The best part about Atlantic City as a gambling destination is that it’s right on the famous Boardwalk, just steps away from the ocean. Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa takes the top spot, with its thriving gambling scene, plush rooms, quality service and relaxing spa. See vacation rentals in Atlantic City, New Jersey 3. In downtown Reno, some of the more famous gambling places include Harrah’s, Circus Circus, Silver Legacy and others. Apart from Vegas and Reno, you can find several modern casino houses in towns of Carson City, Fallon, Silver Springs, Wells, Elko, Battle Mountain, Ely, and other places. The state of Nevada legalized gambling in 1931 and boasts world standard casinos. It has 334 casinos which is more than any other state. 172 of them are located in Clark County, out of which 104 are found in Las Vegas. The city, also known as Sin City, is famous for gambling and is known around the world as a party city.

With the most casinos in the world, the U.S. is the top destination for the travelling gambler. The types of gambling in the U.S include: casinos, horseracing tracks, greyhound tracks, and sports betting parlours.

Gambling winnings by non-U.S. residents are subject to a 30% withholding tax by the IRS. Unfortunately, dealing with the IRS can be complicated, time consuming, and confusing.

When it comes to ease of reclaiming a portion or all of your withheld winnings, no one is more successful than Refund Management Services (RMS). In fact, we’ve never been refused an eligible refund.

Best Cities for Gaming in the U.S.

While you can find places to gamble almost anywhere in the U.S., some destinations are more popular than others. Below is a list of five of the top gambling cities in the U.S. A couple might even surprise you.

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is synonymous with gambling no matter where you live. It’s widely considered the best gambling city in the U.S., and most would say it’s the best city for gambling in the world.

With over 375 gaming facilities, Las Vegas is king when it comes to gaming. It attracts visitors from all over the world, including the top poker players who come for the high-limit tables.

On top of that, the Las Vegas Strip is home to 15 of the 25 largest hotels in the world. Some of the biggest casinos on the Strip include the Venetian/Palazzo, Wynn Las Vegas, Mandalay Bay, the Bellagio, MGM Grand, and Aria.

Reno, Nevada

It’s not as flashy or as big as Las Vegas, but Reno offers some of the best gambling in the country. In fact, Reno was the destination of choice for gamblers before Las Vegas took over the crown in the 1950s and 1960s.

Just 14 kilometers east of the California border, Reno continues to be a popular travel destination for those in San Francisco and those willing to make the trip north of Las Vegas. Reno might be called the Biggest Little City in the World, but it has everything that Las Vegas does, including gambling, luxury hotels, spa, shopping, and golfing.

Reno has over 20 casinos, including Harrah’s Reno, The Eldorado Hotel and Casino, Peppermill Hotel and Casino, Silver Legacy Hotel and Casino, Grand Sierra Resort and Casino, Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, and Nugget Casino Resort.

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City is often called America’s Favourite Playground and for good reason. It’s the second-largest gambling city in the U.S. and the top gambling destination for those on the East Coast.

While four of Atlantic City’s casinos had to shut their doors because of the U.S. economic slowdown, the city is experiencing a bit of a renaissance, and its eight casinos continue to be a huge draw for non-U.S. residents.

Whether you’re visiting Atlantic City to walk the Boardwalk or see the birthplace of Monopoly, you’ll want to check out Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Caesars Atlantic City Hotel & Casino, Tropicana Casino & Resort, Golden Nugget, and Resorts Casino Hotel.

Biloxi, Mississippi

It’s been 25 years since gambling officially came to Mississippi. Over that short period of time, Biloxi has emerged as one of the top gambling destinations in the U.S. Outside of Las Vegas, Biloxi is home to the biggest cluster of casinos.

The first casinos in Mississippi were riverboats. But, after Hurricane Katrina in 2009, new casinos were allowed to move 800 feet inland. Today, there are more than 12 casinos in and around Biloxi.

In 2015, the Silver Slipper and Scarlet Pearl Casino and Hotel opened their doors while the Island View Casino and IP Casino Resort Spa both completed massive multi-million dollar renovations. Other top casinos in Biloxi include the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, Hard Rock Hotel, Golden Nugget, Boomtown Casino, and Palace Casino Resort.

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Palm Springs, California

Palm Springs is located in the Sonoran Desert in Southern California, and aside from celebrities, it is known for its hot springs, golf courses, and spas. It is also an up-and-comer when it comes to gambling.

There are seven casinos in the Palm Springs area, which offer everything you’d expect a world-class gaming city to offer: slot machines, table games, and casino gambling. Some of the biggest hotel casinos in the area include Morongo, The Spa Resort, Agua Caliente, Fantasy Springs, Spotlight 29, Augustine, and Red Earth.

U.S. Gambling Winnings Subject to 30% Withholding Tax

It doesn’t matter if you gamble in Palm Springs, Ft. Lauderdale, Chicago, Las Vegas, or anywhere else in the U.S., if you’re a non-U.S. resident and you win a substantial amount of money (typically over $1,200), the IRS will withhold 30% from you. That’s because gaming winnings are considered income and need to be taxed.

For example, if you win $1,500 on the slots, the casino will only pay out $1,050. But, if you live in a country like Canada, which has signed a U.S. tax treaty, you may be eligible for a refund.

There are a number of countries that currently do not have a U.S. tax treaty. However, if you reside in any of the following countries, you could still be eligible for a refund: Australia, Bahrain, Barbados, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kuwait, Mexico, Malaysia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, and the U.A.E.

To see if you meet the criteria and are eligible to get some or all of your withholding tax back, contact RMS.

RMS, the Easiest Way to Get Your Withheld Gaming Tax Back

If you’ve had 30% of your winnings withheld by the IRS, RMS can help you reclaim a portion or all of your taxable winnings. Founded by a Canadian Chartered Accountant in 1998, RMS has become the most reliable and experienced gaming and casino tax refund provider for non-U.S. residents.

Only RMS has the One Simple StepTM process. Our Customer Service Agents take care of the rest: processing and submitting it to the IRS. It can take a minimum of one year for the IRS to review the claim and for RMS to receive the refund. Best of all, we’ve never been refused an eligible refund.

Contact RMS today by calling our toll-free number at 1-888-272-5559 or by emailing us at [email protected].

Each year, the United States government cashes in approximately $137,5 billion. That’s a lot of money even for the county of this size. You can come across over 450 casinos throughout the country. But you do need to plan your trip, rather than just wandering around. Because let’s face it, the United States is more than a country, it’s half a continent!

So, where do you go if you decide to embark on a gambling trip? Many places have casinos, but some are better than others in terms of what they offer and how many gambling houses they have. To help you decide on your trip (or just to inform and entertain any of you who are just curious), we’ve come up with a list of the top 15 gambling cities in the US. Now, the entries to this list have been placed in a random order, which means that the last city mentioned isn’t necessarily the worst one! But let’s start with the most obvious one.

Las Vegas, Nevada

Entertainment Capital of the World, Gambling Capital of the World, Sin City, City of Lost Wages — all these nicknames represent the city of Las Vegas. And you really can’t make any remotely serious list of gambling destinations without mentioning Las Vegas right from the off!

Among railroad builders and workers on the Hoover Dam (during the Prohibition Era) the term ‘northern’ represented places which offered gambling and alcohol, both of which were illegal. The first gambling license in Las Vegas was issued in 1931, to the gambling den, which was aptly named the Northern Club no prizes for guessing what the main appeal of this place might have been! From then on, Nevada became a gambling haven, with people coming to Las Vegas to try their luck and to make a fortune off people trying their luck. Personalities like Kirk Kerkorian (believed to be the father of hotel-casino resorts) shaped the history of the place, pushing the limits further and further with every new construction site.

Today, Vegas and the famous Las Vegas Strip are covered in casinos and their accompanying accommodations. In fact, 15 of the 25 largest hotels in the world are in Las Vegas! There are 104 casinos in the area, making the city truly the biggest gambling city in that area, and indeed the gambling capital of the entire US to boot! In recent years, however, Las Vegans have turned to more family-friendly amenities, making the city popular to a wider variety of travelers. As a result, they had to hand over their gambling crown to Macau. Nonetheless, Vegas is still synonymous with gambling, with their top casinos being constantly crammed with gamblers, all round the clock.

Reno, Nevada

Reno is the second place you should look for after Vegas if you’re up for some gambling. Its nickname is The Biggest Little City in the World. Reno has over 20 casinos and was actually considered the best gambling city in the United States before Las Vegas took over in the 1950s and 1960s, proving once again why Nevada is the top gambling state in the country!

With thousands of slot machines and table games on offer, Reno offers everything Las Vegas does; just on a smaller scale! The city attracts gamblers from California in particular, due to its close-to-borderness. And if you think that poker rooms and slot machines are all that Reno has to offer, well, you’re wrong! Reno’s nightlife is another aspect of this city visitors enjoy. From comedy shows to nightclubs, there will be plenty of places for you to leave your money, even if you’re not a gambling person.

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Many consider Atlantic City, America’s Favorite Playground, to be the Las Vegas of the East Coast. With over a dozen large casinos in the city, Monopoly City is the best place to gamble in the East Coast. Perhaps lacking strength in numbers, the scale of AC casinos means that this is one of the best casino cities in the entire country.

Although business isn’t booming as it used to in its peak days, Atlantic City still offers great entertainment. As was the case with Reno, AC used to be larger than Las Vegas before Nevada’s biggest city got its expansion. Casinos like Borgata Hotel Casino and Tropicana Atlantic City are looking right at the beach of the ocean. You’ll be able to walk around the famous AC Boardwalk and step into one of the casinos to see if you can challenge some top poker players who like spending their time there.

Foxwoods, Connecticut

Foxwoods Casino Resort is one of the largest gambling places in the world. They had financial difficulties in the past. So, rather like the nearby Mohegan Sun Casino, Foxwoods was in debt; but they still managed to recover and expand their business. Owners of the casino are the recognized Native American Mashantucket Pequot Tribe. They operate with a casino floor of 345,000 square feet, where you can find around 4800 gaming machines and over 380 table games.

The resort is also filled with many other amenities — hotels, restaurants, concert venues. They’ve made Foxwoods into an entire complex that is rich with activity, so you have something to do even after you quench your gambling thirst. Once you’re done with poker and slots, you can watch a movie, play golf, go bowling, or visit the Pequot Tribe museum — and with all these opportunities, you’re never going to get bored!

Biloxi, Mississippi

Biloxi is another major gambling city in the United States. With their whole nine casinos, they rival Atlantic City itself as the best not-Las-Vegas place in the US. With places such as Palace Casino, Harrah’s Gulf Coast, and Beau Rivage Resort, Biloxi has quickly moved up the gambling ladder. Initially, Mississippi offered only riverboat casinos. However, this changed because of Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed most of them. Now, instead, you can go to Biloxi and experience the luxury of huge casinos; and there are still so plenty of other activities on offer as well! Within walking distance of the Gulf Coast, it’s a great place to visit on its own, especially in the summertime. The various larger complexes also incorporate spas, hotels, fitness centers, and several food amenities.

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago and its surrounding area (creatively called Chicagoland) takes in annual gambling revenue of over $2,5 billion. Chicagoland covers over 10,000 square miles and has around 9,5 million inhabitants. With the Windy City’s skyscrapers being so high, people claim that if you stand atop on a sunny day, you can see as far as Indiana! So, it’s no wonder there are huge casino complexes which make the Chicago metropolitan area third biggest gambling site in the US.

Although the city itself doesn’t permit casinos to open, the metropolitan area has about a dozen of them. Places like Majestic Star, Ameristar Casino Hotel, and Grand Victoria offer a multi-story casino floor with thousands of slots and table games. Most of these are just a couple of miles away from Downtown Chicago, while the farthest one is an hour-long drive away.

New Orleans, Louisiana

Located on the Mississippi River, New Orleans is arguably the most unique city in the entire United States. A mixture of cultures have influenced The Big Easy — the French and the English fought for its ownership, while Hispanic and Italian immigrants added another flavor to it. New Orleanians speak their own dialect (which, truth be told, is just a mashup of different accents), the city gave birth to jazz and funk, and (most importantly for us!) it was the gambling capital of the US in the 19th century.

Gambling in New Orleans started off as a riverboat attraction, with gamblers being lured by the fact they could travel along the Mississippi while placing their bets. In due course, the casinos moved more inland, especially after Katrina hit the city and destroyed the riverboat ones. Now, you can gamble at Harrah’s New Orleans Casino, which is close to the historic French Quarter in Downtown New Orleans. There are five established casinos in The Big Easy, with the Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots being the third-oldest race track in the States.

Los Angeles, California

Due to its proximity to Nevada, it’s easy to assume that the City of Angels is not a big player in the gambling world. However, that assumption is wrong. After all, LA is more than ten times the size of Paris. Although gambling is not the primary industry, it’s clear to see that with such a large city, it’s only normal they would have a fairly commendable gambling scene.

There are around 10 casinos in the city, with the largest one being Carnival Dream Casino. Establishments like Bicycle Casino and the Commerce Casino & Hotel are also popular among Angelenos and tourists alike. If you manage to go through all of the gambling houses and become bored, which is an achievement (of sorts), don’t worry! L.A. has plenty to offer on top: so you can look forward to the sunny beaches and enjoy the palm-covered boulevards. And even if it’s your first time there, you’ll be able to recognize hundreds of locations from your favorite movies.

Palm Springs, California

Sticking around in the Golden State, at first glance, the very name of Palm Springs sounds inviting enough. Palm Springs is a relatively new addition to the long list of gambling cities in the US. There are seven casinos in the area, with further installments on their way. One of the most popular casinos is the Spa Resort Casino, which has over 1000 gaming machines and a gaming floor of 40,000 square feet. They also have five restaurants and a golf course, alongside one other wellness amenity; but we’ll let you figure out on your own what type of place that is.

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians opened a 1400-slot strong Agua Caliente Casino Resort. Their 71,000-square-foot gaming floor also contains 40 table games and 20 poker tables.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Leaving one coast and going to the other, Fort Lauderdale offers an amazing place to gamble in the Sunshine State. Just a few miles away from Miami, it’s an in-demand gambling destination for many visitors to Florida’s most popular city. There are several land-based casinos over there; and admittedly, they aren’t a great size. But, another attraction that Fort Lauderdale has over its competitors is that it’s a port city for many cruise lines. This way, you can go on a cruise which has a casino on, so you can gamble on slots and table games while at the open sea. Oh, and the international seas don’t have any income taxes! So if you hit big, it’s all yours…

Detroit, Michigan

The Motor City is famous for its industry, with the Great Lakes State being home to American automotive giants General Motors, Ford, Buick, and Chevrolet. They also have a great love for sports. Well, mostly hockey, since the Pistons and the Lions have not brought much joy to Detroiters. When it comes to gambling, the city of Detroit has only three casinos in its area, but they all offer a unique experience; so if you ever find yourself in Motown, be sure to check them out!

Best Gambling Places In Us United States

The largest one is the MGM Grand, which has around 3500 slot machines and just under 350 table games. The 100,000-square-foot gaming floor also consists of about 20 poker tables. They also have five restaurants, a hotel, and a wellness center. The other two, Greektown Casino Hotel and the MotorCity Casino, have over 5700 slots and 150 table games combined.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Ah, the City of Brotherly Love! Many state that Philadelphia is the birthplace of the United States, as both the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were written and signed there. Today, Philly is the sixth-largest US city, with a population of around 1,5 million people. And guess what you’ll be able to find there? … That’s right, casinos!

The largest one, SugarHouse Casino, is located in Downtown Philly. Its 260,000-square-foot gaming floor consists of around 50 table games and 2000 slots, while the poker room is 28 tables strong. They have a concert venue and eight restaurants. Another must-visit casino is in the making, with the Live! Hotel and Casino Philadelphia planned for 2020. It must have about 2000 machines and 90 table games. That’s a lot!

Deadwood, South Dakota

Now this is by far the largest gambling city in South Dakota. There are only a handful of South Dakotan places that allow gambling at all, and Deadwood is the absolute epicenter of the industry. The historic Bullock Hotel & Casino (named after the town’s first sheriff, Seth Bullock) was built in 1885, two years before the invention of the slot machine. Deadwood is the first place outside of Atlantic City and Nevada to legalize gambling; this is where the community gathered around and used their gambling revenue to finance some historic monuments.

While the city itself is not huge in size, its picturesque landscapes are going to take your breath away. So, there’s no worry about visiting Deadwood — because even if gambling finally becomes boring for you, there’ll still be plenty of sightseeing waiting for you! There are 25 casinos in Deadwood, which, although small in size, are plentiful enough. In total, they have about 3500 slot machines and 40 table games.

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city which is right on the border with Illinois. So some casinos belonging to St. Louis are actually part of the Prairie State, geographically speaking. As with Detroit, there are three casinos in St. Louis; but they are constantly attracting visitors, and make up a pretty large chuck of the Missouri economy. The largest of the three is Hollywood Casino St. Louis, which opened up in 2014. The gaming floor has around 60 table games and 2300 slots, while the poker room consists of 20 tables.

Best Gambling Places In Us Dollars

The other two combine to 110 table games and over 4000 slots, making St. Louis another major gambling city in the US.

Council Bluffs, Iowa

Council Bluffs is a quiet, small city in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. In fact, this city has a population of around 62,000 people, making it the seventh-largest city in Iowa. In this tiny but beautiful city, you’ll find three casinos as well. All three of them amount to just under 100 table games and around 3900 slot machines. There are also 18 poker tables, with the Horseshoe Casino Council Bluffs (the largest one) being the only one with a poker room. The Horseshoe has several restaurants, a golf course, and a hotel in its complex.

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Pick Your Destination

There are many places outside the United States that boast great casinos: Macau, San Jose in Costa Rica, Singapore, etc. There are plenty of other gambling destinations around the globe to visit. For instance, Casino de Monte Carlo is almost a historic monument and definitely worth a look in.

Best Gambling Places In Us World

However, this was about top US cities that offer gambling activities. From small and quite Council Bluffs to flashy (some will say tacky, even) Las Vegas, you can experience the luxury and glamor of going into a casino and walking away with money and a satisfying smirk on your face. While in the Land of Opportunity, you should use the opportunities before you. Why not test your luck and make some money playing your favorite games? Now you know where to do it!