North Carolina Casinos and Gambling

Short Summary: This page looks at the different forms of gambling in the State of North Carolina, discusses the legality of online gambling and gives a detailed listing of all of the Commercial and Tribal casinos in the state.

North Carolina is easily one of the most conservative states when it comes to their gambling offerings, which is perhaps surprising considering their size and other tourist attractions. It would seem that the legalization of commercial casinos in the state, and locating some of the same near the state’s beaches, would allow it to compete with Florida and Atlantic City in that regard, but they don’t seem to care too much about it.

The state does have Tribal Casinos, specifically, two of them and both are owned by the Cherokee Nation and branded as Harrah’s properties.

Aside from that, the only legalized and regulated forms of gambling are charitable gambling as well as the lottery. In terms of charitable gambling, such activity is restricted pretty exclusively to bingos and raffles. The non-profit organizations pay an annual application fee of $200 that, if approved, will allow them to conduct no more than two gambling events per week spaced at least 48 hours apart and to consist of, “Sessions,” of no more than five hours.

Elsewhere in the part of the state east of I-26, just last year a bill was passed.

Which would allow charitable enterprises to conduct casino-style gaming nights. The reason that this passage only applies to some of the state is because to authorize it elsewhere would conflict with the Tribal Casino compact with the Cherokee. In addition to allowing for the casino-style games, unlike bingo and raffles, alcohol may also be served at these events.

The other legalized form of gambling, the North Carolina State Lottery, is performing pretty well according to their recent Annual Report.

The North Carolina Education Lottery (the official name of the state department) participates in the national Mega Millions and PowerBall lotteries, the two largest multi-state lotteries in the country. However, we see from the chart on Page 11 that Instant Ticket sales absolutely dominate the revenues for the state.

In thousands, the North Carolina lottery pulled in $2,859,624 in total sales against $1,845,287 in total payouts. That represents a total return to player of roughly 64.53%, which is certainly driven in large part by the fact that such a high percentage of sales are the better returning instant tickets. The total annual lottery loss, per resident (based on a population of 10.2M) comes out to just shy of $100 each.

If we go to Page 24 of the pdf, then we can see that the prizes were distributed as follows, again in thousands:

• Instant: 1,348,383
• Drawing: 480,698
• Game revenues (previous page) were as follows:
• Instant: 1,908,862
• Drawing: 950,762

From this we can conclude that instant tickets had a return-to-player of 70.64% whereas drawing tickets had a return to player of 50.56%. As we see, the overall return to player of 64.53% is driven by the fact that Instant Ticket sales eclipsed Drawing Ticket revenues by more than a 2:1 basis. All things considered, a 70.64% return on instant tickets is probably slightly better than average when it comes to Instant Tickets whereas 50.56% on drawing is probably about average.

The state is also somewhat aided by a total of over 30M dollars in unclaimed prizes for 2019, of which slightly over 20M dollars is in instant tickets.

When it comes to Tribal Gaming laws, the Cherokee may have managed to get the most favorable compact in all of recorded history from the State of North Carolina. The Cherokee are authorized to operate Class III machine gaming (same as Vegas), live table games and sports betting with a compact that grants them exclusivity until the year 2042.

The only thing that the Cherokee have to pay to the State of North Carolina is a small percentage of table game revenues (on a graduating scale) until the compact finally expires or is replaced by a different compact. That said, the Cherokee should have NO REASON WHATSOEVER to ever want to change the compact. The fee for 2020, for example, is only 5% of table game revenues, which is significantly less than most states take in taxes from their commercial casinos.

The compact, as we alluded to earlier, also grants gaming exclusivity to the Cherokee, which is precisely the reason why the charitable gambling, “Vegas nights,” could only be authorized in that part of the state east of I-26. If they were permitted in the area of the state that is considered exclusive to the Cherokee, then the Cherokee would no longer be required to give the state a percentage of table game revenues.

The remaining terms of the compact regulate the manner in which the Cherokee are authorized to conduct gambling activity and read pretty similarly to the general provisions of state laws for those states that have regulated Commercial Casinos.

When it comes to online casino gambling, no legalized and regulated form of any such exists and we do not expect that to happen anytime soon for a few reasons:

1. Offering casino-style gambling on the side of the state within the Cherokee’s exclusivity zone would violate the Tribal Compact.
2. North Carolina tends to be extremely conservative on gambling, in general. In fact, they probably were more than happy to grant the Cherokee the exclusivity because it moots any real question of gambling expansion and restricts the area where casinos may be maintained.
3. The Cherokee would likely not be allowed to offer it because many of the users would be outside of their exclusivity zone.

Theoretically, North Carolina could legalize and regulate other forms of gambling outside of the exclusivity zone of the Cherokee, but that doesn’t seem particularly likely.

North Carolina is also one of the few states to proscribe actual penalties for those who engage in unlawful gambling, which is defined as, “Any game of chance,” not specifically regulated by the state. The law reads as follows:

§ 14-292. Gambling.
Except as provided in Chapter 18C of the General Statutes or in Part 2 of this Article, any person or organization that operates any game of chance or any person who plays at or bets on any game of chance at which any money, property or other thing of value is bet, whether the same be in stake or not, shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. This section shall not apply to a person who plays at or bets on any lottery game being lawfully conducted in any state.

In other words, gambling is a Class II Misdemeanor for both the operator of the game and the player of the game. From a practical standpoint, online casinos located outside of the United States would be out of the jurisdictional reach of North Carolina, and further, we can find no evidence of the state ever going after players for the mere act of playing at online casinos from their own home. There have been arrests related to illegal gambling in the state before, but those have all amounted to illegal sports betting operations, illegal poker games and illegal gambling parlors guised as, “Internet Cafes.”

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Online Gambling In North Carolina

UPDATE Jan 2024: According to the Charlotte Observer, regulated online sports betting was finally signed into law during the middle part of 2023.  The law allows for as many as twelve mobile sportsbooks to be licensed with the first expected to go live in January of 2024.  The state hasn’t made any room for online casino-style gambling yet, and we suspect it will be a few years before they do, if ever. 

Update: Since the time we wrote this page originally, the State of North Carolina has authorized the Cherokee Tribe to conduct retail sports betting, but that applies only to physical casino locations. Naturally, that gives the Cherokee a monopoly on sports betting, but they already had a monopoly on casino style gambling for several years, so that’s not unusual.

According to the Charlotte Observer, a bill that would have legalized online sports betting, which would introduce a bevy of operators who would all be licensed directly by the state, came close to passing in 2022, but ultimately would go on to fail by the slimmest of margins. Quoting, in part:

North Carolina will miss out on mobile sports betting this year after the House voted 51-50 against the measure as it appears unlikely the legislature will visit in any of its handful of one-day sessions slated between now and the end of 2022.

The bill had actually passed the Senate fairly safely, with SB 688 being sent over to the House by a margin of 26-19, so we would imagine that it is only a matter of time before such a bill eventually clears the House, at that point, it will be up to the Governor to sign it.

Of course, that means the earliest that online sports betting will be available in the state is most likely going to be late 2023.

Of course, that bill pertained only to sports betting and had nothing to do with legalized poker or casino-style games. It is also worth mentioning that the State of North Carolina has no Commercial Casinos, either, so we would expect it to be several years, if ever, for the state to authorize online casinos or poker.

Until then, there are a number of offshore sites available to North Carolina residents, so please check out our top recommendations above!

As discussed above, there are no legalized and regulated forms of online casino gambling in the State of North Carolina. While penalties for any such conduct can theoretically apply to players and operators alike, we have found no indication that anyone has ever been arrested for the mere act of playing at an online casino.

Land Casinos In North Carolina

Presently, there are only two land casinos in the entire State of North Carolina, both of which are owned by the Cherokee and are branded as Harrah’s casinos. According to the compact, there are essentially no restrictions on the Cherokee opening additional casinos provided that they are operated within the Tribal exclusivity zone.

Harrah’s Cherokee Casino

The Harrah’s Cherokee Casino is located in an area, appropriately enough, known as Cherokee, North Carolina. Given the compact with the state, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino is authorized to operate Class III gambling devices, which essentially means machines of the same type that would be found in Vegas. Unlike some other tribal compacts, Harrah’s is not restricted to Class II electronic games, which would essentially amount to electronic bingo.

In addition, the Cherokee are permitted to operate table games as well as sports betting, raffles, live keno, live bingo and poker.

Harrah’s Cherokee is a huge property comparable to what can be found in Vegas. The hotel tower features 1,108 combined guest rooms and suites and consists of 21 stories. The property features a fitness room that operates 24/7 as well as an indoor pool and seasonal outdoor pool. Credit where it’s due, as of the time of this writing, the property does not charge a resort fee. Additional amenities include a business center and wireless internet access for all guests.

Another interesting perk that the casino offers is $20 free play (on multi-night stays) on each day that the guest opts out of stayover housekeeping. If you’re like me and you don’t want stayover service anyway, this is an excellent deal.

The slots floor features over 3,000 combined slots, video poker and video keno games with denominations ranging all the way from pennies to $500/credit. It’s not working at the time of this writing, but their website states that a, “Slot finder,” component is currently being developed so that players can look for their slot machine of choice searching either by game type or by denomination.

The table games area of the casino houses over 100 table games including Baccarat, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Let it Ride, Three-Card Poker as well as others. There are almost certainly other types of table games available, but for whatever reason, their website does not appear to list them.

According to their website, a sports book known simply as, “The Book,” is going to be coming soon pending the completion of some regulatory-type stuff. As mentioned before, the compact with North Carolina already allows for it as such activity is to be considered Class III gaming.

Harrah’s Cherokee also features a twenty table poker room as well as regularly scheduled poker tournaments and promotions. They do not provide a list of the games they deal on the website, however, they are listed on the Bravo Poker Live site or app, so people can check there to see what games are in progress at any given time. Also, people who are going to be visiting can follow the site or app to know what games they can probably expect when they arrive.

As one would expect of a property of this magnitude, there are several eateries available. Casual dining options include Pizzeria Uno Express, Noodle Bar, Lobby Cafe, Johnny Rockets (burger place), Selu Garden Cafe (American Southern-Style food), Earl of Sandwich and a sports bar called Sound Bytes. The only upscale restaurant (surprisingly) in the casino is the well-known Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. The property’s buffet is called the Chef’s Stage Buffet and there is also a Dunkin’ Donuts location on the property.

Other entertainment options include an arcade, bowling alley, live music and karaoke on certain nights and a nearby golf course.

The property certainly qualifies as a resort property, but if you’ve ever been to any of the major gambling meccas of the United States, it won’t be anything that you’ve never seen before. If you’re in the Carolinas, or maybe even certain parts of other states, this might be the best option closest to you. That’s not to say that it’s not a good property to visit, despite the monopoly in the state, they do seem to offer some good values here and there…just that it’s not going to be anything that will knock your socks off compared to other casino resorts.

Harrah’s Cherokee River Valley Casino and Hotel

The other casino in the state is also owned by the Cherokee and operated by Caesars Entertainment and is called the Harrah’s Cherokee River Valley Casino and Hotel…what a mouthful! This casino hotel is located in Murphy, North Carolina, and is considerably smaller in scope than its Harrah’s Cherokee property.

The seven-story hotel features a combined 300 guestrooms and suites. The only meaningful amenity is wireless internet access for all guests, but it costs $11.77 for two devices, which is fair enough, as the property does not currently charge a resort fee anyway. Staying at the hotel also provides complimentary valet parking. Granted, it seems pretty silly to charge for wireless internet when your run-of-the-mill Super 8 offers it for free, but what can you do?

The gaming floor consists of 60,000 square feet of gaming space and contains about 1,000 combined slot, video poker and video keno machines. Denominations available range from pennies to $100 per credit. High-Limit video poker players may be disappointed in that the highest denomination listed is $5.

While the casino does not presently offer live poker, there is a table games area that consists of Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Three Card Poker and Mississippi Stud. There may also be other games, but if there are, the website does not choose to list them so we recommend calling for additional information.

In terms of free play promotions, this casino essentially mirrors its Harrah’s Cherokee counterpart. Also similarly, they state that they will have a sports book coming soon that will also be known simply as, “The Book.”

There is no fine dining at this property, however, there are six different eateries. Casual eateries include The Landing Cafe (American), Panda Express and Earl of Sandwich. Quick bites locations include Starbucks, Moe’s Southwest Grill and Nathan’s Famous hot dogs.

Other forms of entertainment include the UltraStar Entertainment Center, which is basically an arcade and bowling.

Essentially, this property amounts to a watered down version of Harrah’s Cherokee for local customers and those looking for a more economical experience. If you’re travelling through the state, we will give credit that the hotel rates seem pretty similar to what you would pay anywhere else and there’s plenty to do on the property that you should be able to kill a weekend.

Slot Machine Ownership

Slot machines at least 25 years of age or older may be purchased and owned by individuals in the state of North Carolina. However, individuals are not allowed to operate slot machines for profit, even at home.

Conclusion And Prognosis

As if by design, the Tribal Compact that the State of North Carolina has with the Cherokee seems to restrict what both parties could ever do. Even if the state were inclined to have commercial gaming, they would be pretty restricted in terms of the area in which they could allow such activity. While the area East of I-26 represents the better part of the state, North Carolina has shown little to no interest in developing other forms of commercial gambling.

This is evidenced by horse racing in the state, while live horse racing is sometimes conducted, it is illegal to wager on the outcomes. For that reason, North Carolina doesn’t have any tracks that it would be meaningful to list…as they have nothing to do with gambling.

It seems that the state is perfectly happy to just sit back and take its small cut of the gambling revenues earned by the Cherokee. The way the Tribal compact is worded, it also seems like it would be extremely difficult for either party (Cherokee or the state) to even offer online gambling if it wanted to.

Also, the compact runs through the year 2042, so any change that might come will be quite some time from now.

References