Online Slots in Ohio

Between the four casino locations and seven racinos in Ohio, there are thousands of slot machines available. To be precise, the machines in the racinos are technically video lottery terminals, but from the point of view of players in the state, it makes little difference. And while real money online slots aren’t available, there are online social and sweepstakes casinos where Ohioans can play slots, as well.

This page is your one-stop shop for information about slots in Ohio. Read on for everything you need to know about slots in the Buckeye State, whether in person or online.

Can I play slots online in Ohio?

Yes and no. While real money online gambling is not legal in the state, you can play slots online in Ohio at a number of social and sweepstakes casinos. Pulsz, Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, and Funzpoints all offer legal slots to play in Ohio, with the option to play for free if you wish.

You may find real money online casinos operating from locations outside the country that purport to be available to Ohio players. However, these sites are not subject to US regulations, nor do they abide by Ohio gambling law. These “offshore” sites pose a risk to Ohio players, who have no legal recourse should they encounter any problems with site integrity, the security of their funds, the privacy of their personal information or anything else.

States with legal real money online casinos require the sites to operate according to strict rules regarding player safety. Ohio is not one of those states — not yet, anyway. Therefore, we recommend you stick either to social or sweepstakes casinos for online slots.

How to play social and sweepstakes slots in Ohio

As noted, a social or sweepstakes casino is the best alternative Ohioans have for playing online slots at the moment. These sites use virtual currencies rather than real money for their games, and in some cases offer chances to redeem winnings for cash prizes.

Such sites tend to feature well-designed online slots that rival those available at real money online casinos in other states. Most of these sites design games themselves, so you’ll often find titles that are exclusive to that site. Even so, many have similar themes and are evocative of brand name games that you’ll find on true online casino apps.

The following are the top such sites you’ll be able to access in Ohio:

  • Pulsz Casino
  • Chumba Casino
  • LuckyLand Slots
  • Funzpoints

Each site is a bit different from the other in terms of its presentation, although all of them operate similarly. Most focus largely on slots (in some cases exclusively), although some have table games, keno, drawings, and other options. Here are some of the top slot titles they offer:

  • Cai Shen Lai — LuckyLand
  • Cake Off — LuckyLand
  • Chase the 8s — Funzpoints
  • Cobra Room — LuckyLand
  • Dragon’s Den in 3D — LuckyLand
  • Game of Crowns — Funzpoints
  • Gold Rush Cowboys — Pulsz
  • Gold Rush Pete — Funzpoints
  • Hypernova — Chumba
  • Junkyard Fortune — Funzpoints
  • Mardi Gras Money — LuckyLand
  • North Guardians — Pulsz
  • Ramses’ Revenge — Pulsz
  • Scatters in Space — Funzpoints
  • Stampede Fury 2 — Chumba
  • Starburst — Chumba
  • The Last Empress — Chumba
  • Twin $pin — Chumba

And those are merely a sample of the dozens of games or more, you can find at each site. Between the four options, there is likely something for most players.

Social and sweepstakes casino apps

One major difference between real money online casinos and social and sweepstakes casinos is that, for the most part, the latter do not offer apps for mobile play. There are some exceptions — Pulsz, for instance, has an Android app on the Google Play Store. For the most part, though, everything is browser-based, even on mobile devices.

Thankfully, the sites have endeavored to optimize their games for the type of device that you use to log into your account. You’ll find that even when playing through the browser on your phone that these sites have full functionality for every element of gameplay.

Ohio progressive jackpots

Social and sweepstakes casinos in Ohio provide a comparable variety of slots to what you’ll find at a true online casino. That includes slots with progressive jackpots. Since such slots offer the chance at large payouts, let’s discuss how they work.

Progressive jackpot slots function like regular slots with one key difference. The progressives advertise large jackpots if you can manage to align the reels in a precise manner. The slot takes a small portion of every wager and puts it into the pool, which means the jackpot increases due to contributions from all the spins that don’t win it.

Because part of the money that might normally go to regular prizes is going to the jackpot, progressive slots are usually a bit tighter than regular ones. That means you are not going to win regular payouts on these games as often as you might with a typical slot. However, you cannot win the big jackpot if you don’t play, so let’s talk about your online options for progressive slots in Ohio.

No other casino-style site has more jackpot slots than Pulsz, with nearly two dozen progressives. Some of the titles include Lantern Luck, Colossal Gems, and Hot Hot Fruit. If a jackpot slot is your primary objective, Pulsz is a good first stop.

However, it’s not your only option. Here are some other available jackpot slots:

  • Dr. Amazing — LuckyLand
  • Legendary Wins — LuckyLand
  • Neon Valley — LuckyLand
  • Pow Pow Lions — LuckyLand
  • Stallion Grand/Dancing Gold — Chumba
  • The Last Empress — Chumba
  • Vikings of the North — Chumba
  • Western Gold — Chumba
  • Wild Roads/Triple Fever — Chumba
  • Wild Winter — LuckyLand

Rewards programs for slots in Ohio

If you visit one of the casino locations in Ohio where you can play slots, you will likely be able to join a rewards program. These programs award you points and rankings on a tiered system that are good for benefits and perks at that location or at other casinos owned by the same company. You generally earn points with each wager you place.

Unfortunately, social and sweepstakes casino sites generally do not have similar programs. They do offer other incentives and rewards, though, so keep an eye out for those as you play.

Ohio slot machines and the law

Ohio law treats slot machines similar to the way other states do. Rather than leave anything to chance, the law enacts a blanket ban on slot machines as an institution in the state. Therefore, as the state attorney general clearly states, slot machines are illegal in Ohio. The actual relevant section of Ohio law is Section 2915.02 of the Ohio Revised Code:

“No person shall do any of the following … (e)ngage in betting or in playing any scheme or game of chance as a substantial source of income or livelihood.”

Earlier portions of Section 2915 explicitly list a slot machine as an example of a scheme or game of chance under the law’s definitions, just in case there was any confusion about whether the prohibition explicitly applied to slots.

However, thanks to a favorable vote on a 2009 ballot measure, the Ohio Casino Approval and Tax Distribution Amendment, the four largest cities in the state received approval to host a full-service casino inside their city limits. All four casinos offer all manner of games, including slot machines.

Meanwhile, the thousands of slot-like machines at the seven racinos in Ohio are, in fact, not slot machines at all. Instead, they are actually video lottery terminals.

Even though VLTs outwardly function in a very similar manner to the slots you’ll find at the casinos in the state, they use lottery drawings to determine the outcomes of their games. That difference makes the VLTs legal under a different portion of Ohio law. Specifically, the Ohio Legislature attached amendments to a racetrack relocation bill in 2011 that permitted the seven facilities to apply for licenses.

Unlike the casino slots, which the Ohio Casino Control Commission oversees, all of the VLTs at the racinos fall under the Ohio Lottery Commission. But regardless of their technical innards, from a player’s point of view, VLTs and slots are largely the same.

Slot machine locations in Ohio

Here are the places you can go in to play slots in Ohio:

Casinos

As noted, there are four land-based casinos that offer slots in Ohio, in the state’s four largest cities.

Hard Rock Casino Cincinnati

  • Address: 1000 Broadway St., Cincinnati, OH 45202
  • Phone number: 513-250-3150
  • Estimated slots: 1,600
  • Top slot titles: Dancing Drums, Wheel of Fortune Mystery Link, Mad Max Fury Road
  • Rewards program: Hard Rock Wild Card Rewards

Hard Rock Casino Cincinnati sits on a 23-acre plot in downtown and offers a large number of slots as well as other games. There are four restaurants and one bar on the property, along with an event venue. The facility opened in 2013 as a joint venture between Caesars and Rock Gaming, the casino brand that Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert operates. Hard Rock purchased the location and changed it over in 2019.

Hollywood Casino Columbus

  • Address: 200 Georgesville Road, Columbus, OH 43228
  • Phone number: 614-308-3333
  • Estimated slots: 1,760
  • Top slot titles: Dragon Link, Lightning Link, Dollar Storm
  • Rewards program: MyChoice

Hollywood Casino Columbus was the first of two Hollywood casinos in Ohio. It debuted in October 2012 on the site of a Delphi Automotive parts plant in the southwestern area of the state capital. Penn National Gaming owns and operates it, along with a sister casino in Toledo. The location features more than 100,000 square feet of casino space, six restaurants, and an entertainment venue.

Hollywood Casino Toledo

  • Address: 1968 Miami St., Toledo, OH 43605
  • Phone number: 419-661-5200
  • Estimated slots: 1,280
  • Top slot titles: 88 Fortunes Diamond, Jinse Dao Dragon, Ocean Magic Grand
  • Rewards program: MyChoice

Hollywood Casino Toledo is the second Penn National Gaming casino in Ohio. It sits on a 44-acre lot that once housed a Pilkington glass plant on the south bank of the Maumee River. In addition to a 125,000-square-foot gambling floor with slots, table games, and poker, there are four restaurants.

JACK Casino Cleveland

  • Address: 100 Public Square, Cleveland, OH 44113
  • Phone number: 216-297-4777
  • Estimated slots: 1,050
  • Top slot titles: Showcase Showdown, Jeopardy, Ultimate Fire Link: China Street
  • Rewards program: ClubJACK

JACK Casino Cleveland was the first casino to open for business in Ohio, debuting in May 2012. The casino occupies the former Higbee’s building, the landmark department store featured prominently (among other places) in the movie “A Christmas Story.” In addition to its gambling options, there are three restaurants, three bars, and a buffet.

Racinos

As mentioned above, there are seven racinos in Ohio that feature the slots-like video lottery terminals. There are more than 10,000 VLTs in these seven locations, with each site allowed to have a maximum of 2,500.

OH responsible gambling initiatives

Ohio Casino Control Commission

  • The state’s gambling regulatory body delivers a suite of resources promoting responsible gambling.
    Information about the Ohio Voluntary Exclusion Program is provided.
    Mental health resources are made accessible.
    A questionnaire is available to help individuals discern potential gambling problems.
    The commission lists facilities in Ohio that specialize in problem gambling treatment.
    They share contact information for helplines, both at state and national levels.

Problem Gambling Network of Ohio (PGNO)

  • Working in alignment with the National Council on Problem Gambling, this nonprofit encourages responsible gambling.
    PGNO offers specialized treatment services for those struggling with gambling issues.
    The organization conducts regular webinars and professional seminars for individuals engaged in the provision of problem gambling treatment services.