Guide to Online Gambling in Missouri: The Best Missouri Gambling Sites for 2026
By Todd Winkler,Editor at online-gambling.com
Todd Winkler
Editor at online-gambling.com | Gambling | Legal Since |
|---|---|
| Sports | Legal since: 2025 |
| Daily Fantasy | Legal since: 2016 |
| Casino | Illegal |
| Poker | Illegal |
| Lottery | Illegal |
Missouri Daily Fantasy Sports
Missouri is one of the few states that has made formal legislation dealing with paid fantasy sports. The Missouri Fantasy Consumer Protection Act states that “no fantasy sports contest operator shall offer any fantasy sports contest in Missouri without first being licensed by the commission”. This means that you can play safely, legally and with protection. That being said, you can be absolutely sure that daily fantasy betting in Missouri is safe and secure, and that you will get any of your potential winnings payed without a hitch. Check out my recommended Missouri daily fantasy sports sites below.
- We have waded through all the Missouri gambling laws to make sure that the information we give you is accurate.
- We keep up with the gambling-related news by following trusted local news media such as Kansas City Star and the Missourian.
- We create handy beginner’s guides. Check out our free roulette, blackjack and video poker pages to learn all about the games.
Gambling Laws in Missouri
Missouri spent decades as a restrictive state, and then changed in one vote: Amendment 2 passed in November 2024 and online sports betting went live on 1 December 2025. Alongside that you can play at the state’s riverboat casinos, enter paid fantasy contests, buy lottery tickets and place pari-mutuel bets at a state fair.
The legalization of the state lottery in 1985 was done for the same reason. As mentioned above, you can also play paid fantasy sports legally in the state. These games were formally legalized and come under the jurisdiction of the Missouri Gaming Commission.
Missouri Sports Betting
Sports betting is legal in Missouri and has been live since 1 December 2025. Voters approved Amendment 2 in November 2024 after years of failed bills in the legislature, and the market opened with eight online sportsbooks: bet365, BetMGM, Caesars, Circa, DraftKings, Fanatics, FanDuel and theScore Bet, plus retail books at the casinos and major sports venues. The Missouri Gaming Commission licenses and regulates all of them, and operators pay 10% on adjusted gross revenue. You must be 21 and inside state lines to place a bet. For more detail, see our page on Missouri sports betting.
Missouri Online Casinos
While you can play slots and table games on riverboat casinos in MO, online casinos in Missouri are strictly banned. This also means that as a resident of the state, you are not allowed to access out of state sites on which to place bets. There does not currently seem to be any political will to change this fact.
Missouri Poker
Just as with online casinos in Missouri, online poker is strictly prohibited. While some advocates of the game argue that it is a game of skill, and therefore does not constitute gambling, the state does not see it that way. So, for the time being at least, you cannot legally play in an online poker room.
Missouri Lottery
Though not the first state to set up a lottery by any means, the Missouri Lottery has been running since 1985 and has directly contributed to funding the state’s education programs since 1994. You cannot buy tickets online, unfortunately, so you will need to find a participating store in the state. However, we’ve created a Missouri lottery page which might be of help if you want to know more on the matter.
History of Gambling in Missouri
As with every state, there have been moves for and against gambling in all its different forms throughout the history of Missouri. Note that like many other states legalized DFS in the recent years, Missouri makes no exception as well. You can read our reviews of the daily fantasy sports in Georgia, California, Colorado or Iowa, for example, if you want to find out more. Missouri has a really interesting gambling background and just to keep it simple, I have created a table with the biggest developments that have happened in the last 40 years or so.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1980 | Bingo is legalized as long as it is charitable. |
| 1985 | The Missouri Lottery becomes legal and is set up. |
| 1992 | For the first time, riverboat casinos are allowed, marketing card games to bettors. |
| 1993 | The Missouri Gaming Commission is founded. |
| 2016 | Daily Fantasy Sports are permitted by state law. |
| 2018 | Several bills are proposed that would allow for legal sports betting in MO. |
| 2024 | Voters approve Amendment 2 in November, legalizing sports betting after the legislature repeatedly failed to. |
| 2025 | Online and retail sports betting goes live on 1 December with eight mobile sportsbooks. |
Missouri State Facts
Missouri is full of great little bits of trivia. Even the nickname “The Show Me State” has a weird history. Some claim that it came from a former senator’s comment that he didn’t believe in something just because it was stated eloquently; he said that you have to “show me”. Others cite the travelling miners who worked in other states and had to be shown how to dig in other parts of the country. Who knows which is right? Certainly not me, but I have listed some verified facts below.
| Population | 6,126,452 |
|---|---|
| Min. Income/month | $1,490.67 |
| Biggest Offline Gambling Location | Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City |
| Gambling Commissioner | Missouri Gaming Commission |
| Spoken Languages | English 93.9%, Spanish 2.6%, German 0.4% |
| Biggest Local Sports Team | St. Louis Cardinals |
| Missouri Tax Authority | Missouri Department of Revenue |
| Link to the State Law | https://www.ago.mo.gov/missouri-law |
| Gambling Winning Tax | 4% |
| State Website Link | https://www.mo.gov/ |
| Famous Local Gamblers | Greg Raymer |
Gambling Age in Missouri
To bet on sports or gamble at a riverboat casino in Missouri, you must be at least 21 years of age. However, you can buy a lottery ticket from 18. The state has some of the most lenient drinking laws in the country, but you still have to be 21 to purchase or drink alcohol, as with the rest of the country. Recreational use of cannabis is strictly illegal, but in 2018, a constitutional amendment allowed for medical marijuana. The infrastructure supporting this use is still being set up, however.
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Online Gambling Age:
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Alcohol Age
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Weed Age
Responsible Gambling and Addiction Prevention
There is a number of places to which you can turn if you think that you need help with your gambling. Organizations such as the National Council on Problem Gambling offer advice, counselling and support, and the national helpline 1-800-GAMBLER runs 24/7. You can also sign up to a lifetime exclusion program with the Missouri Gaming Commission. Now that mobile betting is live, it is worth knowing that every licensed sportsbook must also offer deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion inside your account settings.
Upcoming Regulation and Expected Changes
Sports betting is settled, so the live debate in Jefferson City has moved to tax. Amendment 2 lets operators deduct promotional bets, and with more than $125 million handed out in free bets in the opening months the state collected far less than projected. Bills to raise the 10% rate or curb the deduction were floated in 2026 and shelved, and they are likely to return.
Online casino and poker are not on the table. No bill has been filed, and there is no sign of one, so online casinos in Missouri remain off-limits for now. The lottery is also still retail-only, with no iLottery platform and no courier apps licensed in the state.