Gambling Laws in Missouri

Missouri is famous for its riverboat casinos, but several other forms of gambling are legal in the state, including lotto and daily fantasy sports betting.

Which Types of Gambling Are Legal in Missouri?

The majority of legal gambling in the state takes place aboard numerous riverboat casinos, but there are a few other forms of betting which are also legal. The Missouri state laws on online gambling are another matter, with most forms deemed illegal.

Missouri Revised Statutes Chapters 572.010 and 313.001 cover gambling, with the Missouri Gaming Commission in charge of regulation and licensing.

Playing Casino Games

Casino gambling is legal, with a long history of riverboat casinos in the state. Currently, 13 vessels operate in Missouri, with a wide range of games offered, including slots, blackjack, roulette, baccarat, poker and craps.

Missouri prohibits unlicensed gambling which automatically excludes existing and new online casinos from operating in the state. Many foreign sites still offer membership to residents though.

Poker Rooms

Poker is legal in Missouri, with several of the state's licensed riverboat casinos offering regular games. Popular venues include Ameristar St. Charles, Hollywood Casino St. Louis and Harrah's North Kansas City.

Online poker gambling is not specifically mentioned in Missouri's legislation, making it an illegal state activity by default.

Bingo Gambling

Only charitable organisations can host bingo games and operators must wait at least six months before offering these.

Online bingo gambling is forbidden but many offshore platforms still target players within the site.

Lotto Games

The Missouri Lottery offers sales of tickets for draws such as Mega Millions and Powerball, plus scratch cards, keno and pull tab games.

Playing online lottery games for real money is illegal though and the state lotto isn't even permitted to sell tickets.

Social Gambling and Crypto Casinos

Missourians can enjoy the state's many available forms of social casino gaming. They can even play real money poker games in private residences, as long as no fees or rakes are taken. Despite continued efforts to ban loot boxes in Missouri, no such legislation exists. Skins gambling is also unregulated in Missouri.

Despite proposing a crypto mining protection law and offering the ability to buy and sell Bitcoin, Missouri does not recognise cryptos as legal tender. Hence, none of the state's gambling venues accept Bitcoin or altcoins as payment. Residents can still play games at various crypto-gambling sites, although the state would technically deem this as an illegal gambling activity.

Is Sports Betting Legal in Missouri?

Despite repeated attempts to legalise the activity, sports betting remains illegal. Due to disagreements about fee structures, a bill is unlikely to be passed anytime soon.

Horse race betting is technically legal and used to be a staple in Missouri, with track-side betting once a popular pastime. However, these venues have mostly closed down due to state laws requiring bets to be placed on events on the day.

Daily fantasy sports betting is permitted, with operators required to be licensed by the Missouri Gaming Commission. Only FanDuel and DraftKings are licensed to offer DFS betting in the state though.

Minimum Gambling Age Restrictions

The Missouri gambling age is 16 for charitable bingo games, 18 for horse race betting and lotto and 21 for casino games.

Gambling Tax Regulations

Missouri gambling tax regulation requires residents to pay taxes on all winnings. A 4% tax is charged on single wins, such as lottery payouts, while all other gambling winnings are classed as income and subject to a 5.4% tax. The federal-level tax of 24% also applies.

History of Gambling Laws in Missouri

Missouri has a long history of horse race betting and riverboat casinos, with such activities continuing largely unregulated until 1905 when both were banned outright. Horse race betting was legalised again in 1984, the same year as the Missouri Lottery was launched.

Riverboat casinos were legalised in 1992, with the first venues opening in 1994.

Daily fantasy sports betting was permitted in 2016. Whilst sports betting bills were presented at least six times in 2018 but none have been passed.

Key Facts

• Casino gambling is legal in Missouri via the 13 riverboat casinos.

• Online casino gambling is illegal.

• Poker gambling is legal, with games offered in several riverboats.

• Online poker gambling is illegal.

• Bingo gambling is legal but only via charitable organisations.

• Online bingo gambling is illegal.

• Lottery gambling is legal, with games offered by the Missouri Lottery.

• Online lottery gambling is illegal.

• Sports betting is illegal in both online and offline forms.

• Daily fantasy sports betting is legal.