Nebraska does not yet have a real money online casino gaming market, so the best Nebraska online casinos are made up of sweepstakes casinos, where players can play games with premium coins to win cash prizes. It’s just as good as the real thing, especially when only four states in the US offer the real-money version. Claim the best signup bonuses in the Cornhusker State, and learn all about playing casino games without leaving state lines.
Online Casino Gaming for Cash Prizes in Nebraska
Players 19 and up located in the state of Nebraska have access to these social casinos online, which offer games for cash prizes with the same odds you’d find at a retail casino like WarHorse Casino Lincoln, Grand Island Casino Resort, or Ohiya Casino & Resort in Niobrara.
Gambling is for entertainment purposes only. Stay safe and ensure success when you gamble responsibly. Gambling problem? Call or text 1-800-GAMBLER for confidential support. Visit SAMHSA’s National Helpline website for resources that include treatment center locator, anonymous chat, and more.
How Nebraska Online Casinos Work
If you visit a site listed above via our link, you will earn a sweepstakes casino no deposit bonus. You generally receive two types of currency: Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins. The Gold Coins allow you to play casino games for fun and have no monetary value. Meanwhile, the Sweeps Coins are for promotional play. They operate similarly to bingo or lottery contests but in a casino gaming format. If you win enough with the Sweeps Coins, they’ll turn into redeemable cash prizes.
You can earn extra Sweeps Coins for free by claiming various bonuses. Most social and sweepstakes casinos also give you free Sweeps Coins if you buy Gold Coin bundles. If you are interested in making a purchase, you will often receive a new player discount.
How We Rank the Best Nebraska Online Casinos
We have reviewed every legal sweepstakes casino that accepts players in Nebraska. These are the criteria we assess before ranking NE online casinos.
- Security: We make sure a sweepstakes casino is secure, reliable, and trustworthy before we recommend it to our readers. This page only features safe online casinos that operate legally by adhering to state and federal sweepstakes regulations. They all offer secure connections and use powerful encryption to protect your data.
- Game Selection: The next step is to review the game variety and quality at each sweepstakes casino. We are looking for sites that host a wide and varied range of slots and table games from multiple software studios.
- Promotions: Next up, we assess the bonuses and promotions. The best operators provide large no deposit bonuses with a stack of virtual credits and some Sweeps Coins. They then run regular promotions for their existing players, such as login bonuses, social media contests, challenges, and prize draws.
- Software: We also consider the quality of the online casino platform. First and foremost, it should be quick and easy to navigate, with an attractive, uncluttered design. The best sites and apps offer value-added features, such as advanced filters, high roller rooms, customizable sections, contests, bingo games, and more.
- Payments: If you decide to make a payment, you should find a selection of secure, convenient methods. We make deposits and request payouts to ensure the payment process works correctly, and we analyze the payout speeds, the limits, and the general ease of the process.
- Customer Support: We also test the customer service available at each sweepstakes casino in Nebraska. Our reviewers note which channels are available, how long it takes to receive a reply, how clear and accurate the responses are, and the general friendliness of the agents.
Nebraska Online Gambling Snapshot
While Nebraska is brimming with US online casino players, it doesn’t have the best selection. Thankfully, players have access to enough to give them several avenues for winning money online.
| Gambling Type | Legal | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Online Casino Gaming | No | Nebraska has not legalized online casino gaming. |
| Online Poker | No | Online poker is currently illegal in Nebraska. |
| Online Lottery | Yes | Online lottery is currently legal in Nebraska via the Jackpocket app |
| Online Sports Betting | No | Nebraska has not yet legalized online sports betting, and state law only permits in-person sports wagering at licensed horse racing tracks. |
| Pari-Mutuel Wagering | Yes | Nebraska permits pari-mutuel betting on horse races, and you can sign up with the TwinSpires online racebook in the Cornhusker State. |
| DFS Contests | Yes | Daily fantasy sports contests are not explicitly legal in Nebraska, nor are they prohibited, so apps like DraftKings and FanDuel are available. |
Online Casino Games in Nebraska
The best sweepstakes casinos in Nebraska offer the same games you would find at real money casinos online when visiting New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, or West Virginia. The games often come from the same suppliers, such as IGT, Light and Wonder, NetEnt, and Pragmatic Play, and fall into these three broad categories.
Slots in Nebraska
Real-money slots dominate every online casino app, and sites in Nebraska are no exception. Many of them host only slots, and others dedicate more than 90% of their ranges to slot games. These are some of the reasons why online slots are so prevalent.
- Quality: There are hundreds of slot providers around the world competing to create the best games. Large studios such as NetEnt, Play’n Go, Pragmatic Play, and High 5 dedicate huge resources to crafting new and exciting games. Smaller producers push boundaries and launch innovations in a bid to muscle their way in. That creates a dynamic market, and the overall quality continues to rise.
- Variety: It also leads to a great deal of variety. You can play low, medium, or high volatility slots. There are basic three-reel slots with simple graphics, alongside 3D slots with cascading reels and Megaways paylines. Slots also cover a huge spectrum of themes, from enchanted forests and underwater kingdoms to mob heists and intergalactic battles, so there is something for everyone.
- Accessibility: Slots are the simplest casino games available. You just spin the reels and await the results. However, they offer fast-paced gameplay, unpredictable results, and all sorts of features, so they are also highly entertaining.
- Jackpots: Some slots offer large jackpots. That is particularly true of progressive jackpot slots, whereby the top prize continues to grow until a lucky player hits the jackpot. These games allow you to win a large pile of Gold Coins, and you can also potentially win a stack of Sweeps Coins if you play in sweepstakes mode.
- Features: Competition among suppliers has led them to produce a wealth of intriguing features in recent years, which can heighten the gameplay. These quirks include sticky wilds, cluster pays, Megaways, cascading reels, expanding reels, nudges, mystery symbols, stacked wilds, increasing multipliers, reel modifiers, and much more.
Table Games in Nebraska
Virtual table games are available at the vast majority of real money casinos. However, they are less common at sweepstakes online casinos in Nebraska, so you will have to dig a little deeper to find them. Sweeptastic is a great source of virtual table games, and Stake.us covers all the bases, too. You can play:
Poker-style games are often available as well, including video poker and virtual table poker. Those games are played against the house as opposed to rival players.
Some sweepstakes casinos available in Nebraska also offer live dealer games. For example, Stake.us hosts live blackjack, roulette, Sic Bo, Teen Patti, and baccarat. High 5 Casino has a range of live casino games, too. You can watch the action live via a video stream, and a chat box is available if you want to interact with the dealer.
More Nebraska Online Casino Games
Some sites offer games that do not fall into either the slots or table games categories. For example, Stake.us has developed a range of original games, including Plinko, Mines, Dice, Crash, Keno, Limbo, Hi-Lo, Wheel, Dragon Tower, and Tomb of Life. These games are popular at crypto casinos in international markets and are increasingly available at sweepstakes casinos in the US, too.
History of Gambling in Nebraska
Nebraska’s largest city, Omaha, became famous for its gambling parlors after the city’s founding in 1854 as one of frontier gambling‘s hotspots. That reputation persisted for a few decades until the Nebraska Legislature outlawed gambling houses in 1887. Gambling in Nebraska then became an illicit pursuit, largely controlled by Irish and Italian organized crime gangs.
Lawmakers passed a constitutional amendment permitting pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing in 1934. Nebraska charity bingo was legalized in 1958, followed by keno in 1985. Voters approved a state lottery in 1992. Nebraska’s federally recognized tribes began to open casinos on their tribal lands in the ensuing years after agreeing compacts with the state.
The next major development came in 2020 when voters approved Nebraska Initiative 430, which permits casinos at in-state racetracks. In March 2021, the state legislature passed a bill legalizing in-person sports betting. Retail sportsbooks have opened at two temporary racetrack casinos: Grand Island Casino Resort in Grand Island and WarHorse Casino in Lincoln. However, the state has not passed any legislation to permit online sports betting, real money casino gaming, or poker.
Retail Casinos in Nebraska
There are currently four tribal casinos in Nebraska. They are Class II gaming venues, which means they can offer electronic gaming machines such as slots and video poker, but they cannot host table games.
Several racetrack casinos are also under construction, and large in-progress resorts will replace temporary land-based casino facilities at Grand Island Casino Resort in Grand Island and WarHorse Casino in Lincoln. Additional racetrack casinos will include WarHorse Casino Omaha, WarHorse Casino South Sioux City, and Harrah’s Columbus NE Racing & Casino. These are the tribal casinos and racetrack casinos you can visit right now.
| Casino | Address | Phone Number |
|---|---|---|
| Iron Horse Bar & Casino | 1010 South Main Street, Emerson, NE 68733 | (402) 695-0180 |
| Lucky 77 Casino | 200 Main St, Walthill, NE 68067 | (402) 846-5545 |
| Native Star Casino | 214 Industrial Rd, Winnebago, NE 68071 | (402) 878-2901 |
| Ohiya Casino | 52946 Highway 12 Suite 2, Niobrara, NE 68760 | (402) 857-3860 |
| Grand Island Casino Resort | Fonner Park, 700 E Stolley Park Rd, Grand Island, NE 68801 | (308) 675-6500 |
| WarHorse Casino Lincoln | Lincoln Race Course, 7055 S. 1st Street, Lincoln, NE 68512 | 1-800-999-2776 |
Nebraska Online Casinos – Bottom Line
Nebraska legislators have never brought forth any bills seeking to legalize real money online casinos, so it is unlikely to happen any time soon. If you want to play slots, video poker, table games, and variety games online, you can visit sweepstakes casinos. These allow you to play your favorite games for fun, and there is also the chance to win a cash prize in sweepstakes play. Just click the links next to any of the sweepstakes casinos featured on this page to visit the site and redeem the no deposit sign-up bonus.
More Resources for Nebraska Online Gamblers
Online Casinos in Neighboring States
Nebraska Online Casinos FAQ
No, Nebraska does not have a legal online casino gaming market. You can only play casino games online at social casinos and sweepstakes casinos in the Cornhusker State. Nebraska lawmakers have not filed any bills seeking to legalize online casinos, so this situation is unlikely to change any time soon.
You can play at sweepstakes casinos in Nebraska. They allow you to play free slots and table games for fun, and you can also redeem cash prizes if you earn Sweeps Coins and play them through. The best sweepstakes casinos for Nebraska players include WOW Vegas, Pulsz, High 5, McLuck, and Chumba.
Yes, federally recognized tribes operate four casinos in Nebraska: Iron Horse Bar & Casino, Lucky 77 Casino, Native Star Casino, and Ohiya Casino. The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska also owns Prairie Flower Casino in Carter Lake, which is located just over the border from Omaha in Iowa.
Nebraska’s tribes are also in the process of building racetrack casinos, known as racinos, in several locations. There are temporary casinos in Grand Island and Lincoln, but larger venues are underway. It follows voter approval of Nebraska Initiative 430 in November 2020, which authorizes casino gaming at racetracks in the Cornhusker State.
You need to be at least 18 years of age to place pari-mutuel wagers or take part in charity games in Nebraska. The minimum age for buying lottery tickets and playing keno is 19, while the casino gaming age is 21. That applies to tribal casinos, but Nebraskans aged 19 or older can take part in sweepstakes contests at online casino gaming sites.
No. Several neighbors have legalized online sports wagering, including Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming, but Nebraska has not followed suit.
The Cornhusker State legalized in-person sports betting in May 2021, but it is only available in two locations right now: Grand Island Casino Resort in Grand Island and WarHorse Casino in Lincoln.
Nebraska permits Class II gaming at tribal casinos. That includes gaming machines, such as slots and video poker, but not table games. If you visit a sweepstakes casino or social casino online in Nebraska, you can play slots, table games, and sometimes live dealer games.
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