West Virginia has done a great job evolving the iGaming landscape in the state. The state’s market is still relatively young, but some of the most state-of-the-art online casino products in the industry are available for play.
Our Top Picks To Play Online Casino Games in West Virginia
I’ve studied the online casino market in The Mountain State, and here I will show you which offerings are my favorite. I’ve played them all extensively, so let’s dive into my thoughts.
SLOTS
TRADITIONAL VIDEO SLOTS
Traditional video slots are a common type of slot machine game, and you will find these at virtually every casino. These feature the signature symbols of fruits, shamrocks, and anything specific to the game itself. These possess numerous paylines and typically 3-5 reels. In addition, these have a fixed paytable, meaning that each combination has a set amount it will pay you, including the jackpot.
Progressive slots
Progressive slots are similar to traditional slots. It’s essentially the same functionality. The only difference is the payout structure, especially pertaining to the jackpot. With most progressive slots, the jackpot increases as each person plays the slot and does not win. Sometimes, multiple progressive slots can be connected to each other.
TABLE GAMES
BLACKJACK
Blackjack is perhaps the most well-known table game at casinos. The game’s object is to get as close to 21 without going over or possessing a total higher than the dealer. Each card is given a point total, with numbered cards receiving their face value, face cards with a value of 10, and the ace with a value of 1 or 11. This game is exhilarating to play and takes minimal skill to start playing right away.
CRAPS
Whether you’re after complexity or simplicity, you’ll find it at the Craps table. Craps is an exciting, fast-paced game that uses a pair of dice. You will even get to throw the dice yourself! You also get to enjoy the game with other players when betting on the pass line (if playing a live dealer game). This is done by wagering on the dice roll from another player. If the player rolling gets a 7 or 11, you win. You lose if the player rolls a 2, 3, or 12.
If the player’s roll is any other number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10), that number becomes the point number. When a point number becomes established, the player keeps rolling the dice until either a 7 or the point number is rolled. If a 7 is rolled first, everyone who has bet the Pass Line loses their bet.
However, if the point number is rolled first, every Pass Line bettor wins!
As an example, let’s say the player rolls an 11. Everyone who bet on the Pass Line wins an amount equal to their wager. Now, the player throws the dice again and rolls a 10. This 10 becomes the point number. From now on, the only numbers that matter for the Pass Line are 7 and 10. Any other numbers will result in an additional throwing of the dice. If the player rolls a 10, the Pass Line bet wins. If the player rolls a 7, the Pass Line bet loses. Once either condition is met, a new Pass Line bet can be wagered.
Players can also make the opposite of a Pass Line wager. This wager is fittingly called the Don’t Pass bet. If the player rolls a 7 or 11, you lose. If the player rolls a 2, 3, or 12, you win. It should be noted that in some casinos, a 12 on the Don’t Pass is a draw or a push, and your money is refunded.
Any other number becomes the point number. Using 10 as our point number example again, the Don’t Pass bet will win if the player rolls a 7 before a 10 can be rolled.
Betting the Pass and Don’t Pass Lines are the most simple, straightforward way to play Craps. However, if players want more intricacy to their betting, they can make an array of side bets between each dice roll. One such example is called the Come bet. The Come bet behaves very similarly to the Pass Line bet. The critical difference is that players may wager a Come bet after a point number has been established.
In a similar fashion to the Pass Line bet, the Come wager wins on a 7 or an 11 and loses on a 2, 3, or 12. The Come bet will get its own specific number if the dice roll is any other number. In order to win, this number must be rolled again before the player rolls a 7.
Another easy, popular side bet is betting the Field. If the next roll is 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12, the bettor wins an amount equal to the Field bet. In the case of a 2 or a 12, the Field bet payout is doubled! With its ability to cover so many numbers with a single bet, there is no mystery about why the Field bet is such a popular and exciting side wager!
Craps is always one of the most popular action-filled games in live casinos because of the capability for all participating players to win together!
However, this does mean there can be considerable wait time as players must wait for other players to be paid out and for newly arriving players to buy-in. Online Craps tables up the excitement by allowing players to play solo, so there’s no wait time and more action!
ROULETTE
There is not much else that takes the place of the tension of waiting for the Roulette wheel to stop spinning. You can see it visibly slowing down, and you’ll be waiting for it to land on your wager.
You can make multiple wagers, including different columns of the 36 total numbers, groupings of numbers, black numbers, red numbers, one of the three dozen of numbers, line bets, a street bet, and more. These all pay varying value amounts. One popular method of betting strategy is The Martingale Betting Strategy, which has the mindset of doubling your wager each time you lose.
THREE CARD POKER
Three Card Poker is one of the most beloved table games offered at casinos. This is due, in part, to how incredibly easy it is to learn. Many newcomers to Three Card Poker feel comfortable with the rules and betting structure within a hand or two.
Players compete against the dealer for a better three-card hand in this game. First, a player must place a bet on the Ante marker on the table to receive cards. Players are then dealt 3 cards, face down. The dealer also accepts three face-down cards. From here, players look at their cards and decide if they want to bet on their hands.
If they do, they must place a wager on the Play marker equal to their Ante bet. If the player does not like their hand and declines the wager on the Play marker, their Ante bet is forfeited. Players who make the Play bet go heads up against the dealer.
To qualify, the dealer must have a hand of Queen-high or better. If the dealer does not qualify, the Ante bet is paid to all players involved in the hand at an amount equal to their Ante bet (also known as a 1:1 payout). The Play bet is a push; it is neither paid nor taken.
If the dealer qualifies and possesses a better hand than the player, that player’s Ante and Play bets are both forfeited. If the dealer qualifies, but the player possesses a better hand, the Ante and Play bets are both paid 1:1. Should the dealer’s qualifying hand tie the player’s hand, the bets are pushed.
An exciting twist to Three Card Poker is the Ante Bonus.
Players may qualify for this bonus payout when making an Ante and a Play bet. To win an Ante Bonus, a player must hold a Straight, Three of a Kind, or a Straight Flush. If these conditions are met, players will receive their Ante Bonus even if the dealer’s hand does not qualify. Players will still receive the Ante Bonus even if the dealer’s hand wins!
Players may also make a wager called a Pair Plus. With this wager, a player may bet on their hand. As the name implies, a player wins if they hold a pair or better. While both the Ante Bonus and Pair Plus are awarded based on a player’s held hand, the Pair Plus has a much higher payout. For example, if a player has a Three of a Kind, the Ante Bonus will pay 4 to 1.
If the player also made a Pair Plus bet before the start of the hand, the Pair Plus side bet will also pay 30 to 1 (Amounts can always vary from casino to casino, but these payouts are typical to most Three Card Poker tables). When a player has a winning Pair Plus and an Ante bet, a player must make a Play bet to stay in the hand.
Some Three Card Poker tables also offer a side bet called a 6 Card Bonus. When a bet is placed here, players can use both the dealer’s hand and their own hand to make the best 5 card poker hand. Like the Pair Plus, this side wager allows players an opportunity to turn losing hands into fortuitous windfalls.
Let’s use an example to see the unpredictability of Three Card Poker in action. Hypothetically, you have been dealt an Ace, a King, and a 7 after you place an Ante bet of $10 and a 6 Card Bonus of an additional $10. You decide you like this hand and place a matching Play bet of another $10. The dealer’s hand is flipped over, revealing two Kings and an Ace.
The dealer’s pair of Kings beats your hand, costing you both your Ante bet and your Play bet. The 6 Card Bonus, however, will net you a tidy sum. Your combined hands contain three Kings and Two Aces, making a full house. On the average Three Card Poker table, a full house has a 6 Card Bonus payout of 20 to 1. You will have won $200 despite losing the hand!
These kinds of comeback scenarios make Three Card Poker one of the most riveting table games in any casino. Unlike other variations of poker, players do not have to remember hand rankings to play this fun and exciting game, as the dealers will read the hand for the players. This makes Three Card Poker a fun, less intimidating choice for new players and casual gamblers alike.
Pai Gow Poker
Pai Gow Poker is a hugely popular table game found in casinos around the world. In Pai Gow, players must arrange their hands into two separate piles to form a high and a low poker hand.
Initially, this fun and strategic game can seem daunting to players who are used to games such as Blackjack, where the players never touch their cards. However, newcomers will find that despite being more hands than other casino offerings, Pai Gow is very simple and easy to learn.
Each hand starts with a roll of three dice. This roll determines where the deal will start. Each available seat is assigned a number. The dealer is number 1. From there, the count and the deal go counterclockwise. Every available seat is dealt a hand, regardless of whether there is someone seated there or an ante is present. The dealer then discards the hands of the empty seats.
From here, the players may now look at their cards and create two poker hands: One high hand, which must be placed face-down on the table, usually on a spot designated with an H. And one low hand, which is placed face-down on a spot usually demarcated with an L. The low hand can either be a High Card rank or a pair. The remaining five cards go into the high hand.
In order to win the bet, both the high and low hands of the player must beat each of the dealer’s high and low hands. If both hands are lower than the dealer’s hands, the player loses. If only one of the hands wins, it is considered a push, and the bet is neither paid out nor forfeited.
However, should a player mistakenly put their high cards into their low pile, their entire hand and their wager are both automatically forfeited. Thus, Pai Gow requires players to remain observant while organizing their hands.
Pai Gow adds a joker to the deal, meaning the game utilizes a 53-card deck. This Joker can be used only as an Ace or to complete a straight, flush, or a straight flush. Pai Gow also has a side bet called a Fortune Bonus that with a payout that scales based on the quality of the poker hand the player has.
FOUR CARD POKER
Four Card Poker bears some similarity to Three Card Poker, but its unique set of rules set it apart as a fun and entertaining game in its own right. In this tabletop game, players are dealt five cards to make the best four-card hand. The dealer receives six cards from making the best four-card hand.
In a departure from similar games, the dealer always qualifies in Four Card Poker. To balance this out, any player’s hand that results in a tie is counted as a win for the player. The hand rankings in Four Card Poker are a bit different than what players of other poker games might be accustomed to seeing.
In order of strongest to weakest, the Four Card Poker hand hierarchy is as follows:
- Four of a Kind
- Straight Flush
- Three of a Kind
- Flush
- Straight
- Two Pair
- Pair of Aces
- High Card
To start the hand, players must first make an Ante wager. Each player then receives five cards while the dealer receives six cards. Each must arrange their hand into the best four-card hand. From here, players can decide whether to play their hand or fold. To continue, a player must wager a Play bet.
This amount can be from 1-3x the Ante bet.
After the Play wager is made, the dealer reveals his hand and compares it to each player’s hand. If the player’s hand beats or ties the dealer’s hand, the Play and Ante Wagers are paid an even amount.
There is also a side bet that can be made prior to being dealt a hand. This wager is called Aces up. The amount bet must match the Ante, and the bet is won if the player is dealt a pair of Aces or better.
In addition, Four Card Poker also gives players an automatic Ante Bonus when the player’s hand is three of a kind or better. Similar to the Ante Bonus in Three Card Poker, players win this bonus even if their hand loses to the dealer. Find out more about West Virginia online casino bonuses here.
LET IT RIDE
Let It Ride is a fun game with a simple but compelling objective: the player must receive a hand with a pair of tens or better. In a departure from most other table games, Players in Let It Ride do not compete against the dealer or each other.
There are three betting circles on a Let It Ride table. Players must place a bet of an equal amount in each of these circles prior to starting the game. But don’t let that startle you! If players don’t like the hand they were dealt, they may choose to take back up to two of their bets.
Once all bets are made, each player is dealt three cards. Even though players are not playing against each other, they must not show their cards to other players. Two additional cards will be dealt face-down. These are community cards that can be used by any of the players to improve the strength of their hands.
After a player looks at their hand, they may opt to play their hand and “let it ride" by tucking their cards underneath their first wager. If the player does not like their hand, they may scratch the surface of the table with their cards. This signals to the dealer that the player would like to take back one of their bets.
Once players have made their decision, the first community card is flipped. Players can then let their remaining bets ride or have their second wager returned to them. Finally, the dealer will turn over the second community card. Each player’s hand is then flipped face-up for dealer evaluation.
Payouts are scaled based upon a 5 card poker ranking. Only bets still in play will be paid. A player cannot be paid for bets that they had returned to them during the hand. As previously mentioned, players must have at least a pair of tens to qualify for a payout. If a player does not have at least a pair of tens, they automatically lose.
There is also a side bet in Let It Ride. This bet is called a 3 Card Bonus. Players who make this wager win automatically if their original three cards contain a pair of tens or better.
MINI BACCARAT
Mini Baccarat is a fun game that is very welcoming to new players. The objective of Mini-Baccarat is to get a point total as close as possible to 9. Tens and face cards are worth 0. Aces are worth 1. Every other card is worth its face value.
When the total value of the cards is over 9, ten points are subtracted from the total. So, for example, if the player’s hand draws an 8 and a 7, the total equals 5 (15 – 10).
The dealer does all of the heavy lifting in Mini-Baccarat. The only thing required of the player is to decide whether they want to bet on the player’s hand or the dealer’s hand. There are two sides: Player and Banker. It should be noted that these names signify the names of two different hands, not actual players. Once bets are made, both sides draw two cards each.
There are some mildly convoluted rules that denote when a third card should be drawn. But players are not required to know this, as it is handled by the dealer. Once all required cards have been dealt, the payout is given to whichever side bet on the winner.
This allows multiple players to play at once with only two hands needing to be dealt. This allows for a rapid pace of play and tends to create a lot of camaraderie as players often win and lose together.
ULTIMATE TEXAS HOLD’EM
This casino game is a variation of the definitive, classic poker game. In this version, players play heads up against the dealer instead of each other. Prior to the hand, players make equal bets in the Ante and Blind circles.
The dealer starts the hand by dealing five community cards face-down on the table. Each player and the dealer is then dealt two cards face-down. Players then look at their cards and decide if they want to raise the Ante bet or simply check(neither fold nor increase the bet).
The dealer turns over the community cards in two rounds. The dealer reveals the first three community cards in the first round of play, known as the flop. In the next betting round, the final two community cards are revealed at the same time, followed by another round of betting.
In this final round, players must either match their original Ante bet or fold. Upon completion of all rounds and player betting, the dealer’s hole cards are revealed.
The dealer must hold at least a matching pair to qualify. If the dealer does not qualify, the players’ antes are returned to them. If the dealer does qualify, the remaining players’ hands are compared against the dealers, with the winning hands receiving a payout equal to their total number of bets placed.
LIVE DEALER
Live dealer games take some of the table games mentioned above and bring them to life in a virtual setting. With online casinos in West Virginia, you can play these games with an actual dealer as if you were on the casino floor.
The typical live dealer games you’ll find at online casinos such as DraftKings and FanDuel are Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat, and Poker. This is a very revolutionary feature online casinos offer to bring a real-life casino experience into your living room or on the road!
VIDEO POKER
Based on five-card draw poker, Video Poker is played on a device similar to a slot machine in retail casinos. Generally speaking, video poker is essentially the same as regular poker.
The key difference between them is that video poker can be played online, takes a baseline knowledge level of poker, and there are numerous variations.
CLASSIC ONLINE POKER
Online poker is technically legal in West Virginia, but it has yet to actually launch. Poker was also included with the state’s passage of online gambling, but it is not yet offered online. However, there are four live poker rooms in West Virginia.
The main difference between online poker and playing poker in person is the pace of play. Two of the most popular poker games are Texas Hold’Em and Omaha.
Texas Hold’em is a game in which you will get two cards to face down. These are the “hole cards." Throughout the game, more cards will be dealt face up—these are the community cards. The community cards can be used by all players to make the best five-card hand. The main goal of the game is to have the best hand of five cards based on a specific ranking system.
Omaha is similar to Hold’Em, but the main difference is you will receive four “hole cards" and will construct your hand using two of your “hole cards" and three of the community cards. Omaha is also considered to be a faster-paced, more volatile variation of poker.