Alaska Gambling and Casinos

Short Summary:  There are only a few forms of legalized and regulated gaming in the State of Alaska, which include charitable bingo, tribal bingo and pull tabs.  On this page, we look at these forms of gaming and present what types of online gaming are also available in the state.

Top 4 United States: Alaska Casinos

Alaska is one of the only two states that are not part of the contiguous United States, and this perhaps shows in their gambling laws. It’s as if they have no idea what has been going on down here the last several decades because their laws are extremely restrictive compared to most other states. This comes back to the part that they are generally a very Conservative state as relates gambling, and in general, even though many of their other laws aren’t quite as Puritanical as you might find in Alabama.

On the other hand, the population may simply be so small (around 740,000 as of 2017) that they might not consider it worth going through the hassle of licensing and having to regulate other forms of gambling. While it does have something of a tourism industry, most people visiting the unspoiled land that is most of Alaska can be presumed to not really have casino gambling on the mind.

The two forms of gambling that have been specifically legalized and are regulated in the State of Alaska are:

• Charitable
• Tribal

Charitable games that have been authorized through the state may be offered on a limited basis. This is strictly limited as, “Monte Carlo Nights,” with casino-style gaming are expressly illegal in the state. Most gambling that takes place does so in the form of licenses and pull-tabs from which the state takes taxes of 1% of any amount in excess of $20,000. Any charitable gambling agency that is licensed and has revenues that do not exceed $20,000 need only pay the licensing fees. The forms of charitable gambling that are permitted consist of pull tabs and live bingo.

Tribal gambling also exists in Alaska, but not in the fashion of Tribal casinos. The tribes that operate any form of gambling in Alaska do so by way of live bingo halls.

Online Gambling In Alaska

In the case of Alaska, there are currently no state-regulated sportsbooks or online casinos available in the state.  In fact, state gambling is pretty sparse, in general, with the main options being Pull Tabs and Pennsylvania, but it’s hard to say whether or not those are still around.  

Being relatively low in population, it makes sense that Alaska is far from being a gambling mecca.  If the state ever did regulate online casinos (which we see as unlikely since the Alaska, ‘State Lottery’ isn’t a traditional state lottery and isn’t even really run by the state), then the most likely way for that to happen would be similar to what New Hampshire did with DraftKings (for sports) where they take a huge slice of the revenues (51%) but DraftKings is the only regulated provider.  

If Alaska ever does authorize online casinos in the state, we think that’s going to take place in the very distant future as we could find very little to the effect of it ever being officially discussed.  

The closest the state came was with this sports betting bill, in 2022, which never made it out of committee to get a full vote; it’s difficult to say whether or not it would have ed if it had.  

We have found that online gambling, as a player, is technically illegal in the state, but the first offense is termed a, ‘Violation,’ and there actually seems to be no penalty for a first offense.  I guess if you get caught and they tell you to stop doing that (unlikely), then just don’t do it anymore.  

For that reason, there are many offshore casinos that offer their products in the state.  You can check out some of our top picks above and they come with the full gamut of games available.

Top 4 Sportsbooks in United States: Alaska

1		20% up to CA$500	Play Players Accepted
2		50% up to $1,000	Play Players Accepted
3		50% up to $1,000	Play Players Accepted
4		100% up to $500	Play Players Accepted

Is Gambling Legal in Alaska?

The laws of the State of Alaska, with exception to the pull tabs and the bingo, are pretty straightforward is saying that unlawful gambling is, “Gambling not specifically allowed by law.” In other words, if it’s not pull tabs or bingo and you’re in Alaska, it’s illegal.

Interestingly enough, for a mere player, he would get a free even in the unlikely event that he was charged with a, “Violation,” for Unlawful Gambling. The first offense is just a, “Violation,” of which a record is made, but there does not appear to be any fine or jail time associated with a mere violation. Things would get more serious in the event of a player being charged a second time.

Even if the law did have a punishment for a first-time offender, it is extremely unlikely that this would ever befall anyone considering that one would be gambling from his or her own home and the state should really have better things to do than care about that. For those concerned with following the law to the strictest possible interpretation, though, it is technically illegal.

There are much stricter penalties for, “Possession of a Gambling Record,” and, “Promotion of Gambling,” but both of these things concern illegal operators of gambling and not mere players. Players would not be engaging in, “Promotion of Gambling,” in any way whatsoever and the fact that one is merely a player, and not acting as the house, is a defense to the charge of Possession of a Gambling Record.

On one occasion, a gambling house was raided back in 2006 and all of the money and chips located therein were confiscated, but it doesn’t even seem like they decided to arrest the operators. They just wanted to shut the whole thing down.

Social games are also specifically allowed in Alaska, such as home poker games, provided that nobody is acting as the house or taking any kind of rake. In other words, these are zero house edge (100% RTP) games that are taking place, or unraked poker games.

And Casinos In Alaska (Sort Of)

Alaska does not have any casinos in the traditional sense, and certainly not any that are worth traveling to the state to visit if you are not already going there anyway!

To the extent that Alaska does have places to gamble, it’s mostly little Bingo Halls and stands/stores that sell Pull Tabs. Pull Tabs are also sold at Bingo events. Of course, we don’t list every Bingo Hall in all of the states, or one of the writers would have to devote an entire year to that project, so we won’t hunt down all of the Bingo Halls and Pull Tab sellers in Alaska.

However, one interesting, and fairly recent, development is that many locations (owned by tribes) have Class II) machines. There aren’t any Tribal compacts with the State of Alaska, at least none that I am aware of, as there are in most other states with tribal casinos, but Alaska probably doesn’t care very much.

Most average slot players would never know the difference between a Class II VLT and a Class III “Vegas-style,” slot machine. Of course, regulated machines have certain minimum return percentages that have to be maintained, and unregulated ones don’t, but I would be surprised if the returns to player in Alaska were meaningfully different than Class II machines elsewhere.

We aren’t exactly presenting casinos for this listing, but we are presenting the closest thing to casinos that Alaska Presently has.

Atka Ira Council Pull Tabs

Other sites seem to list this one, though there is nothing that would indicate that they have any machines whatsoever. It would appear that this property consists of a snack stand, thirty seat Bingo room and sells pull tabs and…that’s it.

Our opinion is that it shouldn’t be on a casino listings page if it doesn’t actually have any machines, racing or table games; Bingo is everywhere. However, since there’s really not much gaming whatsoever in Alaska, we will go ahead and list it. Other sites also list places that ONLY do Pull Tabs (do not even have Bingo) which we will definitely not be doing.

Juneau Tlingit and Haida Tribal Bingo Review

This is a Bingo Hall that is open on various days throughout the week. We would list the schedule, but it could change anytime. It is located at 3235 Hospital Drive in Juneau, Alaska, and does not appear to have any Class II Electronic Bingo machines.

Keex Kwan/Kake Native Heritage Bingo

This is located at 541 Keku Road in Kake and it has live Bingo and sells Pull Tabs. Keexkwan Lodge is also a bar restaurant located in the same facility.

Klawock IRA Pull Tabs/Klawock IRA Liquor Store

It goes without saying that this business, located at 407 Bayview Boulevard in Klawock, Alaska, is a seller of pull tabs, after all, it’s in the name. However, they have since expanded their offerings to include some Class II Electronic Bingo machines to go along with their pull tab sales.

Anyway, Klawock Casino is evidently located in or around this property (I’m not going to Alaska to find out) and appears to be a simple room with, perhaps, a few dozen Class II Electronic Bingo Games inside.

Interestingly, Klawock has evidently set up their own Gaming Commission, although, I’m not exactly sure what a Gaming Commission in charge of a handful of machines and pull tab sales is really supposed to be doing, but it’s there. They have a P.O. Box and everything.

Mic Gaming Hall

Mic Gaming Hall is located on 8th and Waterfront in Metlakatla, Alaska.

Prior to throwing some 90 machines in, the property functioned exclusively as a Bingo Hall and also sold Pull Tabs. They have a very active Facebook page which you can find here if you want to them for more information.

There’s really not much to say about the place besides that. Just imagine an open Bingo Hall with all of the tables and accompanying things, but then also put 90, or so, machines off to one side of it and you will have this place. It’s sort of a combination Bingo Hall and slot parlor, but it has to be one of the best places to play in the entire state…not that there’s much to compete with.

Sitka Tribal Bingo

This Bingo Hall is located on 235 Kaitlin Street in Sitka, Alaska, and conducts Bingo mainly on weekends. As far as we can tell, they do not actually have any Class II Electronic Bingo machines as of the time of this writing.

If you are looking for machines, then you should probably look somewhere other than Alaska, but as of the time of this writing, there are two places where you can play Class II Electronic Bingo machines, which are Mic Gaming Hall and Klawock IRA Pull Tabs, both of which are listed above.

I can’t imagine that you would have such a gambling itch, even if you were visiting those towns, that you would feel the need to stop at either of those places, but if you do, the addresses are above.

Lottery

Let’s clear up this matter once and for all—Alaska does not have a STATE lottery.

There is a sort of charitable organization that conducts what amounts to a 50/50 Raffle that calls itself, “The Alaska Lottery,” but that is not something that goes through the state. That entity is simply acting in accordance (we can presume and hope) with Charitable Gambling laws within the state that allow for the sale of Raffle Tickets.

In fact, we’re not even 100% sure that the way they operate is completely by the letter of the law, but if they’re raising money for charities, we certainly hope that they will be left alone. Other than calling themselves, “The Lottery,” which is maybe questionable, they’re definitely upfront about the way that the game works.

Prognosis For The Future

There have been bills in the past, such as a lottery bill in 2017, to expand the methods of gambling that would be legalized and regulated in the State of Alaska, but all such have died a Legislative death. Alaska is and remains a fairly staunchly Conservative state, but more than that, it’s hard to say whether or not the state would really benefit all that much from expanding the forms of legalized gambling. You could argue revenues, but with that would come the need to create a lottery commission for the purposes of oversight, and again, Alaska has a comparatively small population over a wide geographical range.

Top 20 Online Casinos in Alaska

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Conclusion

If you want to gamble online in Alaska, you essentially have nothing to worry about. Unfortunately for you, there are very few forms of traditional gambling available, limited only to live bingo as well as pull tabs. If you are acting as a mere player online, even if you did get caught, you would be subject only to a, “Violation,” for a first-time offense which carries with it no fines and no jail time whatsoever. After that, just don’t do it anymore.

References

• Alaska Department of Revenue: Gaming Frequently Asked Questions
• CNN: Alaska Legalizes Marijuana