retail casinos and other retail locations where alcoholic beverages are served, you will need to be 21 to enter.
Can I gamble online if I live in Ohio?
Residents of Ohio can gamble online, either by betting at an Ohio gambling provider or an offshore sportsbook. In-state providers only offer horse racing bets and sports betting since the launch of sports betting in January of 2023. Online betting sites have a full range of gambling options.
Can you gamble for real money online in Ohio?
You can gamble for real money online as a resident of Ohio State depending on the gambling market in question. For online sports betting and betting on horse races, you can enjoy this online with state-regulated online sportsbooks. However, for online casino gambling, you will need to use an offshore site to legally gamble.
Is any online gambling legal in Ohio?
Residents of Ohio can bet on horse racing. As of January 1, 2023, they can also enjoy online wagering on sports. Online poker and online casino games with a regulated online casino is currently not available and there do not appear to be any plans to change that in the near term. However, you can use an offshore casino or offshore mobile gambling app to enjoy casino-style gambling.
What site can I gamble on in Ohio?
You can enjoy online wagering with any legal state-regulated sportsbook or offshore sportsbook in Ohio State. Offshore sportsbooks offer more betting markets than regulated sportsbooks, however.
What app can I gamble on in Ohio?
Sports fans and sports bettors can use popular mobile sports betting apps or mobile sportsbook sites like DraftKings Sportsbook, Caesars Sportsbook or FanDuel Sportsbook (in addition to other sportsbook apps) for mobile sports betting or to enjoy Daily Fantasy Sports.
For other markets, such as casino gambling (including dealer games and slot machines), you will need to use offshore sportsbook apps or a mobile-optimized casino site.
