What is USDC? It is another reserve backed stablecoin, issued by a different company from the one behind USDT. The difference between USDC and USDT lies mainly in the issuer, in how each discloses its reserves and in where each is listed. Both publish reserve reports with different detail and different levels of outside checking, and both have faced criticism. For a casino payment the gap is narrower: the cashier must accept that exact coin on that exact network, and USDC sent where USDT is expected can be stranded.
How to buy USDT usually comes down to two routes. A regulated exchange is the first: the buyer opens an account, verifies identity and funds it by card or bank payment, then keeps the coins there or withdraws them to a personal wallet. The other route is a person to person deal inside the exchange, where the platform keeps the coins locked until the seller confirms the payment arrived. Such deals carry their own traps, from money that turns out to be stolen to counterparties who ask to finish the trade outside the platform, where no protection is left.