Missouri is a fine US state. You can see the famous Gateway Arch, you can eat delicious toasted ravioli while in Missouri, and more recently, you can watch St. Louis City FC take Major League Soccer by storm. But what about gambling? Can you play at online casinos or even visit a live gambling venue in Missouri?
The Legality of Land-Based Casinos in Missouri
If you perform a Google search of ‘casinos in Missouri,’ you’ll probably find a few establishments stating that they offer casino experiences. Well, there’s a caveat to this. No venue on land can allow gambling due to the state law prohibiting it. There are a few ways to skirt this legislation. The most common method is riverboat casinos, which leave the land-based jurisdiction and allow the patrons to gamble for the voyage.
This law has been perceived and reviewed multiple times. Currently, it allows boats in artificial moats to allow gambling activities as long as they happen on the vessel and not outside. As such, some casinos or other venues have boats on their premises within a body of water to qualify within this loophole.
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Horse Racing is OK…Sort Of
While on-site gambling is prohibited in a live casino, Missouri state legislation permits horse racing gambling. However, there is one catch: no horse racing tracks in the state! The law has allowed horse racing to participate in the state since 1984, but no developer has moved in to build a track!
Online Casino in Missouri?
As you would expect, Missouri has a similar stance on online gambling as it does on live venue gambling, Missouri online casinos just cannot legally operate from the state. Online casino sites can still offer free play options, but money cannot change hands. Compared to other states, Missouri is one of the stricter states enforcing these laws and has entertained little thought of legalizing online gambling. In the past few years, some notions came into play but have moved very slowly.
Do the Citizens of Missouri Want Online Gambling?
Yes and no. Yes, because the data suggests that they want it. Missouri folk already spend millions of dollars on allowed gambling products, like lotteries and bingo games. However, given the cultural norms of the Bible belt state, they don’t want to appear like they want to change the law. As such, a March 2023 poll suggested they didn’t like the state to permit sports betting.
However, over the border in Illinois, their local government is proactively in discussions to legalize many forms of gambling, both online and offline. This culture could easily seep into Missouri’s mindsets. Or the pro-gambling contingent could just travel to Chicago and enjoy gambling there instead.
Offshore Casinos or Other States?
Where there’s a will, there’s often a solution. Given that 6.1 million people live in Missouri, some will disagree with the local legislature and want to gamble online. Offshore casinos frequently appeal to US gamblers who are prohibited by state law. Therefore, those looking to play online poker, casino games, or wager on sports will find themselves using a site registered outside the US to have these gaming experiences. Unfortunately, this leads them to unchartered and unregulated areas, where the authorities cannot help if something should go awry. If the gambler were to alert the authorities, they’d probably punish them and make no effort to resolve the issue.
If these gamblers don’t end up on offshore casino websites, they could end up traveling long hours to position themselves in a place that does allow gambling. Those who want to do it more often may find that they relocate their lives outside of Missouri, ultimately costing the state in tax dollars. With Illinois seemingly poised to relax its laws, the pro-gambling communities of Missouri could move to Chicago and leave the restrictive laws behind.
Punishments for Illegal Gambling in Missouri?
One potential reason why the local population might not want more online gambling is fear of the government and its punishments. As previously mentioned, Missouri is stringent when it comes to law enforcement around illegal gambling. Violators of these laws have been ordered to pay massive figures of up to $5,000. While some have even had to serve prison sentences, while most only last 12 months, some extreme cases have incarcerated offenders for four years. It’s worth remembering that this is a US state that still uses the death penalty for some crimes and seldom gives favorable sentences or verdicts.
