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

When it comes to gambling laws Wisconsin Appears to follow suit with many other US states, traditional forms of land-based gaming are legal whereas online gambling is not legal. there is a strong established tribal casino industry and charitable in-person games are legal. Whereas, online wagering pastimes such as sports betting and online poker are completely illegal.

Wisconsin is not historically known for its conservative approach to state laws, so it seems unusual that the gambling laws are not as liberal as they could be. with zero sports betting and absolutely no adoption of any other forms, this is not the state to visit should you wish to place some wagers. Look at this chart for the Wisconsin legal gambling age based on gaming type.

In the table above we have outlined the legal gambling age is required to participate in each form of legal gaming In Wisconsin. The current position Of Wisconsin’s laws is that individuals have to be 21 years old in order to gamble at one of the state’s tribal casinos, whereas individuals only have to be 18 years old to enjoy the other alternatives on offer in Wisconsin. If there is not an age listed in the table then that form of gambling is most likely illegal In Wisconsin.

On this page, we will discuss Wisconsin’s laws paying special attention to the legal ages in the state. we will also discuss the history of gambling within Wisconsin and offer up any insight into any future law reform that may take place within the state.

Casino Age in Wisconsin

Following the passing of the Indian gaming regulatory act in 1988 Wisconsin extended the opportunity for local tribes to set up land-based casinos on their tribal lands. there was immediate uptake of this offer from local tribes and to date, there are 11 tribes who had compacts with the state allowing for the existence of 23 bricks and mortar casino locations across Wisconsin. The legal gambling age, or casino age, is set at 21 for Wisconsin.

Under the state-tribal compacts these tribal casinos are able to offer Class III gambling games. They include traditional casino table games such as blackjack, poker, roulette and craps to name a few. this class of casino games also allows the casinos to operate electronic gaming devices, which had proved to be hugely popular in Wisconsin With other 13,000 to be found within the state borders.

The legal gambling age for casinos is likely to set to 21 as this is also the legal drinking age in the US. Through making sure that’s the legal casino age is the same there’s the legal drinking age casinos operation within Wisconsin are able to mitigate any issues that they might have with serving underage minors should the age requirements be lower.

There have been moves over the years to try and attempt to establish a commercial casino industry within Wisconsin State, however, there has been strong lobbying from the state’s tribes in order to halt any progression of setting up a commercial casino industry as this would severely impact the tribal casino industry. further, there appears to be little support within the state legislature for a commercial casino industry to be established and until a convincing argument can be made as to why a commercial casino industry would add value to Wisconsin It will likely remain an impossibility.

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

There are no casinos In Wisconsin that allow entry to 18-year-olds , the legal casino gambling age for Wisconsin is set to 21 years old. 18-year-olds in Wisconsin should not be discouraged though, they can still enjoy many other forms of legalized gambling within the state’s borders such as the state lottery, bingo, pari-mutuel betting and Daily Fantasy Sports.

For those over the age of 21 looking for the best casinos to gamble at while in Wisconsin, We have pulled together the names and addresses of the top five tribal casinos currently operating within Wisconsin’s borders.

Sports Betting In Wisconsin

Currently, sports betting is illegal within the state of Wisconsin, much to the dismay of the sports-loving residents of the state. With there being three major leagues present in Wisconsin It seems at odds with the states sports-loving reputation that sports betting, on the whole, would be illegal. However, Wisconsin has never made any massive move towards looking into legalizing sports betting.

One form sports wagering that has been in Wisconsin for decades is betting on pari-mutuel races which was introduced in 1987. The legal gambling age for pari-mutuel betting in Wisconsin is 18. When pari-mutuel betting was first legalized within the state there were five privately owned race tracks in operation within Wisconsin. However, over the years the interest in horse racing within Wisconsin has dwindled and there are no longer any active race tracks in the state. However, for those fans of pari-mutuel betting that still exists within Wisconsin The state has legalized online horse race betting on out state races.

One additional form of sports wagering that was constant residents can take advantage of is Daily Fantasy Sports. while not explicitly legal daily fantasy sports operates within a Gray area of the law, meaning it is tolerated by the states authorities but it is not expressly legal. we will go into more detail regarding Daily Fantasy Sports legality later on this page.

There have been no official actions taken to start any form of discussion about legalizing sports betting within Wisconsin’s state legislature. It appears that the state is currently happy with the status quo and is in no great rush to expand current gambling legislation to encompass the legalization of further sports betting.

WI Online Gambling Age

Online casino gambling is currently illegal in the state of Wisconsin, to summarize this means that you will not find any Wisconsin Based online casino websites. This ban on online gaming further extends into online sports betting which is also illegal. The only exception To this ban Is online pari-mutuel betting on horse races which we discussed in the section above.

As online gambling, on the whole, is considered illegal within Wisconsin there is no legal online age requirement mentioned. Unfortunately for Wisconsin residents, current trends suggest that there will be no upcoming changes to the state’s laws in regards to online gambling. Therefore should you be a fan Of wagering online especially wagering online and casino games then your best bet is to go to the land-based casinos on tribal reservations found within the state’s borders. However, should you have your heart set on wagering online your best bet is to book a ticket to another US state where the laws are far more liberal such as Nevada, New Jersey or Delaware.

Residents in Wisconsin may notice that they had access to offshore gambling websites. while these websites may be appealing as they offer all popular casino games in an online format they should be avoided for various reasons. Firstly, none of these websites are licensed or registered within the US and therefore should any players have any issues on them they will have no recourse against the offshore operators under US consumer law. Secondly, online gaming is illegal in Wisconsin and anyone caught doing it could be prosecuted.

Should you want to take a look at a list of legal forms playing with real money that can be enjoyed in Wisconsin Take a look at our easy to read gambling ages table located at the top of this page.

Poker Gambling Age

As all forms of online gambling are illegal within Wisconsin it will come as no surprise that online poker is also illegal. In good news for Wisconsin poker fans, land-based poker is still legal within the state’s tribal casinos. As poker is only available within the states land-based casinos, the legal Wisconsin age for playing poker is the same as the legal gambling age for playing at a casino, which we have already established is 21.

Same as online gambling in Wisconsin There are no plans within the state to legalize online poker anytime soon, so anyone who is Kane to play poker online should look to visit another US state where it is legal such as Nevada, New Jersey or Delaware.

Daily Fantasy Sports

Daily fantasy sports is a controversial topic all across the US, there are many discussions ongoing in many US states regarding the games’ legality. Within Wisconsin Daily fantasy sports operate under an umbrella of implied legality and is tolerated by the state legislature however there have been no official statements by state officials giving any indication as to whether they believe daily fantasy sports should be legalized or not. under the game’s implied legality residents are able to play if they’re over the age of 18.

There are some state representatives who do wish to legislate for daily fantasy sports to become a regulated game within Wisconsin. Through ratifying daily fantasy sports legality via state legislation, The state would be able to apply taxes to operators revenue as well as charging the licensing slash registration fees for operating within the state – this would bring the state a huge boost of revenue’s daily fantasy sports is rapidly becoming one of the most popular online games in the US.

Legal Age to Play the Lottery in Wisconsin

Wisconsin state has had a state lottery in place since 1988 which has gone on to become a state institution, Offering up large multijurisdictional games such as Mega Millions and powerful while also offering a wide variety of smaller state-run games. the legal gambling age for participating in Wisconsin state lottery is 18.

Unfortunately for fans of the ease of online gaming, there is currently no online lottery on offer in Wisconsin. The state lottery is regulated by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue who is in charge of all the lottery decisions such as allocating retailers – there is currently no discussion being undertaken within the Department of Revenue about diversifying Wisconsin’s lottery to include an online offering. the state lottery is so popular as it is it appears that the state is happy to keep things as they are for now.

Wisconsin Gambling Laws & Future Outlook

Wisconsin’s state laws can be found within the code sections 945 and 562 of the state’s constitution. Under these two codes gambling is defined as, ‘bargain in which parties agree, dependent upon chance even though accompanied by some skill one stands to lose or win something of value specified in the agreement’. Wisconsin State laws Regarding gambling ah unusual as they explicitly state that skill can be involved in a form of wager placing, in most cases introduction of the skill to gaming is defined as being the difference between a game being a form of gambling or not.

This inclusion of the word skill in the definition Within Wisconsin State laws allows laws to be even more wide-ranging than many other US state gambling laws, and could, therefore, be extended to include daily fantasy sports.

The economic impact of gambling in Wisconsin is huge, the 27 tribal casinos in operation In Wisconsin Create a $3.1 billion economic footprint every year while also supporting around 27,000 jobs. this coupled with the huge success of the state lottery means that Wisconsin’s gambling economy is incredibly strong.

Like most other US states there are taxes applied to winnings In Wisconsin. They are considered personal income and are therefore taxed at each individual’s personal tax rate. larger winnings in the state lottery are also subject to additional federal taxes.

In terms of the future of Wisconsin’s gambling industry, there are so many areas in which it can diversify. There is still no legal sports betting within Wisconsin and online gamingas a whole is completely non-existent. Well, it doesn’t appear that Wisconsin’s state legislature is going to make any moves to legalize any form of modern gambling anytime soon Should other neighbouring states begin widely adopting sports betting and online wagering this could affect Wisconsin’s own position On the subject. For more detailed state legal overviews, refer to the US legal gambling ages list.

Frequently Asked Questions

We hope that this page has provided you a good overview of wisconsin’s gambling laws. should you have any additional questions please refer to the answers we have provided below to the most frequently asked questions.