What Mississippi Players Should Know About the Wave of ‘New’ Online Casinos Targeting the State
In the United States, online casino gambling is only currently legally permitted in Connecticut, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey, and Delaware. Additionally, the most recent state to follow suit and legalise online casinos was Rhode Island, when the new law permitting state-licensed sites came into effect in June 2023.
If the proposed House Bill 271 gets introduced and becomes law in Mississippi, it means that online casinos will also be legal here in The Magnolia State.
For the time being, players living here can access legally permitted sweepstakes casinos (aka social casinos or social gaming sites), or they can play at offshore casino sites that are controlled by foreign operators and fall outside of Mississippi jurisdiction.
Since pushing for the laws to change and for there to be an official start date for online casinos to legally operate in the state of Mississippi, an entire wave of offshore online casinos has been targeting players living here. However, not all of these sites can be trusted.
With that said, let’s dive straight in and discover everything that players should know before signing up to an online casino that specifically targets citizens living in Mississippi.
Are online casinos legal in Mississippi?
No. At the time of writing, online casinos are illegal in Mississippi. Although the state has a long history of legally permitted sports betting and land-based casino gaming activities, online casinos remain prohibited.
In fact, officials at the MGC (Mississippi Gaming Commission) have even taken steps recently to counter illegal online gambling activities, which only amounted to issuing cease and desist letters to offshore sites that fall outside of US jurisdiction but ply their trade towards citizens living here.
The aim of this minor crackdown is to reduce fraudulent activities and safeguard the people who sign up to these sites.
At the time of writing, there are no laws that prosecute players for playing on offshore/foreign-controlled online casinos, and many players who want to gamble responsibly at online casinos feel as though they have no choice but to play on these sites.
However, many online casino players and lobbyists remain optimistic that legislation will be introduced over the coming years to allow state-licensed online casinos to start operating here.
Important things players should know about the new wave of casino sites targeting Mississippians
The important thing to remember about the new wave of casino websites targeting Mississippi is that not all of these new online casinos can be trusted. Should a player decide to play on one of these sites, they must always remember the following information:
- The safest offshore casino sites are ones that are fully licensed and regulated by one or more of the iGaming industry’s mid to top-tier gaming commissions, such as the UK Gambling Commission, Malta Gaming Authority, or Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner. Other notable licensing authorities where Mississippi casino sites are licensed are based in Curacao, Kahnawake, Alderney, and the Isle of Man, to name a few
- Fully licensed and regulated online casinos that are controlled by reputable operators running honest day-to-day operations will be free to join, and will accept real cash wagers from anyone in Mississippi aged 21 or above
- People should only join trusted sites with games from well-established, market-leading game development studios and software providers because those proven-performing games will be frequently tested for fairness by one or more independent, third-party online casino software testing agencies, meaning the expected Return to Player (RTP%) payout rates in the games will be considered high or above average (93.00% to 98.00% or higher)
- The bonuses and promotions will typically come with low to medium wagering requirements (30x to 50x), and the terms and conditions/general casino bonus policies won’t be misleading or trick players in any way
- They will provide friendly, responsive, and professionally trained player support agents 24/7 that can easily be reached via live chat, email, and [toll-free] telephone
- Players will be able to access these sites from any modern Wi-Fi/internet-connected PC or mobile device, and the games will load fast/run smoothly in any decent web browser via the main casino website or from within a secure mobile app (usually compatible with iOS and Android devices)
- They will accept a broad range of popular US online payment methods, and players will be able to play in their own local currency of USD ($).
Legally permitted sweepstakes casinos are considered the safest sites, although they are not classed as real money gambling sites, so if anyone wants to gamble real money at an online casino in Mississippi, they should always conduct their own basic background checks to find out if the real money casino they have been considering joining can be trusted.
The quickest and easiest way to find a safe Mississippi online casino is to read the honest, insightful, and unbiased expert reviews on today’s most trusted iGaming review sites. Whether you live in Clinton, Jackson, Southaven, Gulfport, Tupelo, or anywhere else in Mississippi, you should easily be able to find plenty of online casinos to choose from, thanks to the experts.
Final thoughts
The other thing to remember about today’s newest casino sites targeting the Mississippi market is that only the safest ones will actively encourage responsible gambling to safeguard players, so look for ones that have a range of ‘safer gambling’ tools like deposit limits, session time reminders, win/loss limits, and spending caps.
Some online casinos allow players in Mississippi to use Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to access their sites, which hides their device’s true IP address, whereas others use geo-targeting software and VPN detectors to prevent players from using VPNs to access their sites. It’s just a case of finding out which sites allow players to use VPNs and reading the reviews to find a suitable casino.
Until authorities in Mississippi legalise online casinos, players who want to gamble their hard-earned money on real money casino sites will find that they only have access to offshore online casinos, and the golden rule they must always remember is to avoid playing on unlicensed and unregulated platforms at all costs.
