Gambling In Arkansas

• A comprehensive review of the Arkansas gambling laws. Learn the ins and outs of gambling legally in this state.
• Learn more about the interesting online casino landscape in Arkansas. With more than 100 online casinos to play at, there is no shortage of games for you to wager on.

I am wanting to know how old you need to be before you can legally gamble in arkansas. So like lottery, and any other kind of gambling. Read our detailed review of the Natural State´s gambling legislation for information about the legality of playing online poker for real money in Arkansas.

An Overview of Gambling Laws in the State Of Arkansas

When you look at the history of Arkansas in relation to gambling, it really makes you think about what could have been. Everything was in place for the complexes at Hot Springs to rival Las Vegas or Atlantic City as world class US gambling hub. Instead this State went in the opposite direction, banning virtually all forms of gambling for residents. There are two casino complexes nowadays, and a few bingo halls. This page gives you a detailed overview of the current gambling laws in the State of Arkansas.

You’ll find a fast-paced walk through the colorful history of gambling in Arkansas first below. Much of this involves Hot Springs and the Mob. After that there is a game-by-game overview of what kinds of gambling are permitted in this state – followed by a timeline and details of the legislation which affects gamblers today. At the end of this page you will find a summary and a look towards the future.

Arkansas Gambling Laws – A Brief History

Hot Springs, a federally protected reserve in Arkansas has a gambling history which ran from just after the Civil war right through to modern times. There are reports of gangsters fighting for control of the liquor and gambling in this town as far back as 1880. In the early 1900’s baseball training camps and tourism had seen this town expand – and the Oakland racetrack was a regular attraction.

By the late 1920’s Hot Springs had become a gambling hub, with 10 major and many minor casinos it was even bigger than Las Vegas at this time. This continued right through to 1947, when a grand jury indicted several of the major casino owners. This was the start of a lot of legal and regulatory issues for Hot Springs, who were caught up in the changing political mood of the post-war years.

Finally, gambling in Hot Springs was shut down in 1967, it would be almost 40 years before any forms of gambling would become legal again. While the conservative members of the political divide will be pleased to see gambling ended in this way -progressive and neutral observers will look at the billions in tax revenues generated by Las Vegas and Atlantic City and think about what could have been for Hot Springs had the political mood been different.

More recently, skill games have been given an exemption – as have charity gambling games including Bingo and raffles. There is now a legal State lottery too.

While gambling is completely illegal under the Arkansas State codes, the penalties look the same as they were in the 1960’s. If convicted you face a ‘heavy’ fine of between $10 and $25 for most gambling offenses.

Arkansas Gambling Laws – What Forms of Gambling Are Currently Legal

Casino Games: No, there are a few ‘games of skill’ which are quasi-casino games at both the Oaklawn Park racetrack and Southlands Racetrack loosely based on Blackjack and Video Poker. Hot Springs, where Oaklawn is situated had the potential to be as big as Las Vegas at one point in its history. Today AK residents need to cross into Mississippi to find real casino table games and slots.

Online Casino Gambling: No, Online gambling is not explicitly banned under the Statutes – though considered illegal under current general guidelines.

Live Poker: Yes, though limited to the Southlands racetrack, they have just 6 tables that cover cash games and tournaments. Poker home games are not allowed in Arkansas, though the State code does indicate that the maximum fine for gambling is only $25.

Online Poker: No, there is no regulation or moves towards this at the moment. Like most states the AR code does not explicitly ban online poker, though it is assumed that their blanket ban on games of chance for money does encompass this.

Sports Betting: Yes, only legal at the tracks, where bets are Pari-Mutuel and based on greyhound and horse racing only.

Lottery: Yes, Arkansas run a ‘scholarship lottery’ which includes several different draws as well as scratch-card type games. The profit from this lottery is used to offer college scholarship to talented students who might not otherwise have been able to afford them.

Bingo Games: Yes, there are bingo halls in this State, these are regulated under the ‘Charitable Gambling’ legislation which covers both bingo and raffles for non-profit organizations.

Arkansas Gambling Laws – Timeline of Key Statutes

Here are the key laws which govern gambling in AR. For this State they center on the 1967 law. The main statutes covering gambling make a clear distinction between individuals gambling and those running gambling houses or organizing the events (or owning gambling machines). The core offense involves betting, which includes both ‘hazard or skill’:

If a person bets any money or any valuable thing on any game of hazard or skill, upon conviction he or she is guilty of a violation and shall be fined in any sum not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00). (From: 5-66-113)

There is no explicit reference in the Arkansas law to gambling online. This is common as the laws pre-date the internet. It is assumed that the current laws cover this, though there has been no legal test of this assumption to date. With the track-record of banning almost all forms of gambling, the status-quo is presumably preferable to a test case which is likely to yield negative results.

Note that unlike in the legislation of other states, there is no distinction between games where the house makes a profit and social games. This is one of the few States where home poker games are against the law.

Timeline of gambling legislation:

1967: Current laws enacted, Hot Springs gambling finally closed down, though the heyday was already passed for this town by this point.

2005: The ‘Games of Skill’ legislation enabled expanded gaming opportunities at the major racetracks – that now have 100’s of machines each. Act 1151 of 2005 put into place a regulation framework which covered electronic games based on skill – which has lead the racetracks to come up with innovative live dealer + electronic screen hybrids.

2007: There were carve-outs for charitable gambling games in the ‘Charitable Bingo and Raffles Enabling Act (2007 number 338). There a strict licensing rules in Arkansas for these games, as well as strict definitions – here is their definition of bingo:

[su_quote]“”Game of bingo” includes only a game in which the winner receives a preannounced, fixed-dollar prize and in which the winner is determined by the matching of letters and numbers on a bingo face imprinted with at least twenty-four (24) numbers, with letters and numbers appearing on objects randomly drawn and announced by a caller, in contemporaneous competition among all players in the game;”[/su_quote]

2009: Lottery begins, after becoming legal one year earlier, this is known as the ‘scholarship’ lottery and the funds go to subsidize education.

Arkansas Gambling Laws – Summary and Look into the Future

The ‘what could have been’ story with Hot Springs makes fascinating reading, with colorful mob characters that belonged to that era. Nowadays, this state are progressively allowing more gambling for their citizens. Charity and Skill gaming make a good starting point, with the increased tax revenues from these games likely to be filtering through to State budgets soon – there may be an appetite for further relaxing of the rules.

Based on their history of legislating gambling, I can’t see Arkansas regulating gambling online any time soon. In the meantime, the liberal gambling laws of neighboring Mississippi will continue to be a big draw.

Useful Resources:

Legalized Gambling In Arkansas

General Overview from State Site

Charitable Gaming Laws

Oaklawn Site

Games of Skill Legislation

Hot Springs History

Searchable Code of AR Legislation

Legislation at US-Gambling Law

Did you know that Arkansas was once the casino capital of the U.S.? That’s right! Before shutting down gambling in Arkansas in the late 1960’s, Hot Springs, Arkansas was formerly known as one of the prime destination in the U.S. for casinos and gambling – they even had more casinos than Las Vegas at one time.

Gambling In Arkansas Laws

Today, Arkansas only has three casinos, but the state offers visitors an unending list of exciting activities and remarkable places to visit throughout their stay, or vacation.

Southland Casino & Racing in West Memphis, Arkansas

• Interesting places you should explore on your next visit to Arkansas

Arkansas offers a wide variety of activities and interesting places you can explore at your convenience. For example, you can find your fortune as you join the diamond rush at the Crater of Diamonds State Park where everything you find at the park belongs to you!

There’s also the mysterious Gurdon Light within the Gurdon trees, we recommend you check that out. A visit to the haunted Crescent Hotel and Spa built in 1886 always the entire family smiling. If you’re looking for something uncanny, head to the Quigley’s Castle, which is regarded as the strangest dwelling in the state.

If you are a fan of Maxwell Blade or a lover of rare and strange objects, you must visit the Maxwell Blade’s Odditorium and Curiosities Museum.

• Types and list of casinos in Arkansas

There are currently three casinos in Arkansas, two of which are racetrack casinos and the third is an Indian casino: Oaklawn Racing Casino, Resort Saracen Casino, and Southland Casino and Racing.

• General information about Arkansas casinos

Casino Gambling In Arkansas

Gaming regulations require that all Arkansas electronic gaming machines return a minimum of 83%. The minimum gambling age is 21 at regular casinos and 18 for pari-mutuel betting.

Gambling Cities In Arkansas

All Arkansas casinos offer live table games such as blackjack, craps and roulette, plus electronic gaming machines, such as slot machines, video poker and video keno.

Don’t know which casino to explore? Then consider getting a copy of the American Casino Guide book, which has been published annually since 1992. It contains excellent information about all American casinos and it’s the only resource you need when taking the next step in your gaming adventure.

Gambling Age In Arkansas

As an added bonus, every copy of the book comes with more than 150 casino coupons that offer great savings such as 2-for-1 dining deals, gaming bonuses, free drinks, free shows, and more. To learn more about the great book, just visit our website at https://www.americancasinoguidebook.com for more information.