Online Casinos in the USA Offering Money Order

As an online casino player from the USA, you know that rules and laws regarding online gambling continue changing in your country, but also that the activity is completely legal in some states.

Those states with regulated online gambling allow users to choose from many payment methods, among which one of the safest and most convenient to use is money order. This is a service provided by many financial companies, which is easily accessible to US players, and offered across most if not all US casinos. What is money order and why choose to use it across US online casinos?

The Legality of Online Gambling in the USA

The USA is a huge country, one governed by different rules, laws, and authorities, and that's why at times, things may get confusing for its citizens, especially when wondering if something is legal in their state or not. That's exactly what happens with online gambling. Even if explaining it to a foreigner who comes to the States and wishes to know the answer to the question of whether the activity is legal in the country, the whole situation would be really complex to explain. But here, we'll try to narrow the story down and tell you the most important bits and pieces.

What happens is, online gambling is legal in the US in seven states, with an eighth one on the horizon, Rhode Island. The states that offer regulated gambling markets are Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Connecticut and, of course, one of the oldest gambling hubs, Nevada. On the other hand, the activity is banned in many states, including Utah and Hawaii. There are also states that chose to not regulate online gambling but also not block it, so the situation there is quite loose.

There is a federal Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act introduced in 2006, which on a global level forbids online gambling. However, on a state level, the seven states (and now Rhode Island) have decided to go around it and still allow their citizens to legally engage in online gambling. US players in these states, which previously had access to only games by developers like Saucify and Rival, now have access to modern, state-of-the-art slots, video poker, table games and Live Dealers games delivered by giants like Play’n GO, Evolution, NetEnt and BetSoft, among others.

With free access to these seven states, plenty of online casino operators landed partnership deals in the US, and the market is positioned for growth. Operators like UniBet and William Hill started offering their online casino services to US players, but many others followed. These sites went above and beyond in their efforts to cater to US players in the best way possible and achieved that by offering them some of the top local payment methods for their deposits and withdrawals, solutions like money order. This is a solution that is incredibly popular in the States, mainly because of its wide availability and accessibility, but also because of the anonymity and safety it offers. If it sounds like a method you’d like to try yourself, continue reading, as next, we’ll take you over its history and tell you how to get started with it and use it across US online casinos.

Why Start Using Money Order at a US Casino?

Money order is a service provided by different third-party processors, incredibly popular in the US.

One of the first such processors that basically pioneered it was Western Union, the well-known money transfer service provider. Western Union definitely had the biggest influence when it comes to popularizing the service in the country, and one that we'll use in this article as a guide while explaining everything you need to know about the service.

First and foremost, this is a service that works pretty similarly to standard checks. There is a piece of paper involved, filled out and signed by the payer and signed by the payee upon withdrawal. When sending out a money order, you need to fill out your name, and address, sign the paper, and of course, pay the sum that needs to be sent. Then, you need to write the payee's name and address and mail the paper. Once the payee receives it, they have to sign it, too, before the money is given to them.

The whole process is done in an authorized money order location. We mentioned Western Union, but you should know as a US citizen, you have 100,000 locations to go to in order to do it. We’re talking supermarkets like Walmart and 7-Eleven, the US Postal Service, MoneyGram, and plenty of other options. Since these are functioning as third-party processors, they charge fees for their service, which is usually a flat $1 but it may vary, depending on the location you go with. You can pay the total in cash or using a credit or debit cards.

When you’re the payee, the process is quite similar, but you’d need to find a location that offers the cash-out service. You’d need to bring identity verification documents with you to cash out your money, to receive the funds in cash, or have them sent to your bank account. While waiting for the money to arrive, you will get a tracking number through which you can regularly track and check whether the money is in motion and when to expect it to become available for pick up. The payer will have the same tracking number, so they can check the transfer, too.

The best part is, money order transfers can be both local and international, allowed in US dollars and other currencies (subject to conversion fees). Therefore, using the solution across any casino, even those based outside of the US but with a license to operate in a US state with legal online gambling, can receive and send funds from and to you! That means, you can freely make deposits and withdrawals with it across many online casinos that offer it as a payment method. In fact, that's what we'll cover next, the exact steps you need to take when funding your casino account and cashing out winnings from it with a money order.

How to Deposit and Withdraw Across US Online Casinos with Money Order?

We mentioned that money order was already quite popular among US citizens, and that’s why it became among the top solutions offered across US online casinos in the respective regulated markets. That's why you'll find plenty of US casino sites you could explore to find the one you'd like to join and use the solution for depositing and withdrawing.

So, the first step here would be choosing a proper casino to join. Remember that you can only gamble online legally at an online casino that holds a license to operate in a US state with regulated online gambling. You have to choose a licensed site, otherwise, you're at risk of having no player protection measures. When doing your search, also check whether the casino offers money order, as not all casinos will. Assuming you find the best licensed site for you to join, proceed to create your account with it. To make a deposit with a money order, do the following:

1. Go to the online casino’s Contact Us page and find the contact means you could use to get in touch with its Support team.
2. Ask the Support agent the exact address where the money order should be mailed to.
3. Physically visit one of the 100,000 locations that support the service.
4. Fill out the necessary information on the paper, as explained previously, and mail the paper to the address as provided by the support agent.
5. Once the operator receives it, the money will arrive in your casino balance. If impatient, use your tracking number to check the current destination of the funds.

Withdrawals are a bit easier for you, but more time-consuming for the operator, and that’s why not all casinos offer money order for cashouts. In case you've come across one that does, you should just go to its Cashier/Withdrawals page, look for the money order's logo, and press it. Then, you just need to enter your name and address in the designated fields, and sit back and relax. The operator will have to take it from there, checking first whether your request is legit, approving it, and visiting a location where the money could be sent from. You will get the tracking number to track your winnings, and once arrived, go to the nearest cash-out location to pick them up!