Gambling Age In Virginia

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We've compiled this legal online betting guide for US players arranged by state, to provide accurate and up to date information on the legal online gambling status and gaming options available within each US state. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive state gambling directory which will empower players with the information to make informed decisions about online gambling.

  1. Gambling Age In West Virginia
  2. New Gambling Laws In Virginia
  3. Legal Gambling Age In West Virginia
  4. Gambling Laws In West Virginia

Virginia doesn’t have restrictive gambling laws on the books. Players must be 21 years of age to gamble online, but otherwise it’s not restricted. The minimum age for bingo sites is 18. Land-based gambling is more restricted, though several groups have sought land-based casinos in the past 5 to 10 years. Unlimited Casino Club access is also available through membership in The Greenbrier Golf & Tennis Club (from $1,908 annually) and The Greenbrier Sporting Club (homes from $1M). Must be 21 to play. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, please contact 1-800-GAMBLER or visit www.1800gambler.net. However, licensed offshore online platforms which offer casino games, poker, and sports betting can lawfully accept players who are at least 18 years of age or older. These licensed offshore online sites also offer players much more in the way of bonuses and perks and the platforms we recommend are all extremely reputable. Gambling Age in Virginia Currently, the only legal forms of gambling in the state are daily fantasy sports and the Virginia State Lottery. The legal age for one to play such games is 18 years of age or older. Below you can see a chart of the other important age laws in the state. Not unlike the neighboring West Virginia gambling age, the same partition happens when it comes down to the Virginia gambling age: 18 for a lottery, bingo, racetrack betting and 21 for online casino gambling.

This state-specific data will include a look at the state laws governing online gambling opportunities from online casinos, online poker, to online sports betting.

Each individual state is approaching the legalization of online gambling differently, thus it is necessary to detail lawfully available state-licensed options, and sanctioned licensed offshore online gambling opportunities. We also address some of the most commonly asked questions about gambling in each state and provide some helpful resources for players to access. This information can only be covered in depth within each of the state pages we offer, which you can find listed within this guide.

Is Online Gambling Legal In My State?

To avoid confusion, we have marked US states which offer state-regulated gambling options in the table below with a check mark. At this moment in time, eight US states have legalized and regulated online gambling in some form. For example:

Online Poker & Casinos:

  • Delaware - Online Poker and Online Casino gambling
  • Nevada - Online Poker
  • New Jersey - Online Poker, Online Casinos
  • Pennsylvania - Online Poker, Online Casinos
  • West Virginia - Online Poker, Online Casinos

Online Sports Betting & Fantasy Sports

  • Illinois - Legalized Online Sports Betting**
  • Indiana - Offers Online Sports Betting
  • Iowa - Offers Online Sports Betting
  • Massachusetts - Fantasy Sports Allowed
  • Mississippi - Online Allowed At Casinos Only
  • Montana - Legalized Online Sports Betting**
  • Nevada - Online Sportsbooks State-wide
  • New Jersey - Online Sportsbooks State-wide
  • New York - Allows Fantasy Sports And Domestic Sports Betting
  • Oregon - Offers Online Sports Betting
  • Pennsylvania - Offers Online and Domestic Sports Betting
  • Rhode Island - Offers Online and Domestic Sports Betting
  • Tennessee - Offers Online Sports Betting Apps
  • West Virginia - Online Sports Betting Allowed State-wide

** Legalized but Pending launch

Online Lottery:

  • Georgia - Online Lottery Allowed
  • Illinois - Online Lottery Allowed
  • Kentucky - Online Lottery Allowed
  • Michigan - Online Lottery Allowed
  • Minnesota - Online Lottery Allowed
  • New Hampshire - Online Lottery Allowed
  • Pennsylvania - Online Lottery Allowed

Is Licensed Offshore Gambling Legal In My State?

While the above-mentioned states offer regulated online gambling, they still maintain the option to utilize licensed offshore online options. Nearly all US state residents, except those from Washington or Connecticut, can legally access licensed offshore online gambling platforms to play online casino games, poker, or bet on sports.

This is because no state laws in these other 48 states specifically prohibit or allow it - thus operating in a technical grey area, it is still considered safe to use because it is not likely these states will draft and pass legislation to specifically affect domestic access to licensed offshore gaming.

What Is The Minimum Online Gambling Age in the US?

There is no one minimum gambling age in the US as this is set and regulated by each individual state. The minimum gambling age within each state is affected by various factors such as game selected and licensor. By this, we mean state-regulated online gambling options require domestic players, whether residents or visitors, to abide by the state's minimum gambling age for that form of gambling on land within the state's borders.

However, licensed offshore online platforms which offer casino games, poker, and sports betting can lawfully accept players who are at least 18 years of age or older. These licensed offshore online sites also offer players much more in the way of bonuses and perks and the platforms we recommend are all extremely reputable.

U.S. States Where You Can Legally Gamble At 18 And Up

Below you can learn more about the minimum legal online gambling age by state in the USA.

AL Offshore Yes:18IL Offshore Yes:18NE Offshore Yes:18SD Offshore Yes:18
AK Offshore Yes:18IN Offshore Yes:18NV Offshore Yes:18SC Offshore Yes:18
AZ Offshore Yes:18KS Offshore Yes:18NH Offshore Yes:18TN Offshore Yes:18
AR Offshore Yes:18KY Offshore Yes:18NJ Offshore NoTX Offshore Yes:18
CA Offshore Yes:18LA Offshore Yes:18NM Offshore Yes:18UT Offshore Yes:18
CO Offshore Yes:18ME Offshore Yes:18NY Offshore Yes:18VT Offshore Yes:18
CT Offshore NoMD Offshore Yes:18ND Offshore Yes:18VA Offshore Yes:18
DE Offshore Yes:18MA Offshore Yes:18NC Offshore Yes:18WA Offshore No
FL Offshore Yes:18MI Offshore Yes:18OH Offshore Yes:18WV Offshore Yes:18
GA Offshore Yes:18MN Offshore Yes:18OK Offshore Yes:18WI Offshore Yes:18
HI Offshore Yes:18MS Offshore Yes:18OR Offshore Yes:18WY Offshore Yes:18
ID Offshore Yes:18MO Offshore Yes:18PA Offshore Yes:18
IA Offshore Yes:18MT Offshore Yes:18RI Offshore Yes:18
Gambling age in west virginia

Online Gambling Laws in The United States

Gambling laws can be a rather complex topic these days as there are several US federal gambling laws to account for such as the UIGEA, and the Federal Wire Act, as well as, several individual state gambling laws. The reason for this is because the United States DOJ has said that states have the authority to determine their own destiny concerning both land-based and online gambling.

Afterward, several states moved forward with legalizing some forms of online gambling for their region. Multiple other states are currently in discussions amongst themselves regarding the possibility of embracing this virtual gaming platform in their own territories. As discussed earlier and from what can be read from our laws page, US players outside of WA and CT are permitted access to multiple licensed, certified, and regulated online gambling sites hosted outside of the United States. This is a nice alternative for those players not located in a state with its own regulated form of domestic online gambling.

States With Pending Online Gambling Legislation

US States That Offer Domestic Sportsbooks

US States With Passed Sports Betting Legislation (Pending Launch)

The frenzy that caught many technology-loving citizens, regarding the United States online gambling expansion, is not necessarily a phenomenon that we might see at a prevailing level in the law-creating structures of the states.

Virginia is at the bottom of the list when it comes to the prospect of instating such a regulation. We usually find this sort of reluctance to even debate the subject in states which haven’t a very liberal stance on gambling in general. Seeing how there aren’t any casinos in VA, it’s actually no surprise that talks about online casinos haven’t even started.

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Contents

Virginia Gambling Laws Overview

Virginia gambling laws aren’t the strictest in the country, but they also don’t offer any intense support in expanding these activities. Putting it simply, the authorities are not yet convinced of the pluses the instalment of slot machines in Virginia is going to bring to state’s budget.
The biggest shortage in the VA gambling field is, without any doubt, the lack of land-based casinos state-wide. For those state residents that are keen on betting in table games, not offering this option can result in two things:

  • An important part, as some of the more permissive states have found out, of potential tax revenues aren’t going to Virginia’s budget
  • This money is still spent, only in the benefit of others: either travelling to nearby states, Maryland and Delaware being the main speculator of this opportunity, or even worse, going abroad, towards online casinos based off-shore

Statistics show that a state with tribes willing to put the base of casinos on their land, get a taste of what the extra revenue from casino activity means and are much more relaxed towards the idea of allowing the expansion of gambling. In Virginia, the only recognized tribe thus far, the Pamunkey have had a different approach, being completely against it, even having to reelect a new tribal chief, which would support less this idea.

Gambling Age In Virginia

However, gambling in Virginia isn’t completely non-existent. The largest part is played by race betting. Until 2015, a renowned horse racetrack, the Colonial Downs, offered live racing to enthusiasts. However, some issues and endless debates made the venue to close-up shop for an indefinite amount of time. At the time, it’s rumoured to become a golf course. Still, betting on races is possible through the OTB locations around the state.

Virginia also has a state lottery and allows charitable gaming, as well as the organizing of social events, in the form of social poker, as long as no fees are paid for taking part.

Virginia Online Gambling Possibilities

Online gambling Virginia is not a subject in the state’s fiery debates so far, VA having other priorities to handle in this field, before that. This means that no slot machines are available anywhere between state borders. A solution has been found for this issue, as well, and seeing how the best casinos, in this case, are the ones available for VA players, it was the loop that off-shore new RTG online casinos found to enter this market.
For example, Bovada is legal in Virginia through the fact that it’s not actually specified to be illegal anywhere in the legislation. Thus, for those who wish to play online slots for real money, the only thing to look out for is the best way to discern between plenty of options existent out there. Filtrating these online sites through the pluses and minuses are given to them in professional made reviews, like the ones from the list above, might just be the easiest and most reliable way to go about this.

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Offline Gambling

Racetracks

The races should have been the element to replace gambling casinos in Virginia’s market. They were the main betting entertainment provider, up until 2015, when the only racetrack active, suspended its operations. Nowadays, the track is said to become a golf course, which ironically enough would allow golf courses betting.

Lottery

What would gambling in VA mean without the existence of a state lottery? It also participates at the interstate available versions, Mega Millions and Powerball.

Charitable Games

Some non-profit organizations are allowed to host charitable gambling events, in the form of bingo games, raffles or duck racing, in order to raise money for a specified cause. Also, as a result of many people not wanting to travel to casinos near VA, social casino nights are allowed, as long as the organizers don’t receive a fee for hosting such events. Surely though, this is a weak replacement, as it mainly offers a form of social poker, while other types of gambling, such as baccarat, are hard to be found at such events.

Future Prospects

2019 came along with an unexpected twist in the gambling market of Virginia after a bill on expanding this domain has passed the State Senate. The main development that this bill stipulates is that of allowing sports betting Virginia, which would be a terrific first step on the road to gambling expansion. It also could lead to the opening of one of the first state casino resorts, located in Bristol. Before getting hopes up, at this point, a referendum must be held on the matter, which would only be possible in November, but it’s still great news on the authorities’ behalf.

You Might Also be Interested in:

North Carolina online gambling
TN online gambling
KY online gambling
West Virginia online gambling
MD online casinos

FAQ
Is gambling legal in Virginia?

Gambling Age In West Virginia

There are some forms of gambling Virginia permits within its state: lottery, charitable games, and racetrack betting. There currently aren’t any gambling casinos, although some movement has been seen lately in that area, with a new bill passing Senate, which would allow a first casino to be built in Bristol. For those who haven’t the patience to wait that long, there is the option of traveling to nearby states, Maryland and Delaware being the closest go-to destinations. Also, online casinos are available, but only those situated in across borders jurisdictions.

Are there casinos in VA?

There aren’t any casinos in Virginia at this point, but the alternatives of going up online are permitted. As long as the operators of these online casinos are licensed in other countries which allow these activities. Also, driving around 100 miles to the closest casino in Maryland, for example, although uncomfortable, might just solve the issue.

Can I gamble online in Virginia?

New Gambling Laws In Virginia

If I would like to do some Internet gambling near me, there are only four states where I need to go, for that to be legal. As a resident of Virginia, these states are a bit farther away than comfortable, so another option to engage in online poker, would be to use the off-shore websites that accept players from the US. The main problem with not having Virginia online casinos is that if fraud happens, no American authority is allowed to check out the issue, but instead, you’d have to entrust the matter to the licensing authority, which is in another country altogether. For that not to happen, choose carefully the online casinos to play at. Instead of going solo on searching the wide web for a safe website, it’s better to follow the recommendation list of casinos from those sites specialized in reviewing online casinos.

Gambling Age In Virginia
What is the legal age for wagering in VA?

Not unlike the neighboring West Virginia gambling age, the same partition happens when it comes down to the Virginia gambling age: 18 for a lottery, bingo, racetrack betting and 21 for online casino gambling.

Are there any changes for the good in Virginia’s gambling market?

Gambling Laws In West Virginia

There is a real opportunity for a first addition to the Virginia casino list, in Bristol, after a bill has passed Senate in early 2019. If this bill manages to pass a state referendum, the possibility to play roulette should be available in no-time. The same bill is also trying to regulate sports betting, so it seems there are many things to be looking for in the near future.