- 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
The showboat Goldenrod was designated U.S. National Historic Landmark on 24 December 1967. She was placed on the 'Threatened Historical Landmarks' list in 2001. One of two remaining examples of the modern era of showboats that ended in the 1920s, Goldenrod is the largest and most elaborately decorated of the showboats. The Gaming Control Board approved the application from the owners of a Lake Charles-area riverboat 18 months after the legislature decided that state-regulated casinos outside New Orleans don't.
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.
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
- 13
- 7
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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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
Casino | Size | Address | Website |
---|---|---|---|
Ameristar Casino – Kansas City | 2,500 Slot Machines | 3200 North Ameristar Drive | www.ameristar.com |
Ameristar Casino – St. Charles | 2,700 Slot Machines | 1260 South Main Street | www.ameristar.com |
Argosy Casino – Riverside | 1,750 Slot Machines | 777 Northwest Argosy Parkway | www.argosykansascity.com |
Harrah’s – North Kansas City | 2,100 Slot Machines | 1 Riverboat Drive | www.caesars.com |
Hollywood Casino – St. Louis | 2,100 Slot Machines | 777 Casino Center Drive | www.hollywoodcasinostlouis.com |
Isle of Capri – Boonville | 900 Slot Machines | 100 Isle of Capri Boulevard | www.isleofcapricasinos.com |
Isle Casino – Cape Girardeau | 900 Slot Machines | 777 Main Street | www.isleofcapricasinos.com |
Isle of Capri – Kansas City | 1,000 Slot Machines | 1800 Front Street | www.isleofcapricasinos.com |
Lady Luck Casino – Caruthersville | 500 Slot Machines | 777 East 3rd Street | www.isleofcapricasinos.com |
Lumiere Place Casino – St. Louis | 1,700 Slot Machines | 999 North 2nd Street | www.lumiereplace.com |
Mark Twain Casino – La Grange | 600 Slot Machines | 104 Pierce Street | www.marktwaincasinolagrange.com |
River City Casino – Lemay | 2,000 Slot Machines | 777 River City Casino Boulevard | www.rivercity.com |
St. Jo Frontier Casino – St. Joseph | 556 Slot Machines | 777 Winners Circle | www.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
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.
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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.