Guide to Utah Gambling Age: Casinos, Sports Betting & More

If you were looking for the US state that has the least amount of leniency and sympathy towards gambling then look no further than Utah. known for its incredibly conservative stance towards any form of activity that could be considered illicit, Utah’s state legislature has continually banned any form of gambling law reformation over the years.

Utah lawmakers have continually retained their conservative position and blocked any attempts to establish a gambling industry in both bricks and mortar and online within the state. this conservative view is further reflected in their harsh laws on alcohol sales, abortion and marijuana, all of which are deeply rooted in the state’s Mormon values. Below you can see the Utah gambling age for legal wagering, or lack thereof.

In the table above you will find the legal gambling age for all forms of legalized gaming within Utah. As established in this introduction, and reflected in the table above, Utah is the least gambling-friendly state in the United States. if there is not an age present, then that form of wagering is illegal in Utah.

On this page, we will discuss the legal status of all popular forms of gambling in Utah as well as listen you know the legal age for each form. We will also discuss in more detail the history of gambling within this historically conservative state as well as looking to the future and missing you know if any law reform is on the horizon.

Casino Age in Utah

Look as hard as you want across Utah and you will struggle to find anyone enjoying a traditional casino game, Utah is incredibly unfriendly when it comes to forms of gambling. there is absolutely no form of commercial casino industry present within the state nor are there any tribal casinos operating within the state borders. as there is no casino industry well then Utah there is no legal gambling age for casino entry.

The likelihood of Utah ever-changing its stance towards the casino gambling industry is incredibly unlikely. The incredibly religious state has continually made its position unequivocally clear, gambling in all forms is a violation of the state’s Mormon values and not even the vast amount of tax dollars that would roll in to help fund public infrastructure is enough to sway the state legislature.

Residents of Utah who are hankering to gamble will find the only legal avenue they have available to scratch that gambling itch is buying a plane ticket to visit a more liberal state such as Nevada, New Jersey or Delaware.

What are The Casinos In Utah that accept 18 year Olds?

As there are no commercial casinos or tribal casinos operating in Utah, there are no casinos that allow entry to 18-year-olds. This very conservative and prohibitive approach to casino gambling is unlikely to change anytime soon.

For those 18-year-old residents in Utah who want to gamble at a casino, their best bet is to visit a state with more liberal gambling age laws, such as Oklahoma, Montana or Michigan where there are casinos that allow entry.

Sports Betting In Utah

An unsurprising revelation is that sports betting is illegal in Utah. No form of gambling is legal in the United State’s most devoutly religious state, and this illegality stretches to include all forms of sports betting.

Even after the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act 1992 (PASPA) was struck down in 2011, allowing sports betting in all forms to be legalized across the US, there was no way this was going to change Utah’s stance on sports betting.

Residents of Utah are sports enthusiasts with several major league teams taking up residence in the state, such as the National Basketball Association’s Utah Jazz and the Major League Soccer team Real Salt Lake. Given the support state residents give to local and national teams, it seems incongruous that sports betting is yet to be legalized in the state. However, given the current restrictive and comprehensive nature of the ban on gambling in the state’s laws, it doesn’t look like there will be any moves within the state’s legislature to legalize sports betting any time soon.

So expansive are Utah’s bans on sports wagering that even pari-mutuel betting on horse racing is illegal. It is commonly the case that if sports betting is illegal in a state there is pari-mutuel betting is still available to residents of the state – unfortunately for residents of Utah, it is not the case in the Beehive State.

There is some respite from the restrictiveness of the state’s gambling laws for fans of sports in Utah. Currently, Daily Fantasy Sports is in operation in the state. The fact that Daily Fantasy Sports is tolerated in the Beehive State is a bit of an anomaly, but Utah’s sports fans are definitely not complaining. We will discuss Daily Fantasy Sports legality in more detail later on this page.

Utah Online Gambling Age

As mentioned several times on this page Utah has outlawed all forms of gambling in the state, this expands to include online wagering in all forms. As it is illegal there is no legal online gaming age in Utah.

Online casinos are included within the blanket illegality applied to all forms of gambling in Utah, there are no forms that are able to claim they are an exception to the blanket illegality. For any residents who want to gamble at an online casino, they are best placed to travel to neighbouring state Nevada where they will have access to all forms of in-person and online gambling.

Residents of Utah may notice that they are able to access online casinos that are run by offshore entities. While these websites might appear to be enticing there are several reasons why Utah residents should not gamble on them.

Firstly, Utah residents should avoid offshore casino websites as they are not registered or licensed to operate within the US. Because of this should any Utah residents have any issues when gambling on these sites they would have no recourse against the operators under state or federal law, meaning that playing on these sites is a very risky undertaking.

Secondly, online gambling of all forms is explicitly illegal in Utah. If any resident is caught on a website, even those run by offshore entities, risks being prosecuted for breaking the state’s government.

Poker Gambling Age

It will come as no surprise that poker of all forms is illegal in Utah. While some states across the US consider poker a game of skill and therefore not governed by state gambling laws, Utah is not so lenient and has explicitly included poker within the remit of their prohibitive laws.

There doesn’t look like Utah will be changing its stance on poker any time soon. The state’s legislature has repeatedly confirmed their anti-gambling stance and there is no way this will change in the near future.

Daily Fantasy Sports

Even though Utah is one of just two state’s in the US (the other being Hawaii) to explicitly completely outlaw gambling, Daily Fantasy Sports is tolerated within the Beehive State. The legal Utah age for residents to participate in Daily Fantasy Sports in the Beehive State is 18.

Daily Fantasy Sports operates in Utah under a cloud of implied legality. While the game is not explicitly illegal it is not explicitly legal either. There has been a federal declaration that stated that Daily Fantasy Sports should be considered a game of skill and not a game of chance, and because of this declaration, there has been a widely accepted interpretation that Daily Fantasy Sports is therefore not a form of gambling, and consequentially not governed by laws because of this.

In terms of future legal developments regarding Daily Fantasy Sports legality in Utah, it is difficult to opine on whether there will be any changes to its legal position in Utah. There is a strong anti-gambling culture in Utah which is so strongly rooted in the state’s legislature that it would take a lot for the state to choose to legislate for Daily Fantasy Sports explicit legality. Despite this there shouldn’t be anything for Daily Fantasy Sports players or operators to worry about as the state legislature appears happy to let Daily Fantasy Sports operate under its implied legality for the time being.

Legal Age to Play the Lottery in Utah

Unfortunately for Utah’s residents there is no legal state lottery in operation. The state’s incredibly prohibitive gambling laws extend so far to mean that even a state lottery whose revenue would be reinvested in state infrastructure is illegal. As there is no state lottery within Utah, there is no legal gambling age for participating in the lottery.

There are only six states in the US without a state lottery and Utah is one of them, as already established on this page all forms of gambling are illegal in Utah and have been since 1927. As there is no in person lottery in Utah it follows that there is also no legal online lottery within the state. Given the strong religious community within Utah it is incredibly unlikely that a state lottery will be made legal soon, so strongly does the state legislature feel about lotteries that are even Russian into state law that lotteries and charitable gambling are illegal activities.

For those residents of Utah who really do want to play a lottery they are able to cross state lines to neighbours such as Idaho and play the lottery there, the only restrictions are that lottery winners must claim their prizes from within the state they purchased the ticket in.

Utah’s state legislature has remained strong and stuck behind its anti-gambling laws against lotteries and in fact all of its forms over the years. Therefore, it is obvious that there is little appetite within the state legislature for any laws to change and there has been no movement from within it to even consider reassessing state laws.

Utah Gambling Laws & Future Outlook

Utah’s incredibly prohibitive gaming laws are found within Utah code 76 and Utah code 4. These cards define gambling as, ‘risking anything of value upon the outcome of a contest, game, scheme or gaming device when they return or outcome is based upon an element of chance it is in accord with an agreement or understanding that someone will receive something of value in the event of a certain outcome’. under this broad definition Utah’s state legislature has declared that all popular forms of gambling are illegal this includes several forms we have discussed on this page including casino gaming, sports betting, lottery and all forms of online wagering.

As there are zero forms of legal wagering allowed within Utah there is no gambling market to report on. The only form of popular wagering that is tolerated and operates within a Gray area of legality is daily fantasy sports. however, given that daily fantasy sports is not governed by any form of state law the state is not able to benefit from Texas applied to operators providing services within the state or by levying registration or licensing fees against the same operators.

In terms of future legal developments within Utah, it looks as if Utah will remain as the most anti-gambling US state. the religious values that the state was founded on Still remain strong to this day and the state legislature continues to uphold these religious values when legislating for the state. In case you are not sure about the laws within a state, check out our USA’s legal gambling ages page and find out more.

Frequently Asked Questions

We hope that this page has given you a good introduction to gambling and Utah. if you have any additional questions regarding the legality of gambling in the Beehive State, take a look at the answers to the most frequently asked questions we have provided below.