Legal online and retail since December 1, 2025 — one of the newest US markets. Voters narrowly approved it in 2024, and about eight apps now operate, including FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM. Missouri taxes betting at just 10%.
Legal. Missouri has 13 riverboat casinos along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers (the number is capped at 13 by law), several with live poker rooms. There are no tribal casinos in the state.
Legal and regulated since 2016, when Missouri passed a fantasy-sports consumer-protection law. DraftKings, FanDuel, and others operate under Missouri Gaming Commission oversight.
Legal and state-run since 1986 — but retail only. Missouri does not sell lottery tickets online, and courier apps like Jackpocket don’t operate here.
Contested. Thousands of unregulated slot-style machines run in gas stations and bars. Courts have ruled them illegal gambling devices and the largest operator is shutting down, but bills to formally legalize and regulate them keep failing.
Grey area. Missouri hasn’t passed a law banning online sweepstakes casinos, so they operate in an unregulated space — though some face lawsuits, and the picture could change quickly.
Not legal. Missouri has no regulated online casino, and no serious iGaming bill has advanced — 2026 lawmaking focused on the sports-betting tax and gray machines instead. Offshore sites operate in a grey area.
Not legal online — though live poker is available at several riverboat casinos. Offshore sites serve residents in a grey area with no state oversight.
Online and retail sportsbooks went live at 12:01 a.m. on December 1, 2025 — the exact deadline set by the ballot measure, and one of the last launches in the region.
Regulators aimed for a summer launch, but Secretary of State Denny Hoskins — a longtime sports-betting opponent — rejected fast-track rules, pushing the launch back to the December deadline.
Amendment 2 passed by just 2,961 votes out of nearly 3 million — about 50.05% — after a roughly 40-million-dollar campaign funded by DraftKings, FanDuel, and Missouri’s pro sports teams. A separate casino measure, Amendment 5, failed.
The legislature tried and failed to legalize sports betting for six straight years, repeatedly deadlocked over whether to also legalize gray-market slot machines.
Missouri passed a fantasy-sports consumer-protection law, bringing DraftKings and FanDuel under state oversight.
Proposition A repealed Missouri’s 500-dollar casino loss limit, raised the casino tax to 21%, and capped the state at 13 casinos.
Voters approved riverboat gambling on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers; the first casinos opened in 1994.
Missouri took the long road to legal betting. For six years the legislature tried and failed to pass sports betting, repeatedly deadlocked over an unrelated fight about gray-market slot machines. Voters finally settled it in 2024, narrowly approving Amendment 2 by fewer than 3,000 votes — and online sportsbooks went live in December 2025.
But sports betting is where Missouri’s online expansion stops. Online casino and online poker remain illegal, and no serious bill to legalize them has advanced — the 2026 session was consumed by the sports-betting tax and the gray-machine dispute instead. What Missouri does have is a big land-based scene: 13 riverboat casinos, several with live poker rooms. Full-iGaming states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and West Virginia run regulated online casinos; Missouri, like most of its neighbors, hasn’t gone there.
So Missourians who want to play online casino games or poker use offshore sites like Ignition, Bovada, and ACR Poker, which sit outside state oversight. For a regulated game, players visit a riverboat casino. And with sports betting now live, Missouri has finally caught up to neighbors like Kansas, Illinois, and Ohio — at least on betting, if not on online casino.
The practical reality: Missouri’s legal options are now sports betting (live since December 2025) and its 13 riverboat casinos with live poker. For online casino or online poker there’s no legal route — residents use offshore sites, or play live at a casino.
Missouri launched online sports betting in December 2025 and has 13 riverboat casinos with live poker. But there’s no legal online casino or online poker — for those, offshore sites are the only option.
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Solid all-rounder — poker + sports + casino with the best card deposit rates
Good — Poker + casino + sportsbook under one roof, crypto-first
Good — Best US poker site, solid casino, crypto-first
Strong casino library with 500+ games, fast crypto, but no poker room
Ignition’s sister casino — great for slots and blackjack, fast crypto payouts
Good casino, no poker — best for slots and blackjack variety
Ignition family casino — strong table games, fast crypto, slots-focused branding
Solid all-rounder — poker + sports + casino with the best card deposit rates
Good — Poker + casino + sportsbook under one roof, crypto-first
Good — Best US poker site, solid casino, crypto-first
Best US MTT schedule and rakeback — but ongoing bot/RTA concerns at mid-stakes
ACR’s sister site — same network, same games, rakeback option
Subscription sweepstakes poker from the official WPT — novel legal structure, thin games.
Solid all-rounder — poker + sports + casino with the best card deposit rates
Good — Poker + casino + sportsbook under one roof, crypto-first
Polished app and strong brand, but thin video poker, no 24/7 support, and state-variable game counts hold it back from the top tier.
Slickest casino app in US regulated gaming on the surface — but Trustpilot sits at 1.2/5 on consistent complaints about slow withdrawals, poor support, and bet-grading disputes.
Missouri’s casinos are unusual in one respect: they’re all riverboats, and there are no tribal casinos in the state. Voters legalized riverboat gambling on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers in the early 1990s, and the first boats opened in 1994.
Today there are 13 casinos — the maximum allowed by law. A 2008 ballot measure (Proposition A) removed Missouri’s old 500-dollar loss limit, raised the casino tax to 21%, and locked the cap at 13. In 2024, voters rejected Amendment 5, which would have added a 14th casino on the Osage River — so the cap still stands.
For poker players, the land-based scene delivers: several riverboat casinos run live poker rooms, concentrated around St. Louis and Kansas City. It’s regulated live poker — just not available online.
The Missouri Gaming Commission licenses and oversees sports betting and the 13 riverboat casinos, with responsible-gaming rules and one of the nation's oldest self-exclusion programs.
DFS is regulated by the Missouri Gaming Commission, with segregated player funds and consumer protections for licensed operators.
No Missouri protection. Offshore casino and poker sites are unlicensed here — no fund segregation, no dispute recourse. If an offshore site refuses to pay, you have no recourse.
Our guidance: For sports betting, use the MGC-licensed apps; for casino games and poker, Missouri’s riverboat casinos offer regulated in-person play. Online casino and poker aren’t legal — if you play offshore, stick to established operators with 5+ year track records and crypto payouts. Missouri does not prosecute individual recreational players.
If gambling stops being fun — or you're chasing losses — free, confidential help is available 24/7. Missouri's helpline connects residents to treatment, and a share of sports-betting tax funds prevention.
Primary sources cited throughout this guide.
