The actual age restrictions within the US actually change from state to state as well as with tribal territories and depend on what gambling is actually being done. You can do a quick check on casino.org to see what the minimum age is to gamble and where. The age restrictions on gambling are enforced heavily throughout the United States, so knowing what age people can bet is crucial.
While there are some tribal casinos where the minimum age to gamble is 18, for the most part, in the United States, the legal gambling age is 21 years of age. Below we’ll take a closer review at the actual type of gambling happening and see what the age restrictions are per category.
Physical Casino Locations
If you’re looking to gamble big in a brick-and-mortar casino within the United States, then you’re looking at a minimum age of 21 years old. It doesn’t matter if you’re in Nevada at either Las Vegas or Reno or on the East Coast in Atlantic City.
Of course, there are some states where there will be an exception to the rule, and currently, in four states, the minimum age to play at a physical casino is 18 years old. These four states are Oklahoma, Montana, Wyoming and Rhode Island.
Keep in mind, specifically with Oklahoma, if they want to cater to ages 18 through 20, then they are not allowed to sell alcohol as the legal drinking age is still 21 years old. However, if the casino serves alcohol, then the age restrictions change back to 21 years old.
As mentioned earlier, tribal casinos that are on those lands follow their own set of rules. This is again another area with a minimum age of 18 years old. The states with tribal lands with casinos are New York, Minnesota, California, Idaho, Washington and Michigan.
What about online casinos?
While you may have heard of many states legalizing sports betting, only six states have legalized online casinos. Regardless of what casino options they have offered, the age restrictions keep the minimum at 21 years old. The six states are West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Michigan and Connecticut. The final state, although not widely promoted, is Nevada. The promotion is minimal in Nevada due to its huge infrastructure and investment in live casinos. They don’t want to lose out to those that come to the state and enjoy gambling in person.
Age restrictions related to betting on horses
While in some parts of the world, betting on horse races is somewhat of a luxurious activity often enjoyed by royalty; it is a much different picture that’s painted in the United States. It’s currently a declining activity to the point that it is starting to be seen less and less. While it is popular with the baby boomer generation, it was one of only a few legal gambling options.
Nowadays, it is working to appeal to the younger generation, and many race tracks in the United States will accept those at a minimum of 18 years old.
What do Daily Fantasy Sports look like for age restrictions?
Since this has appeared increasingly as a game of skill due to how daily fantasy sports are played, there is still an age restriction of at least 18 years old in many States. This is still because there is a gambling component to it.
There are two states, however, that feel that the minimum age needs to be 19 years old: Nebraska and Alabama.
Then to round off the age restriction changes, there are four states, Iowa, Louisiana, Arizona and Massachusetts, where the minimum age is still 21 for those wanting to play daily fantasy sports.
While many argue there are a lot of statistics involved when it comes to daily fantasy sports, there is still too much of an element of chance for States, meaning it won’t be legal for minors anytime soon.
How about sports betting and age restrictions?
Sports betting has seen a huge increase in recent years. This is because many states have enabled sports betting to be legal. In fact, over half of the States have legalized sports betting, with many of them also legalizing online sports betting.
So what are the age restrictions, then? Many of these states stick with the 21+ age restriction, and there are minimal deviations to this. For example, D.C., Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Washington (with certain requirements) and Wyoming all allow for sports betting at 18+ years of age.
The District of Columbia has some restrictions for sports betting, such as only being able to place sports bets in two designated locations or using their specific application.
Online Poker
Six states (with more along the way) have the authority to allow for online poker. They are Michigan, Delaware, New Jersey, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Nevada. Regardless, they all have taken a uniform approach to age restriction and have made the minimum age 21 years old.
While other states have also started legalizing online poker, they aren’t fully operational.
Overseas age restrictions.
Wonder what the rest of the world looks like regarding the legal gambling age? Some of these areas have been operating for quite some time now as well.
Throughout Continental Europe, the general age restriction is a minimum age of 18 years old. There are only three major areas where you need to be older, and that’s Belgium, Ireland and Germany. The age there is 21 years old. In Greece, you need to be even older, where the age restriction is 23 years of age.
Looking at Australia and New Zealand, the ages you can gamble are 18 years old and 20 years old, respectively. However, when looking at the rest of Asia nearby, wherever gambling is legal, the age typically is 21, except for South Korea, where you only need to be 19 years old.
Canada and the United Kingdom have a minimum age restriction of 18 years old as well.
