• Online Gambling Ages
• Online Gambling Age Verification
• Online Gambling Age

Every teenager eventually runs into prohibitions based on age. To a 15-year-old it’s understandable why a 5-year-old shouldn’t be allowed to drive.

With online gambling, the age range is 21. Many lawmakers across the US have brought up that the legal age limit for online lottery games is 18 and yet for online casino games it is 21. We may see lawmakers decide to allow the limit to be changed in the future. Age 21+ Welcome to Play at Online Casinos.

• But for most gambling activities, the legal age is 18. For example, going to a casino or placing bets or gambling in betting shops. This means that if you engage in these activities and you are.
• Legal Gambling Age In The United States. There are legal ways in which players in the United States are able to gamble online without having to worry about breaking online gambling laws. However, there is one facet of the law that is not flexible across the country in all phases of online gambling. That would be the legal gambling age for players.

But why do you have to wait another year to get a driver’s license?

And if you have a summer job, why can’t you spend your money on alcohol, cigarettes, and gambling the way 18-year-old or 21-year old friends and relatives do?

Everyone feels “mature enough” to make mature decisions before their elders say they’re ready.

Reflecting upon all the factors a gambling establishment, either online or land-based must consider, several reasons come to mind.

Age of Majority

This seems to be the most important factor.

Despite any precocious emotional or intellectual maturity young people may possess, in most jurisdictions, an age of majority prevails.

The age of majority determines when an individual can enter into legally binding contracts. A law-abiding gambling company cannot do business with minors.

Every member of an online casino must register and honestly affirm their age. To collect winnings they must prove their identity and age eligibility.

If a minor successfully enters a land-based casino, plays a game, and collects a modest stake, the casino has broken the law. The young player may get away with it.

Not only do they not have to honor the win they legally cannot.

Laws Governing Gambling Activities

Governments around the world decided not to allow minors to gamble in licensed establishments. Gambling laws take the decision out of the casinos’ hands.

Many teens learn how to play blackjack, poker, roulette, and other gambling games at home or from their friends.

They may even play for money in unlicensed gaming situations.

If caught by authorities the teens may not be prosecuted, but game organizers would almost certainly be arrested.

Teens’ parents are also held accountable for the behavior of their children.

Age restrictions on gambling fall into a complex system of laws designed to protect young individuals from making life-destroying choices.

Emotional and Intellectual Maturity is Vital to Managing Risk

While few fully mature adults (estimates range from 5% to 10%) are considered gambling addicts, many acquired addictive habits while still adolescents.

Science is still uncertain about when people become fully mature adults. In 2014 the National Academy of Sciences proposed that ages 18-26 be considered the final stage of emotional and intellectual development.

The truth is that science has yet to show at what age the general population can make good choices about risky behavior. This goes well beyond gambling and into many types of activities.

Teens are not permitted to compete in many types of professional sports. They may lack the physical characteristics and training to compete, but their mental abilities are not yet ripe.

Social concerns about teens’ readiness to make important choices are reinforced by one disturbing study: a 20-year study found that children experiencing stress do mature faster than their peers.

This is not a justification for allowing some teens to gamble, smoke, drink, or take other risks. It’s clear confirmation that young people are not naturally ready to make adult choices. Gambling is all about risk, and society has deemed it’s too risky for young individuals.

Gambling Requires Financial Responsibility

If you gamble, you’re staking something of value. In both online and offline gambling establishments, money is at stake.

And gamblers are expected to cover their losses.

Online Gambling Ages

Unfortunately, this is easy to do with debt. You can borrow $1000 and take it to the casino. All the casino can do is insist you put money on the table before they allow you to pay.

Online casinos can only insist you deposit funds into your account before playing.

An emancipated teenager has the right to earn a supporting income, but most teens are not emancipated. Without the ability to enter into legal contracts, they can’t even borrow money.

Ironically, even though casinos don’t care where you get your money, they need you to bring in new money every time you gamble.

They’re counting on your losses for their profits.

Having a steady income, being able to support yourself, and budgeting a reasonable amount for entertainment makes you a more desirable customer for a casino. A business that depends on financially unstable teenagers accepts greater risks than most casinos do.

Younger People Are More Susceptible to Addictive Behavior

Although science still has much to learn about how the brain develops and works, recent findings show that adolescents are more prone to addiction than adults.

An individual who grows to adulthood in a supportive, healthy environment is less likely to become an addict.

There are no guarantees in life, but requiring teens to wait before taking some risks helps them later in life.

Gambling addiction is the number 1 reason why some organizations oppose the spread of organized, legal gambling. The cost to society of treating addiction is calculable.

But that cost rises as one considers secondary issues, such as criminal behavior driven by addiction. Many crimes are committed by non-addicted people, but the connection between addiction and crime is undisputed.

Age-restrictive laws are intended to ensure that young people have a fair chance to grow to full maturity in safe environments. By holding adults accountable for how they interact with teenagers, society hopes to prevent some exploitative situations. And let’s face it: some adults are unscrupulous enough to intentionally manipulate less mature teens into bad situations.

What Is the Youngest Legal Gambling Age in the World?

It’s impossible to be sure, but this Wikipedia article lists no age restriction for a Category D gaming machine in the United Kingdom.

The same article includes a few other restrictionless forms of gambling:

• Private or non-commercial gaming and betting
• Equal chance gaming (prize gaming permitted or licensed family entertainment)
• Prize gaming at an unlicensed family entertainment centre or traveling fair
• The United Kingdom also permits 16-year-olds to gamble in:
• National lottery
• Scratch off ticket games
• Football pools

Another country enacting unusual gambling laws is Afghanistan.

They forbid all land-based gambling activities, but anyone of any age can gamble in an online system. Afghanistan may not be known for its high-speed Internet, but cell phones are widely used there. The Wikipedia article says that Tunisia may have inadvertently made gambling legal for all ages by failing to make it illegal for all ages.

The country of Malawi in southeastern Africa allows children as young as 5 to gamble in land-based casinos.

Also, the Wikipedia article may not be up-to-date, and some of the points listed above could be inconsistent with current laws in the countries named.

Conclusion

The ancient Roman writer Tacitus wrote in his famous treatise, The Germania, that the ancient Germans of his time had a reputation for gambling:

“An amazing thing to us is that they practise gambling as the serious occupation of their sober hours; and they hazard to win or lose so recklessly that, when all he has is gone, a player will stake his personal liberty on a last and decisive throw.

If he loses he goes into voluntary slavery; and, although he may be the younger and the stronger man, he suffers himself to be bound and to be sold. They exhibit herein a most perverse obstinacy, and call it paying a debt of honour.

Successful gamblers get rid of the slaves held under this title by selling them to the merchants in order to escape their share of the shame.”

While some historians question the accuracy of Tacitus’ description, there is some universal truth to the matter. Gambling has earned a hard reputation through the centuries. Some people do lose everything. For that reason society has learned to protect its youngest members (in most countries) from taking such risks until they have grown to an age to make sound decisions.

Life doesn’t promise we’ll always make the right decisions. That’s why we make laws to slow us down when we’re most apt to rush in where angels fear to tread.

There are legal ways in which players in the United States are able to gamble online without having to worry about breaking online gambling laws. However, there is one facet of the law that is not flexible across the country in all phases of online gambling. That would be the legal gambling age for players.

Unlike some of the big laws out there in the U.S. for gambling and online gambling, legal gambling ages are decided at the state level. As a result, different states will have different ages to gamble. This can even go so far as to say that players need to be a certain age to bet sports, and another age to walk into an online casino.

The most important thing to know about legal gambling ages in the U.S. is that they vary. We have all of the online gambling ages for U.S. residents here on this site, for which you can use as a resource when gambling with online casinos, poker rooms or sites that take bets on sports.

State Gambling Age Chart

Penalty For Not Being Old Enough To Gamble Online

Those who are found to be violating the gambling age laws at the site or in their state will be subject to penalties under the laws. This can include the loss of all previous and prospective wager in an account, as well as fines, and other possible sanctions. Jail time is highly unlikely in a case like that. In fact, rarely do online gamblers go to jail for placing underage bets, but it could potentially happen depending on the individual case.

Providing that you follow the guidelines by your state and the online gambling site, there will be no problems that a USA player will run into as far as the legality of gambling online at a website which allows players from the U.S.

How Old Do I Have To Be To Play Casino Games For Money?

Online casinos will have an age requirement that players must adhere to legally play at the site for real cash. This isn't just the age needed to be able to place the bet, this will be the age that a player must meet in order to create an account. For players in the United States, this can sometimes be taken one step further. In the case of gambling age in the U.S., it is decided by the states, and it's not the same in all 50. As a result, a player might be of age to play at an online casino, but not of age to be playing any game of chance for real money within their state. In most instances, this means that the player will still need to be of age to gamble in their state, despite the fact that the offshore site requires the player to be a lower age.

Most online casinos that take U.S. players require an account holder to be at least 18 years old. For those living in states with the gambling age of 21, it's important to know whether the site still allows for it, or if players must meet their state's age.

How Old Do I Have To Be To Play Casino Games For Free?

In order to be able to play casino games for free, you simply need to meet the age requirement to create an account at whatever casino you'd like to sample. In most cases, this age is just 18 years old.

This age differs from the normal gambling age because casinos that accept USA players typically default to the higher age between the legal gambling age in your state, or the age to join their site. But, since you will not be risking or gambling real funds, you don't need to meet the gambling age requirement, just the age requirement established by the casino you're planning to try.

Where To Gamble Online

Another issue at hand will be the legal gambling age to place a wager on the site for which you are wanting to. This could be a sportsbook, an online casino, or a legal poker site. No matter what type of an online gambling website you are visiting, it will have the minimum age a player must be in order to sign up and place legal wagers.

There is a catch here though. That is that just because a player might meet the age requirements that have been stipulated by the online gambling site itself, it does not necessarily mean that they are free to legally gamble online.

Why is this? Simply because the gambling age in a player's state might have a higher number. For example, if a player signs up at a sportsbook at age 19, where the legal betting age is 18 at the sportsbook but the state in which he/she lives in is 21, he/she can still not gamble legally because he/she cannot do so in his/her state.

Underage Gambling Disclaimer... Not Just Because We Had To

Online Gambling Age Verification

We take underage gambling, whether it be online or in-person, very seriously and we strongly discourage it. If you are thinking about grabbing mom or dad's credit card, DON'T DO IT! You'll be exposed and while you aren't going to go to jail, your parents are going to be pissed.

Online Gambling Age

If by some chance you do make a deposit and don't get in trouble, know that you're never going to be able to cash that money out until you provide indentification and proof of age which would then sink your ship. You're better off waiting until you are at least 18 years old to gamble online, or anywhere else, than jumping in before your time.