Online Gambling in South Dakota: The Ultimate Guide

Best South Dakota Online Gambling Sites

• Bovada  – Best South Dakota Gambling Site Overall
• DuckyLuck Casino  – Best Online Casino for South Dakotans
• BetUS  – Best SD Sports Betting Site
• Ignition Casino  – Best Poker Site for SD
• TrustDice  – Best South Dakota Cryptocurrency Gambling Site
• Las Atlantis Casino  – Best Bonus Package for South Dakotans
• SlotsandCasino  – Best Casino for Slots Players in SD
• Wild Casino  – Best SD Live Dealer Site

Comparison of Top Sites Serving South Dakota

How We Choose the Best Gambling Sites for South Dakotans

Bonuses

Entertainment

Safety

Transactions

We use our B.E.S.T. grading system on every gambling site we vet for possible inclusion among our recommendations. This involves looking at four key factors: bonuses, entertainment features, safety and security, and transactions. Depending on the range and variety of a site’s gambling options, it can take hours to completely grade even one. Here’s why:

• Bonuses — This is often what first attracts a gambler to an online casino. We take a very close look at the site’s welcome bonus(es), grading on comparative generosity and specific rollover requirements. We carefully read all the terms & conditions people tend to skip over. And we do this for all the other bonuses, as well, be they reload, referral, or otherwise.
• Entertainment Features – Quite a few intangibles go into making a gambling site entertaining, but there are plenty of objective benchmarks we can use to determine whether a gambler is likely to have fun there. Is the user interface intuitive in its design, simple to understand, and complete in its coverage? Do games download quickly, and are streaming games lag-free—and with good audio? And, does the site translate well to the mobile platform?
• Safety and Security – We only promote websites that are safe and secure, which means we make sure the site is using TLS encryption on all of its pages, particularly those involving the exchange of personal or financial data. We read the site’s privacy policy for clarity and completeness and do the same with the site’s terms & conditions. We also check for a valid gambling license, so you can be confident you’re protected when you play.
• Transactions – We ensure the site uses banking-level encryption for all of its transactions. We take particular interest in how efficiently and transparently a site processes withdrawal requests. Lastly, we read the banking terms & conditions and any other documents pertaining to withdrawals, and grade everything according to its legitimacy, fairness, and integrity.

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Is Gambling Legal in South Dakota?

If you’ve been following along, you already know the answer to that question. Of course gambling is legal in South Dakota. However, there are restrictions on where that gambling may and may not take place and of course, what type of gambling is being offered. Strictly speaking, most South Dakota laws pertaining to internet gambling appear to be aimed at the operation of an online establishment within the state’s physical borders.

It would seem that the Mount Rushmore State is a gambler’s paradise. But while poker rooms are legal here, and nearly two dozen commercial and Indian casinos call South Dakota home, the state has some fairly restrictive laws concerning establishing or running an online casino.

In fact, virtually all of the laws regarding internet gambling appear to be aimed at persons working in the gambling industry or attempting to establish an internet casino themselves. Not at the players or gamblers themselves.

For instance, South Dakota Codified Laws Title 22, Chapter 25A -7, declares “…no person engaged in a gambling business may use the internet or an interactive computer service to bet or wager.”

Two other paragraphs ban the establishment of an internet gambling operation inside South Dakota. While seemingly harsh, these laws prohibiting those engaged in the gambling business from placing wagers themselves are quite common, even in gambling state states like Nevada.

While several sections of South Dakota law are clear about what casino operators and employees may and may not do, they are less clear about the activities of private citizens. Naturally, you could read all the pertinent laws and regulations about land-based gambling, online gambling, horse and dog racing, state lottery), or even the laws governing limited card games, slot machines, craps, roulette, and keno—just like we did. And you might be just as bewildered from the experience.

But we’re not attorneys here at GS. If you are concerned about gambling in South Dakota online or off, be sure to consult a local gambling attorney for the latest advice on wagering in the Mount Rushmore State.

Other forms of gambling are legal in South Dakota, as long as they’re practiced in one of the state’s designated gambling venues. These include horse racing, lotteries, and charitable gambling.

Land-Based Gambling Options in South Dakota

While South Dakota offers land-based gambling, there are some restrictions as to where these venues can be. All commercial gambling venues must be located in the city of Deadwood. An exception is made for tribal casinos, which are legally allowed to operate in Native American territories.

Commercial Casinos

Deadwood is home to 22 commercial casinos. All of them offer a range of casino games, and seven also have on-site sports betting facilities. Most can be found on Main Street, which is Deadwood’s central historic street.

Tribal Casinos

South Dakota has a total of 12 tribal casinos that are located throughout the state. Though the law doesn’t require tribal casinos to be in Deadwood, it does require them to follow the same rules that commercial casinos have to follow. The main rule tribal casinos have to stick to is not letting people place bets greater than $1,000.

Poker Rooms

In South Dakota, poker rooms can be found in some of the commercial and tribal casinos. They vary in how many rooms they have, when the rooms are open, and what they have to offer. Some of them have regular tournaments that take place on certain days of the week.

Horse Racing

People living in South Dakota are able to watch and place wagers on horse races at a single venue: Stanley County Fairgrounds in Pierre, South Dakota. The track hosts seasonal quarter horse races. There is also limited off-track betting available at the Triple Crown Casino in Sioux City.

Lottery

The South Dakota Lottery was voted for by legislators in 1986. Nowadays, South Dakotans can take part in not just the state’s own lottery, but also lotteries from other states and regional ones. There are more than 600 retailers throughout the Mount Rushmore State where lottery tickets can be bought.

Unlike many others, the South Dakota Lottery is entirely self-funded; it receives no tax dollars. According to the lottery’s official website, 95% of every dollar spent on the lottery goes directly to improvements in the state. For instance, more than half of the revenue goes to South Dakota’s education fund to improve K-12 public schooling. The state’s network of roads also benefits from lottery revenue.

Bingo

South Dakota Gambling History/Timeline

Future of Gambling in South Dakota

In recent years, many states have formally legalized different types of online gambling—and South Dakota is no exception. But the state has moved very slowly, making only minor changes to gambling laws—and then only to focus on the operators of gambling enterprises rather than on the private citizens who might patronize them.

The most recent attempt at widening access to gambling services in the Coyote State came in November 2021, with a ballot that proposed legalizing mobile sports betting throughout the state. While it was approved by the Senate in early 2022, it failed to gain enough support from the House Committee. It’s almost certain that South Dakota won’t make any significant changes to the state’s gambling laws in the near future.

Gambling Responsibly

Responsible gambling involves not spending too much money and knowing when to stop. A recent study ranked South Dakota as the second most gambling-addicted state in the US. Estimates say that anywhere from 0.4% to 2% of the adult population of South Dakota could be victims of problem gambling.

Thankfully, there are organizations that are committed to both preventing and tackling gambling-related problems. Below are the two main responsible gambling resources available in South Dakota:

• South Dakota Council on Problem Gambling
• South Dakota Department of Social Services

Legal Sources

1. https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/22-25A
2. https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/22-25A-8
3. https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/22-25
4. https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/42-7A
5. https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/22961
6. https://ballotpedia.org/South_Dakota_Gambling_in_Deadwood,_Amendment_B_(1988)
7. https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/22-25A-7
8. https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/22-25A-9
9. https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/42-7
10. https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/42-7B
11. https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/21865/219764

Start Playing at South Dakota Online Gambling Sites

Gamblers in South Dakota have a variety of online casino and sportsbook options to enjoy. If you’re looking for a great all-in-one site, Bovada provides over 450 unique casino games, a fully-featured sportsbook with a live betting platform, and a popular poker room.

Casino lovers will find a lot to like at DuckyLuck Casino, with over 500 games available to play, including a live dealer section, and a welcome bonus of 250% up to $7500. Sports bettors will want to check out BetUS, which features multiple types of wagers across almost 30 categories of sports, entertainment, and political betting.

J.W. Paine

J.W. Paine is one of the most experienced writers at GamblingSites.com. He’s written for television and the printed media, and is a published novelist (as Tom Elliott).

Paine loves writing about Las Vegas nearly as much he loves living here. An experienced gambler, he’s especially familiar with thoroughbred horseracing, poker, blackjack, and slots.

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