Missouri Online Gambling

Missouri has 13 casinos. All 13 of Missouri’s casinos are on riverboats, and to Missouri’s credit, several of which are waterborne crafts or floating rafts that are much closer to actual boats than “riverboat casinos” in other states. There can be thousands of slot machines and hundreds of table games onboard, and there are several live poker rooms among the casinos, as well. The largest riverboat casino in the state is the Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City.

Online casinos are not legal in Missouri at this time. However, Rep. Dan Houx introduced an extremely ambitious bill during the previous legislative session that would have allowed online casinos, online poker and online sports betting. Though the bill failed, it does illustrate that the concept of online casinos is active among lawmakers. For now, visitors and residents of Missouri can only play online slots and table games via several sweepstakes and social casinos.

Sports betting is not legal in Missouri at this time. However, the 2022 legislative session brought the most realistic chance of legal sports betting. During the spring, the Missouri House passed HB 2502 by a wide margin, a bill that would have authorized the state’s casinos and professional sports franchises to offer both retail and online sportsbooks. However, the Senate did not support the bill, which means Missouri kicked the possibility of legalizing sports betting ahead to this year. We’ll see how that goes.

The Missouri Lottery first launched in 1986. Players can take part in draw games and scratchers. There is also a keno option that holds drawings every four minutes. The biggest games are the multi-state jackpot drawings such as Powerball and Mega Millions. Missouri does not allow the purchase of online lottery tickets, so you need to visit a retailer in the state in order to play. However, the Missouri Lottery does maintain a player’s club to reward players for continued loyalty.

Despite the fact that Missouri shares a border with top states for horse racing, including Kentucky and Arkansas, the state does not offer  many options for horse betting. Pari-mutuel wagering on horse races is technically legal in Missouri, but there are currently no active tracks in the state. Meanwhile, off-track betting sites are not allowed in Missouri. The state also appears not to permit online horse betting, either, although there are advance deposit wagering sites that accept Missourians.

Daily fantasy sports contests are completely legal in Missouri. A 2016 law compelled DFS companies like DraftKings and FanDuel to apply for licenses (at a cost of $10,000) and pay 11.5% of their revenue to the state as tax. Missouri is thus one of a small number of states that have explicitly legalized DFS. Top providers like FanDuel and DraftKings feature the usual slate of contests for Missouri players including in-game showdowns, tournaments and more.