We have over 28,000 FREE games. Start here.
Written by: Filip Gromovic Reviewed by: Nashon Khamala
Online gambling for money in Maryland is allowed for lotteries, horse racing, sports betting and daily fantasy sports. Residents cannot partake in online casino gaming for an obvious reason — legislative efforts made to that end have been abortive.
In this article, we discuss some of the efforts made to legalize the process and what you can do for now pending when it’s done.
Casino promotions updated: 05/13/2025
The current status in the state is restrictions on online casino gaming. Due to the inability of the proposed bills to that end to go through hearings, this process has been stalled. Though legislative review might be considered in the future, the fate of online casino gambling in Maryland hangs in the balance.
Sports betting is permitted and available across a wide range of licensed sportsbooks, including online platforms. This form of online gambling became active in November 2020. It requires residents who are up to twenty-one (21) years of age to use licensed sites like BetMGM and FanDuel to bet on their favorite sports.
The lottery is another form of legalized online gambling in Maryland. Under the laws, only people up to the age of eighteen (18) will be allowed to buy subscriptions for lottery games.
Residents can also engage in daily fantasy sports, which is open to those up to the age of 18. It requires using platforms like DraftKings to create virtual sports teams and favorably gamble based on the individual performances of players.
Horse racing is the third legal form of online gambling. Only residents from the age of 18 are allowed to engage in it. It also requires using the shortlisted online platforms.
The one chance you have to engage in casino online gambling in Maryland is on platforms that offer sweepstakes. The law permits residents to use those and social casinos instead of offshore platforms offering casino games.
Online casinos offering real money gameplay are not yet legal in the state of Maryland. This is just as the state is making legislation to enact laws that allow that going forward. While that’s in the works, Maryland might become the next state in the U.S. to open up its doors for operators to come in legally.
Several efforts have been made in times past and more are being made to legalize online gambling sites MD. The House Ways and Means Racing and Gaming Subcommittee amended the bill proposing that voters should be allowed to cast their votes on whether the legalization of online casino gaming in the state should be done or not.
Things looked up a year later, when in March 2024, the House of Representatives assented to it. That bill wouldn’t see the light of day, sadly, as it didn’t appear in the House budget.
The legalization of online sports betting in 2022 prompted what happened the year after — the introduction of House Bill 1319 aiming to legalize online casino gaming. It was titled «Internet Gaming — Authorization and Implementation.» It aimed to legalize online casinos by empowering the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission Agency (MLCGA) to oversee these operations. It also proposed a revenue formula, which required those with licenses to retain 45% of the proceeds from other forms of online gambling and 80% from live dealer online casino Maryland games.
This would be the follow up, three months, when Senator Ron Watson re-filled the House Bill 1319 as Senate Bill 340. It aimed to legalize and license the operations of online casinos in the state. Just like the House Bill 1319, it didn’t pass.
When it seemed like all efforts were in vain, a new proposal hit the floor and restored hope. It marked the reintroduction of the House Bill 1319, this time, as House Bill 17 by the original sponsor, Delegate Vanessa Atterbeary. The filing in January 2025 aimed to legalize online casinos with the same provisions outlined in the former bill. This renewed attempt is expected to advance the cause for legal iGaming activities in the state.
The best online casino Maryland abides by the prevailing laws. They operate online sports betting and support horse race wagers. This section discusses some of the options open to residents.
Lotteries are now legal in the state and available on licensed sites. The Maryland Lottery is the official agency regulating this and wagering programs in the state. Residents and visitors looking to engage in this must purchase the tickets online. You may also want to go for the subscription options.
These are the legal forms of online gambling in Maryland in 2025. They allow you to play casino-style games with virtual currencies. You will purchase gold coins for this purpose, rather than making real money deposits.
They operate differently from traditional online casinos, in the sense that they offer cash prizes in the place of real money wagering. Using a sweepstakes model, they use a dual currency system that includes sweep coins, which are given as a bonus and gold coins, used mainly for playing the games.
On these online gambling sites MD, you don’t bet with real money as you would have on traditional casinos. Instead, the offer is to use virtual currencies (the gold coins) for gameplay and the sweep coins (or the equivalent) given out as real cash prizes.
We now present you with some of the Maryland online casinos that operate on the social and sweepstakes model.
Legendz is an online social casino also offering live dealer games for players, including those from the state of Maryland. Game categories include Vegas Hits, L Originals, slots and Hold & Win.
You’ll be featured in games like Tasty Bonanza, Tree of Light: Fabled Fruits, Pyro Poker and Bandit Megaways, thrilling to get you started on the path of sweepstakes gaming.
The fascinating thing is the integration of software from some of the leading suppliers. Companies like Booming, Evoplay, Pragmatic Play and Novomatic have their games on this online casino Maryland.
Bonuses include Welcome pack. This is offered to those who just made an account on the site. 500 gold coins and 3 sweep coins are up for grabs to players who fund their account within an hour of signing up. You will also qualify for 50% extra coins.
And do not forget about Daily Races. This offer is exclusive to the Legendz Daily Races. To contest, the following criteria must be met:
In turn, Legendz casino rewards with daily prizes.
The casino is Maryland residents’ favorite because it offers early payouts, a trait that’s not so common. It also allows you fair gameplay, with an improved Return to Player (RTP) mechanism that pays out most of the winnings on slot games.
Maryland residents have been restricted from using Bovada, because it’s one of the states where this provider limited the services. Four other states were also not accepted. They are:
Despite not being legal as an online casino Maryland, there’s a way to go about using the site. The site offers a selection of slots, which you can play as a game of skill.
Popular titles include:
Bovada also offers a host of casino games, cutting across table games with categories like craps, blackjack, roulette. Other types of table games supported are poker-based titles:
Legendz is an online social casino also offering live dealer games for Looking for all the games and online slots Maryland has available? Head over to the Red Stag casino, which describes itself as «the people’s choice casino.»
It utilizes the WGS software to provide the following categories of casino games:
Red Stag casino also has a flexible banking method, which provides for credit and debit cards, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Litecoin and electronic wallets like Payz, Neosurf and AstroPay.
Promotional offers at this online casino Maryland include $2,500 and up to 500 free spins for the first set of deposits. For players using cryptocurrencies, a 400% bonus applies, while a 25% cashback is offered to help you recover some losses and play with house money.
Funrize is a social casino that offers 100% free games to Maryland residents who sign up with it. It’s a Wyoming, USA registered casino by A1 Development LLC, the parent company. The website is the best for bonuses, with an awesome bonus of 75,000 free coins to play games for free.
The game section on online casino Maryland features some out of the ordinary. Rather than the conventional slot machines and table games, you’re presented with the following:
Ducky Luck is where you get more than just a variety of games and bonuses but also the biggest winning opportunities. It’s known for the prize pools, which are offered in jackpots. Ideally, the pool offers up to $500,000.
Popular jackpot online slots Maryland are:
A choice offering of other casino games includes live dealers, casuals and video pokers. Table games and virtual slots are also available.
For banking, deposits are processed with cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Tether USDT, Litecoin), American Express (AMEX), Interac e-Transfer and the MasterCard and VISA cards. Withdrawals or payouts are processed with paper check, wire transfer and Bitcoin. The timeframe ranges between two and five business days.
Your journey into gambling in the state of Maryland would be on the right footing if the necessary steps are taken. Here, we talk about some of the things to do.
The laws permit online gambling only for sports betting, daily fantasy sports, horse races and lotteries. If online gambling in Maryland is the expectation, then those are the ones to choose from.
However, if interested in casinos, it must be at any of the land-based locations regulated by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission Agency. One can also participate in casino-style games offered at sweepstakes and social casinos. We have covered the top five above.
Create an account with your full name, preferred username and password, telephone number and specify whether you’re up to the age of eighteen in the case of lotteries and twenty-one for casinos. Remember that this applies to online gambling sites MD.
The process to start at land-based locations differs. Walk into any of those and be guided on what it takes to play and wager on casino games.
The game of gambling requires money. Bankroll is required both at land-based and online casinos, only that the latter requires the purchase of Gold Coins (GC) rather than depositing real money.
A good number of the online slots Maryland casinos allow you to play for fun. The demo option is a mirror for understanding the gameplay dynamics. Only after that can you be confident to put down money to gamble for real winnings.
For social and sweepstakes casinos, the pay outs are processed as real cash prizes. These may also be converted to more GC to play more games.
That’s basically it. Playing at Maryland casinos is a combination of determining the best option, creating an account on the site or becoming a customer, putting funds down to play, winning and repeating the process.
Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission Agency, the regulatory agency in-charge of casinos and sports’ wagering activities in the state, has stipulated the types of accepted games. These are offered across the six (6) licensed online gambling sites MD scattered in different locations in the state.
The first are table games, which can be accessed at most of the licensed casinos. You’ll also find variants like Three Card Poker and Let It Ride, as well as classics like blackjack and craps.
Live dealer games, which became popular in recent years, are available at land-based casinos. They help players adjust their bets in time. Roulette, blackjack and baccarat are some of the types available.
Classic online slots Maryland like Buffalo Gold and Wheel of Fortune are also available. Players also get to enjoy progressive jackpots and a host of other categories, including classic reels.
In addition to those classics, the Maryland Lottery and Gambling also regulates the activities of other ancillary game activities.
Maryland saw the need to allow for casino regulation some seventeen (17) years ago, when in 2008, the decision of voters in the state led to the ratification of a constitutional amendment that led to the introduction of slot machines.
The ratification also provided for the licensing and regulation of online slots Maryland in these five locations:
Worth mentioning is that the opening of these online gambling sites MD in the aforementioned locations took a period of four (4) years. The first to open was Hollywood Casino Perryville, located in Cecil County. It opened in 2010, on September 17.
It’d be followed closely by the opening of Ocean Downs Casino in January 2011. The last to open based on that provision was the Horseshoe Casino, Baltimore, located in Baltimore City.
Four years later, after the constitutional amendment, the voters also voted for the approval of the expansion of casino gaming. This also requested the following to be in place:
Following the approval, the sixth not online casino Maryland, MGM National Harbor, was approved and located in Oxon Hill in Prince George’s County.
This brought the total number of licensed land-based casinos in Maryland to six (6). These were selected and given locations to operate by the Video Lottery Facility Location Commission.
The table below shows the land-based casinos operating in Maryland and what they offer to residents:
| Name of Casino | Location | Casino Games Offered |
| Rocky Gap Casino | Flintstone, Allegany County | Slot machines, table games and lottery games. It also offers casino credits, which are a line of credit that allows you to gain access to funding for faster gaming activities. |
| Horseshoe Baltimore Casino | 1525 Russell Street Baltimore | This is a 122,00 square foot gaming floor offering 97 table games and 56 electronic table games. It also has over 1,600 slot machines. |
| MGM National Harbor | 101 MGM National Avenue, Oxon Hill | This is the last land-based casino launched in the state. It features poker rooms housing 50 tables. The slot machine offerings include over 2,200 games, including classics like video poker and reels, as well as varieties of many in-demand slot games. Game titles include Ultimate Fire Link Explosion and Phoenix Link. |
| Live! Casino Hotel | 7002 Arundel Mills, Circle #7777, Hanover, Maryland | Home to slots, table games and poker. It’s home to over 2,000 slot machines and 200 table games. |
| Ocean Downs Casino | 10218 Racetrack Road, Berlin, Maryland | Home to 18 table games and over 800 slot machines. This 70,000 square foot casino also plans to introduce electronic tables that offer multiple variants of blackjack, roulette and poker games. |
| Hollywood Casino Perryville | 1201 Chesapeake Overlook Pkwy, Perryville | This is the first physical casino to open in Maryland. It offers poker and table games, as well as over 500 reel and video slots. |
The state hasn’t legalized online casino gambling and as such, residents are dissuaded from engaging in such activities. Consequently, legislative efforts to this end haven’t brought forth any meaningful resolutions, especially given that the crossover deadline set for these laws has been exceeded.
All eyes are on the 2026 legislative session, when the laws are expected to hit the floor again for debates. Also, the current options boil down to daily fantasy sports, online sports betting and horse race betting.
In a rather counter-active move, legislation has been proposed to halt the chances of online casino gaming in the state. One critical one is the House Bill 1418, which was heard in February 2025. It, among many other things, clarified the stance that online gambling is illegal and only open to operators that have been authorized to operate sports betting alone.
Furthermore, the legalization of online casino Maryland gaming is subject to the following:
Pending when all these are done, prevailing gaming laws in the state prohibit online casino gambling.
Offshore sites allow residents to bet on casino games over the internet. These platforms are usually regulated and registered in other locations, other than Maryland. A couple of them tap into the «legal» framework provided by sweepstakes and social online gambling sites MD to operate.
This section clarifies the differences between the two:
Due to the non-legal status, online casinos are not allowed to operate in Maryland. This is also one reason for the limited number of games available. Residents are limited to a few selections of sports betting and horse racing markets.
Nothing beats playing on online gambling sites MD. However, residents have to make do with the casino-style games offered at social casinos and sweepstakes.
Generally, legal or licensed operators stand a better competing chance when compared to offshore sites. They have the license and architecture to offer games.
This is better off when compared to offshore sites that raise concerns about their security systems, specifically about the payment methods and the overall personal information of users at their disposal.
The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission Agency has had to issue cease-and-desist letters to online gaming platform operators in the state. This came on the heels of concerns on the non-licensing and illegality of their activities.
Affected online gambling sites MD include Fortune Coins, Bet US, Rebet, Everygame, Zula and McLuck. Others are Golden Hearts, BetAnySports and Kalshi. They have been asked to verify their genuine operations.
The state has developed some frameworks to protect the residents who are on the point of tipping due to excessive concentration on online gambling. The following measures have been put in place:
The MARG is a brainchild of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission Agency. It’s constituted to address the growing gambling-related problems in the state.
The MLCGA developed this plan as a framework for aiding residents with gambling problems on online gambling sites MD, by way of educating them on how to be responsible while at it.
The VEP is a player-centric program that requires residents who, after self-assessment, think they’re at risk of gambling addiction to stop for a while. It launched in 2011.
Given the clampdown on some operators, the future of online gambling sites MD looked bleak. The introduction of Senate Bill 860 seeking to prohibit online sweepstakes from operating made it bleaker.
Going forward, there’s a need for legislation to reintroduce the topic into the General Assembly, especially now that some other states are considering the option.
Also, the future of online gambling sites MD depends on whether the assembly will put the question on the ballot. That way, residents get to have a referendum on whether or not it should be considered.
Filip Gromovic is a senior slots reviewer here at FreeSlots99 with over five years of experience evaluating the latest drops in the world of iGaming.
Being a slot fan himself, Filip approaches slot ratings just the way we like it – professionally, but also from a player’s standpoint.
That enables him to give his unbiased take on the slot’s features, gameplay and design, while only recommending top-tier releases to our readers.
More info on Filip Gromovic
Having served FreeSlots99 for more than 5 years as a senior content editor and reviewer, Nashon Khamala has extensive knowledge in game slots and iGaming.
His membership in the Editorial Freelancers Association helps him deliver content that reaches both editorial excellence standards and an engaging information level.
By using his expertise in slots games combined with player-focused analysis, Nashon delivers a professional evaluation of slot features and player experiences in his reviews.
More info on Nashon Khamala
