Gambling In Missouri

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  1. Sports Gambling In Missouri
  2. Casino Gambling In Missouri
  3. Casino Gambling In Missouri
  4. Gambling Winnings In Missouri
  5. Gambling In Oklahoma
  • Horseracing (1984), Lottery (1984), Casinos (1992), Bingo (1994)
  • $620 million
  • $3 billion
  • 16 for charity games, 18 for lottery and racing, 21 for casinos
  • Missouri does not have a statewide smoking ban
  • No forms of legal online gambling

Missouri gambling was late to the market when compared to other states. It didn’t legalize a lottery or racing until 1984. Missouri casinos and charitable gambling were legalized 10 years later.

Missouri Statute: Chapter 313; Problem Gambling. About the List of Disassociated Persons ('DAP') Code of State Regulations (CSRs) Frequently Asked Questions; How to get off the Problem Gambling List; How to get on the Problem Gambling. Types of Gaming Establishments in the Missouri Video Gaming Market. There has been an increased interest in the Missouri video gaming market in recent years due to proposed bills legalizing this form of gambling. For now, the placement and usage of video lottery game terminals (VLGTs) is still illegal in Missouri; however, that might change soon!

The Missouri Lottery is among the most successful in the country. That cannot be said about the state’s horseracing. The last of the tracks failed in the 1990s after Missouri casinos became legal. Off-track betting is allowed, but there are none of those facilities. That is because simulcast racing may only be held on days where there is a live race. This makes online betting on horses also illegal in Missouri.

Paying Gambling Taxes in Missouri

How are gambling winnings taxed? OnlineUnitedStatesCasinos has gathered everything you need to know about paying gambling taxes. If you want to learn how to report your gambling income to the IRS, check out our exclusive Gambling Taxes Guide.

Missouri Casinos Map & Guide

  • River City Casino
  • Argosy Casino
  • Isle of Capri
  • Harrah’s
  • Isle Casino

Sports Gambling In Missouri

  • 13
  • 7
  • 1
Gambling

Types of Missouri Online Gambling Allowed

The only form of legal Missouri online gambling is daily fantasy sports. The law is unclear on the topic. DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo! are among the sites that accept players in the state for daily fantasy sports contests. A bill was introduced in the Missouri Legislature in 2016 to expressly make daily fantasy sports legal.

November 2018 Update

Bingo! During the midterm elections, voters in Missouri decided to pass a measure that would give bingo in the state a boost. Now organizations will only need 6 months of membership to be allowed to offer bingo games.

Types of Live Missouri Gambling

  • Slots: Yes
  • Blackjack: Yes
  • Poker: Yes
  • Craps/Roulette: Yes
  • Horses: Yes
  • Lottery: Yes

There are four types of legal live Missouri gambling. One is allowed on the books but is a dead industry in the state; horse racing. The state allows tracks to offer live races but none actually do. That is because like in most states, Missouri casinos devastated the racing industry. Off-track betting is only legal on days of live races. That means there are no racebooks in Missouri either since no live races take place.

There is a state lottery in Missouri. Scratch-off and lotto tickets are mostly sold in convenience stores. This includes interstate drawings like Mega Millions and Powerball. Missouri also has Club Keno. These tickets are sold in bars, bowling alleys, and pool halls. A new drawing is held every four minutes.

Legal

Bingo and raffles are legal if offered by registered charities. These include religious, fraternal, and veteran causes.

A big attraction in Missouri are the riverboat casinos. These are open 24 hours a day. The boats are not required to leave the docks anymore. They are standard Missouri casinos that just happen to be located on waterways like the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. There are no restrictions on casino games. Players can enjoy slots, video poker, blackjack, craps, roulette, baccarat, Three Card Poker, Four Card Poker, Mississippi Stud, Ultimate Texas Hold’em, Pai Gow Poker, and live poker, among other approved games. There are currently 13 Missouri casinos that are open and operating throughout the state. You can use our Missouri casinos map to find the locations and contact information of each.

Missouri once had a $500 loss limit every two hours. This was repealed by voters in 2008.

Missouri Gambling Laws

Missouri gambling laws permit several forms of legalized gambling. All gambling establishments must be licensed by the state. This includes charities, which must register. A charity may offer bingo and raffles if spread by a religious, fraternal, or veterans organization. The charity must have existed for at least two years prior to spreading these games. Professional gamblers are barred from playing in charity games.

Casinos must be located on boats. The casinos no longer have to leave the dock, nor do they have to enforce loss limits. The $500 loss limit every two hours was repealed in 2008 by voters in a statewide referendum.

Gambling

Missouri Casino Games and Taxes

Casinos in Missouri may spread any table game allowed in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. This includes slots, video poker, Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Seven-Card Stud, blackjack, craps, roulette, keno, baccarat, Pai Gow Poker, and any approved house-banked table game. Missouri casinos must pay a 21 percent tax on gaming win to the state. There is also a $2 admission tax on every patron. This requires all Missouri casino patrons to have a player card so that they may be tracked for this fee.

Anyone that loses money in illegal gambling schemes may pursue loss recovery through the qui tam laws in Missouri. If the losing gambler declines to claim these losses, the family may do so in his place. Parents may recover the gambling losses of minors.

Racing is legal in Missouri. No tracks have operated since the 1990s. Off-track betting is only permitted on days where there is a live race. This means that there is no legal way to bet on a horse race in Missouri, even though the activity is technically legal. Mobile apps and websites that accept bets on horse races are also illegal. The Missouri Horse Racing Commission still exists but is essentially defunct.

Gambling

The state lottery may sell scratch-off and lotto tickets through retailers. They may not be sold over the Internet. The Missouri Lottery may also hold keno drawings every four minutes. Club Keno retailers require a special license. These are typically found in taverns and other businesses that have an open-pour alcohol license.

Missouri Minimum Gambling Ages

Missouri gambling law is a special case among other states when it comes to the “minimum gambling age”. They have three different tiers for the cut-off ages:

The minimum Missouri gambling age for bingo and raffles is 16 years.
The Missouri Lottery and horse racing have a minimum gambling age of 18 years.
Missouri casino players have a required minimum gambling age of 21 years.

Missouri Casinos List

There are 13 casinos in Missouri. Each Missouri casino is required to be located on or near a body of water. Most are located near the largest cities in the state.

Casino Gambling In Missouri

You can find the general casino information below, including the address and website. For more specific directions, you can use our Missouri casinos map for guidance.

CasinoSizeAddressWebsite
Ameristar Casino – Kansas City2,500 Slot Machines3200 North Ameristar Drivewww.ameristar.com
Ameristar Casino – St. Charles2,700 Slot Machines1260 South Main Streetwww.ameristar.com
Argosy Casino – Riverside1,750 Slot Machines777 Northwest Argosy Parkwaywww.argosykansascity.com
Harrah’s – North Kansas City2,100 Slot Machines1 Riverboat Drivewww.caesars.com
Hollywood Casino – St. Louis2,100 Slot Machines777 Casino Center Drivewww.hollywoodcasinostlouis.com
Isle of Capri – Boonville900 Slot Machines100 Isle of Capri Boulevardwww.isleofcapricasinos.com
Isle Casino – Cape Girardeau900 Slot Machines777 Main Streetwww.isleofcapricasinos.com
Isle of Capri – Kansas City1,000 Slot Machines1800 Front Streetwww.isleofcapricasinos.com
Lady Luck Casino – Caruthersville500 Slot Machines777 East 3rd Streetwww.isleofcapricasinos.com
Lumiere Place Casino – St. Louis1,700 Slot Machines999 North 2nd Streetwww.lumiereplace.com
Mark Twain Casino – La Grange600 Slot Machines104 Pierce Streetwww.marktwaincasinolagrange.com
River City Casino – Lemay2,000 Slot Machines777 River City Casino Boulevardwww.rivercity.com
St. Jo Frontier Casino – St. Joseph556 Slot Machines777 Winners Circlewww.stjofrontiercasino.com

History of Missouri Gambling

Modern gambling in Missouri started in 1984. There were two forms of gambling that date back to the state’s early days and into its territorial ones. Horse racing began in the 1750s. By 1800, there were 20 racetracks in St. Louis. Wagers were accepted through gray area bookmaking operations. Horse racing became illegal in Missouri in 1905.

Missouri casinos operated on riverboats in waterside communities during the 1800s. This was commonplace during that era. These riverboats survived through the prohibition days but were never technically legal. Authorities looked the other way.

Horse racing returned in 1984. Tracks struggled through the early years. The state was unwilling to permit off-track betting on days where there were no live races. This was done to encourage live racing days but it had the opposite effect. The inability to subsidize tracks with simulcast betting revenue contributed to the industry’s collapse once casinos were legalized in 1994.

Voters approved a constitutional amendment to create a state lottery the same year the horse racing industry was revived. The Missouri Lottery is permitted to hold games of chance. These include instant games, lotto drawings, and keno for money.

Voters returned to the polls in 1992 to approve riverboat casinos. The President Casino became the first Missouri casino when it opened on a boat that had been a part of the Mississippi River since 1907. It opened in 1994. Casino St. Charles opened around the same time. Admission fees were charged at the time. They ranged from $2 to $5, depending on the day of the week. Casinos in Missouri were only open from 10 am to 1 am. Excursions were for two hours. Players could not lose more than $500 per two-hour cruise. Some boats in the early years never left the dock. The cruise time was simply the period where the anchor was lifted.

Restrictions were relaxed over the years. The biggest inconvenience for gamblers was the $500 loss limit every two hours. This caused players to do unusual things. Gamblers would sell chips in bathrooms. Poker players were forced to stockpile chips to have the bankroll to sit in higher limit games. That is because a player could not buy-in to any casino game for more than $500 during a set two-hour period. This covered slot machines, video poker, table games, and poker tables.

Missouri was the last state with a casino loss limit. A statewide referendum did away with the $500 loss limit in 2008.

Missouri Casinos & Gambling FAQ

Casino Gambling In Missouri

Is there a state lottery in Missouri?

Yes. Games include scratch-off tickets, lotto drawings, and keno games.

Horseracing is legal in the state but there are no tracks.

Off-track betting is technically legal in Missouri but there are no places to make the wagers in the state.

No. Off-track betting is only legal at tracks on race days. There are no active tracks in Missouri.

The sites claim legality under Missouri’s skill gaming laws even though there is no specific statute addressing it. The state’s attorney general and legislature have not acted on the issue although a bill is pending that would legalize it.

Yes, there are currently 13 Missouri casinos. They must be located on or near the water.

The minimum Missouri gambling age is 16 years for charity gambling, 18 years for lottery and horse racing, and 21 years for casino gambling.

No. The $500 casino loss limit was repealed in 2008.

Missouri does not have a statewide smoking ban.

Legislators came out aggressively trying to legalize Missouri sports betting in 2020 but the Show-Me State will have to wait until next year at least.

A special committee convened to look at the topic in October and bills were pre-filed before the year even started. A half dozenbills to legalize sports betting in Missouri were introduced by the time the session got going.

While the differing bills showed that there were still some issues to be worked out, one of them was expected to reach the finish line. Legal Sports Report pegged Missouri as one of five states most likely to legalize sports betting in 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic changed many plans.

Missourians do have the option to place wagers using the DraftKings app when visiting Illinois. The app is available for download and registration can be completed anywhere within Illinois’ borders. An executive order allows registration anywhere in the state through Sept. 19; in-person registration at the state’s casinos could return after that date.

The future of Missouri sports betting

With how much attention legislators are paying to sports betting in Missouri, the state again will be a favorite to pass legislation in 2021.

First lawmakers need to work out some key differences on their bills. The main point of contention is whether to limit sports betting to the state’s riverboat casinos or also permit the Missouri Lottery Commission to to offer games based on the outcomes of sporting events.

Another proposal allowed sports betting in the entertainment areas around Busch Stadium, where the St. Louis Cardinals play, and adjacent to Sprint Center.

Some of the bills proposed in 2020 also tried to tie sports betting to a controversial issue in Missouri regarding sanctioning the Lottery Commission to implement a system of video lottery terminals at bars, truck stops, and entertainment districts around the state. Missouri sports betting could stand a better chance as a standalone bill.

Gambling Winnings In Missouri

Other details that need to be hashed out include whether or not to include an official league data mandate and the tax rate. The legislature at least made one advancement during the 2020 session, figuring out that bills shouldn’t give the leagues both an integrity fee and official league data.

When will online sports betting launch in Missouri?

When MO sports betting is legalized, mobile wagering is expected to be part of it. Legislation considered in 2020 permitted interactive wagering platforms to be tethered to the excursion gambling boats.

All of the most successful sports betting markets post-PASPA allow for mobile sports wagering. It’s particularly important to allow statewide access to online platforms in Missouri, as some Missourians live up to four hours from the closest riverboat casino.

How many skins, or brands, to allow is under debate in the legislature. Some bills limited skins to one, while one bill allowed up to three online platforms per licensee.

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