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Unlike expensive casinos along the Las Vegas Strip, real money online casinos give players the opportunity to wager much smaller amounts. Because online casinos don’t have overhead to cover in terms of dealer pay and floor space, they let you gamble at a level that’s comfortable for you while offering lucrative online casino bonuses that can make even high-limit slots and tables affordable.
However, just because you can play slots for $0.20 a spin or place $0.10 bets at roulette, that doesn’t mean you can deposit in pennies. Every online casino has a minimum deposit amount. In general, minimum deposits range from $5 to $10.
The state you’re are located in has no legal real-money casinos: But that’s okay! You can play casino-like games at the social and sweepstakes casinos below with low purchase minimums. Players can use Sweep Coins to redeem for cash prizes and more. The best part? You can use our links to play for free:
Minimum Deposits at Real Money Online Casinos
Assuming you’re in a state with legal online gambling – NJ, PA, MI, WV, DE, or CT – the table above makes it easy to find the casino that’s right for your budget. We’ll also help you figure out how to get the most bang for your buck after making your minimum deposit. If you’re not in one of those states, check out our Sweepstakes Casinos page instead, where we’ll show you how you can have a chance to win cash prizes legally, almost everywhere in the US, and with no purchase necessary.
You can also check out our no deposit casinos page for a list of casino offers that don’t require any money down at all.
Which Casino Has the Smallest Minimum Deposit?
The lowest you’ll find in the US-regulated market today is a $5 minimum deposit. At the moment, there’s only one online casino offering that, which is DraftKings Casino.
DraftKings Casino is, of course, a leading daily fantasy sports and sports betting brand. It’s also becoming a popular option for online casino games, however. It makes a lot of those games in-house, including an array of sports-themed blackjack and roulette titles.
If you’ve never been a DraftKings user before (for any product including DFS, in any state), you’ll get $35 bonus just for signing up. Players then have the choice to make the minimum $5 deposit for a $100 bonus with 1x playthrough requirement OR claim the 100% deposit-match bonus for up to $2,000 with 15x playthrough.
Although DraftKings is currently your only option at a $5 price point, there are a much larger number of brands offering $10 minimum deposits. These include some larger national operators like BetMGM and Caesars. Here’s a list of some of the most popular online casinos with $5 and $10 minimum deposits.
| Deposit Method | Minimum Deposit | How long for funds to appear in my account? |
|---|---|---|
| Visa Debit/Credit Card | $10 | Generally Instant |
| Mastercard Debit/Credit Card | $10 | Generally Instant |
| American Express Debit/Credit Card | $20 | Generally Instant |
| Discover Debit/Credit Card | $10 | Generally Instant |
| ACH/eCheck | $10 | Up to 48 hours |
| PayPal | $10 | Generally Instant |
| Play+ Prepaid Card | $10 | Generally Instant |
| Skrill | $10 | Generally Instant |
| Ojibwa Casino Cashier Cage | $10 | Cash - Instant |
| PayNearMe with 7-Eleven | $10 | Cash - Instant |
Depending on which state you’re in, you may have access to a number of smaller brands that also offer small minimum deposits. Read on for the state-by-state breakdown.
Welcome Bonuses For Minimum Deposit Casinos
Most US online casinos feature a welcome bonus for first-time players. Sometimes online casino bonus codes trigger a no-deposit bonus, but other times it requires a first deposit. Some casinos actually offer you both.
This gets tricky when you’re hunting for a minimum-deposit casino, however. The problem is that the most popular form of welcome bonus is a first deposit match. In other words, whatever amount you choose for your first deposit, the site will match with an equal amount of bonus credit, up to a certain maximum.
Naturally, you can’t simultaneously maximize your first deposit offer while also taking advantage of the smallest minimum deposits. It’s got to be one or the other.
What you can do, however, is look for casinos with a small minimum deposit and a welcome offer that isn’t tied to deposit size. Usually, that means looking for those coveted no-deposit offers, but you can sometimes also find first-deposit bonuses that are a flat amount, not a match.
To help you out, in our lists below, we’ll list both the minimum deposit and any no-deposit or non-matching first deposit bonuses for our recommended casinos.
NJ Minimum Online Casino Deposits
There are far more online casinos in New Jersey than in any other state. The theoretical maximum is 45 brands, and there are already around 30 to choose from.
Naturally, this means that Garden State residents have access to all the lowest minimum deposits out there. There are lots of online casino options in NJ where you can start playing for just $5 or $10. Our recommendations for NJ are:
- Visit DraftKings Casino – $5 minimum, $35 signup bonus
- Visit Hard Rock Casino – $10 minimum, $25 free play + 50 free spins on Bonanza
- Visit Bally Casino – $10 minimum, $30 signup bonus
- Visit Virgin Casino – $10 minimum, $30 signup bonus
- Visit BetMGM Casino – $10 minimum, $25 signup bonus
Michigan Minimum Online Casino Deposits
Unlike other big online casino states, Michigan has a pretty low cap on the number of brands and hit that cap almost immediately. There are 15 Michigan online casinos, and unless the law changes, that’s all there will ever be.
Fortunately, those 15 include all the big brands and some local ones, so residents have lots of options for a low minimum deposit. Our recommendations to get started for $5 or $10 in MI are:
- Visit DraftKings Casino – $5 minimum, $35 signup bonus
- Visit Golden Nugget Casino – $10 minimum, $10 signup bonus + 100% deposit match up to $1,000 + 200 bonus spins
- Visit Caesars Casino – $10 minimum, 100% deposit match up to $2,000 on deposit
- Visit BetMGM Casino – $10 minimum, $25 signup bonus
Pennsylvania Minimum Online Casino Deposits
Pennsylvania is America’s largest online casino market, and the oldest competitive market after New Jersey. Pennsylvania online casinos now include most of the major brands, though not as many smaller ones as New Jersey. It’s also the home state for BetRivers and Parx.
Just like the other large states, you’ll find plenty of online casinos with a $5 or $10 minimum deposit in the Keystone State. Our recommendations for PA are:
- Visit DraftKings Casino – $5 minimum, $35 signup bonus
- Visit BetMGM Casino – $10 minimum, $25 signup bonus
- Visit BetRivers Casino – $10 minimum, 1x play-through on $250 first deposit bonus
- Visit Caesars Casino -$10 minimum, $10 signup bonus + 200% deposit match up to $200 on deposit
- Visit Unibet Casino – $10 minimum, $10 signup bonus
West Virginia Minimum Online Casino Deposits
West Virginia is America’s smallest competitive online casino market. You won’t find a large number of brands, but you will find online casinos with low minimum deposits in WV.
At the moment, there are five online casinos in WV, and they all let you get started with a small first deposit.
- Visit DraftKings Casino – $5 minimum, $35 signup bonus
- Visit BetMGM Casino – $10 minimum, $25 signup bonus
- Visit Caesars Casino – $10 minimum, $2,000 deposit bonus
- Visit BetRivers Casino – $10 minimum, 1x playthrough on $250 first deposit bonus
Making The Most Of Your Minimum Deposit
Once you’ve picked your casino and made your minimum deposit, the question is what to do with your money. When you only have a few dollars in your account, you want to get the most out of it. Right?
One important thing for any casino user to understand – but especially one working with a minimum deposit – is variance. Two games can have the same house edge (i.e. how much each $1 you bet loses on average) but very different degrees of variance.
High variance means that you’ll lose your bet most of the time, but you have a small chance of winning a big prize. Conversely, low variance means you’ll win more often, but the prize won’t be as large. For instance, betting numbers in roulette is a high-variance play with 36-to-1 payouts. Betting red or black is a low-variance play with an even money payout. Either bet will cost you 2.6 cents per dollar you bet in the long run (assuming you’re playing single zero European roulette, as you should be), but in the short term, your experience will be quite different.
Choosing between a high and low-variance game is very important when you only have enough money for a few bets. Which way to go depends on the experience you’re looking for, so it’s important to think about your motivations and what you enjoy.
Why Choose A Low Variance Game?
If you’re hoping to play for as long as possible, you’re probably going to want to choose a low-variance game. The best options there are table games with a low house edge, like blackjack, baccarat, or single zero roulette.
If you’re playing roulette, bet red/black or even/odd, not the numbers. For baccarat, always bet on the dealer’s hand, as that has the lowest house edge. When playing blackjack, make sure you read up on basic strategy.
Low-variance games are good for extending your play time because they reduce the chances that you’re going to wipe your bankroll out in a single unlucky streak. For instance, if you’ve made a $5 minimum deposit and are playing roulette for $1 per spin, the odds of losing in 5 spins while betting on colors are only 3.6%. However, if you bet on a number five times, you’d be 87.2% likely to go broke before winning anything.
The downside to this strategy is that the converse is also true: You’re much less likely to have a hot streak and turn a minimum deposit into a big win.
Why Choose A High Variance Game?
Maybe it’s not the duration of play that’s appealing to you, but the chance to chase a big prize.
Keep in mind that gambling should always be for fun, because statistically speaking, you’re not going to come out ahead in the long run. However, there’s no question that big wins are thrilling. If that’s the experience you’re looking for, then what you want is a high-variance game.
Many table games have side bets with big odds, but these also tend to have a big house edge, so you want to avoid those. Betting numbers at roulette is a good way of chasing a big payout without giving the house a bigger edge.
However, the classic low-stakes, high-variance play is to take your money to the slots. Slots can be higher or lower variance, but almost all are higher variance than a typical table game. They also mix some small prizes in with the big ones, so you’re not likely to lose your whole deposit without winning something here or there.
For the highest variance of all, look for progressive jackpot slots. It’s very, very hard to hit the top prize with these, but the dollar values can be huge, so if dreaming big is your thing, they’re the way to go.
Extending Your Minimum Deposit With Promotions
Most online casinos have limited-time promotions now and then. Some of these require a significant amount of betting or a big deposit to qualify, and those aren’t going to help you when you’re working with a minimum deposit.
However, sometimes you’ll find ones with easier requirements or even no requirements at all. Depending on the site, sometimes just logging in is enough to earn you some free spins on a slot title the site is trying to promote.
It’s worth keeping an eye out for these. When the requirements are small or nonexistent, it’s usually the case that the prizes are going to be small too. However, when you’re trying to squeeze the maximum fun out of a minimum deposit, every little top-up to your bankroll helps.
US Online Casino Minimum Deposits FAQ May 2023
No. All legal and regulated US online casinos have some sort of minimum deposit, though some are lower than others. Some sites have a no deposit offer, so you can start playing without depositing at all. However, if and when you do decide to deposit some money, there’s always going to be a minimum amount.
Expenses. There’s overhead for a casino operator to process payments, handle their accounting, and so forth. It’s not worth it for a casino to take, say, a $0.25 deposit for one spin on a slot machine, as they’d lose money on the transaction.
Yes. Usually, though not always, there’s a minimum amount you can withdraw from an online casino. This may depend on the form of payment processing you’re using, and it’s usually in line with the minimum deposit.
You should deposit whatever amount you feel comfortable with, keeping in mind that you should never gamble more than you can afford to lose. That said, there are some downsides to making multiple small deposits instead of one big one.
First and foremost, many payment processors will charge you a flat transaction fee. If you deposit, say $50 all at once, you’ll only get hit with the fee one time. If you deposit $10 five times instead, you’ll pay the fee five times. It’s worth thinking ahead to save money.
Additionally, many online casinos have deposit matching offers. Making a minimum deposit also means taking the minimum advantage of those offers. When there’s a deposit match on the table, it’s once again worth thinking ahead. If you believe you’re going to deposit again later anyway, it might be worth making a single, larger deposit instead of several small ones.
Check our review for the casino in question. Most of our reviews will mention the minimum deposit. You can also usually find the information in the casino’s own FAQ, Help or Banking Info page. Look for a link somewhere at the bottom or top of the front page of the website. If all else fails, you can always sign up for the site and click the Deposit link. That will always give you the available deposit options, along with the minimum transaction for each.
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