Age Verification Laws in the US for Gaming and Gambling: A 2025 Guide
- Users who fail age verification should be denied from accessing your gaming or gambling platform. You can allow users to retry with different documents or contact support for manual review.
- Advanced verification systems use database cross-referencing and biometric checks to detect fake or stolen IDs, making this extremely difficult.
- Regulations update frequently as states refine their approaches. Operators use verification services that automatically adapt to new requirements.
My American cousin downloaded some sports betting app last year and was bragging about how easy it was. Just entered his birthday and boom – he was placing bets within minutes.
Made me laugh because here in India, I can’t even order food delivery without uploading my ID, phone verification, and sometimes a selfie for basic KYC compliance. Meanwhile he’s gambling real money with less age verification than I need for a butter chicken.
Turns out that’s changing though. He called me last month complaining that the same app now wants his driver’s license, a selfie, and some other verification stuff. Apparently states decided that typing “1999” in a birthday field isn’t actually age verification.
Figured I’d map out what’s actually happening.
So, if you’re running gaming or gambling platforms targeting the US market, let’s dive into why these verification laws matter and what each state actually requires these days
Why Age Verification Compliance in the US Matters
You might think gambling is gambling, but tell that to state regulators. What gets you approved in one state could land you in hot water in another.
Here are two big reasons why you need to get this right:
- To Avoid Severe Penalties and License Risk: State gaming commissions have the power to impose fines on operators who fail to prevent underage gambling. In some cases, non-compliance can even lead to the suspension or outright revocation of your operating license.
- To Maintain Access to Payment Networks: Payment providers like Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal have their own strict anti-fraud and compliance standards. They are quick to sever ties with businesses deemed high-risk. If your platform is found to be non-compliant with age and location rules, these providers may block transactions, effectively shutting down your revenue stream.
It’s actually easier to build compliance into your process from the start, if you understand some key laws, than to retrofit it later when problems arise.
Federal and State Laws
In the US, both federal and state laws shape age verification for gambling and gaming.
Federal laws set broad rules, mainly covering interstate activity and financial transactions. Individual states have the authority to legalize gambling, set specific age limits, and enforce their own regulations within their borders.
1. Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA)
Passed in 2006, the UIGEA doesn’t make online gambling itself illegal. Instead, it targets the money. The act stops gambling businesses from knowingly accepting payments for any online bet or wager that is illegal under other federal or state laws.
For a gaming business, this means you must have systems in place to make sure a bet is lawful where it’s placed. To follow the law, you must have strong age and location verification, because a bet from an underage player is automatically unlawful.
2. Federal Wire Act
Originally passed in 1961 to combat organized crime, the Federal Wire Act prohibits using wire communications (like the internet) to transmit bets or information about bets on sporting events across state lines. A 2018 Department of Justice opinion reversed an earlier interpretation, stating the act covers all forms of betting, not just sports.
This makes it mandatory for operators to verify that players are of legal age and are physically located in a state where the activity is legal.
3. Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA)
The IGRA sets the rules for how Native American tribes can conduct gaming on tribal lands. It establishes three classes of gaming, with Class II (like bingo) and Class III (casino-style games) being the most relevant.
While IGRA itself doesn’t set a specific age limit, it requires gaming to follow a tribal ordinance approved by the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC).
These ordinances, and the tribal-state agreements for Class III gaming, almost always specify a minimum gambling age (which is often 18 or 21). This makes verifying player identity a core compliance requirement for tribal gaming operations.
4. State Gaming Commission Regulations
The real details of enforcement happen at the state level. Each state that legalizes gambling has its own regulatory body, such as the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) or the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
These commissions create and enforce the specific rules operators must follow. Failure to adhere to these state-level rules is what most often triggers fines and licensing actions.
Age Requirements by State
The US has this interesting setup where federal and state governments split responsibility for gambling regulation.
Federal laws handle the big picture – interstate commerce, financial transactions, that kind of thing. States get to decide whether gambling is legal at all, who can do it, and how old players need to be.
Below’s a high level overview of age requirements (only for gambling) across the US.
| State | Legal Age | Notes |
| Alabama | 18/19 | 18 for lottery/pari-mutuel, 19 for charity bingo |
| Alaska | 18/19/21 | 18 for lottery, 19/21 for pari-mutuel |
| Arizona | 18 | All gambling types |
| Arkansas | 18 | Lottery only |
| California | 18/21 | 18 for lottery/pari-mutuel/charity, 18/21 for casinos |
| Colorado | 18/21 | 18 for lottery/pari-mutuel/charity, 21 for casinos |
| Connecticut | 18/21 | 18 for lottery/pari-mutuel/charity, 18/21 for casinos |
| Delaware | 18/21 | 18 for lottery/pari-mutuel/charity, 21 for casinos |
| District of Columbia | 18 | Lottery, pari-mutuel, casinos |
| Florida | 18 | Lottery, pari-mutuel, casinos |
| Georgia | 18 | Lottery only (pari-mutuel prohibited) |
| Hawaii | Illegal | All gambling prohibited |
| Idaho | 18 | Lottery, pari-mutuel, casinos (none/18) |
| Illinois | 17/18/21 | 17 for pari-mutuel, 18 for lottery/charity, 18/21 for casinos |
| Indiana | 18/21 | 18 for lottery/pari-mutuel/charity, 21 for casinos |
| Iowa | 18/21 | 18 for lottery/pari-mutuel, 21 for casinos, no charity |
| Kansas | 18 | Lottery, pari-mutuel, casinos |
| Kentucky | 18 | Lottery, pari-mutuel, casinos |
| Louisiana | 18/21 | 21 for lottery, 18 for pari-mutuel/charity, 21 for casinos |
| Maine | 16/18 | 18 for lottery/pari-mutuel, 16 for casinos |
| Maryland | 16/18 | 18 for lottery/pari-mutuel/casinos, 16-18 for charity |
| Massachusetts | 18 | All gambling types |
| Michigan | 18 | All gambling types (casinos age unclear) |
| Minnesota | 18 | All gambling types |
| Mississippi | 18/21 | 21 for lottery, 18 for pari-mutuel |
| Missouri | 18/21 | 18 for lottery/pari-mutuel/charity, 21 for casinos |
| Montana | 16/18 | 18 for lottery/pari-mutuel/casinos, 16 for charity |
| Nebraska | 18/19 | 18/19 for lottery, 18 for pari-mutuel/casinos |
| Nevada | 21 | All gambling types (some unclear) |
| New Hampshire | 18/21 | 18 for lottery/casinos, 21 for pari-mutuel |
| New Jersey | 18/21 | 18 for lottery/pari-mutuel/charity, 21 for casinos |
| New Mexico | 18/21 | 18 for lottery, 18/21 for pari-mutuel/casinos, charity unclear |
| New York | 18 | Lottery, pari-mutuel, casinos (no charity) |
| North Carolina | Unclear | Lottery and casinos legal but ages unclear, no pari-mutuel |
| North Dakota | 18/21 | 18/21 for lottery, 21 for pari-mutuel, 18/21 for casinos |
| Ohio | 18/60 | 18 for lottery/pari-mutuel, 18/60 for casinos |
| Oklahoma | 18 | Lottery, pari-mutuel age unclear |
| Oregon | 18/21 | 18 for lottery/pari-mutuel/charity, 18/21 for casinos |
| Pennsylvania | 18 | Lottery, pari-mutuel, casinos (no charity) |
| Puerto Rico | 18 | All gambling types |
| Rhode Island | 18 | All gambling types |
| South Carolina | 21 | Lottery, pari-mutuel age unclear |
| South Dakota | 18/21 | 18/21 for lottery, 18 for pari-mutuel, 21 for casinos |
| Tennessee | Illegal | All gambling prohibited |
| Texas | 18/21 | 18 for lottery/casinos, 21 for pari-mutuel |
| Utah | Illegal | All gambling prohibited |
| Vermont | 18 | Lottery, pari-mutuel, casinos |
| Virgin Islands | 18 | Lottery, pari-mutuel age unclear |
| Virginia | 18 | All gambling types |
| Washington | 18 | All gambling types (casinos age unclear) |
| West Virginia | 18 | All gambling types (casinos age unclear) |
| Wisconsin | 18/21 | 18 for lottery/pari-mutuel, 21/18 for casinos, no charity |
| Wyoming | 18 | Lottery, pari-mutuel age unclear |
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK230619/
What Verification Methods Do States Accept?
States want actual verification now, but each one has different ideas about what “verified” means. Most require some combination of these methods:
- Government ID verification – Upload driver’s license or passport, system checks if it’s real and pulls the birth date
- Database cross-referencing – Compare personal details against public records and identity databases
- Biometric matching – Take a live selfie to confirm the person matches their ID photo
- Address verification – Confirm residential address through utility bills or other official documents
- Geolocation checks – Use GPS and IP data to verify the user is physically in a legal gambling state
- Multi-factor authentication – Add phone or email verification on top of identity checks
What started as simple ID uploads now looks more like opening a bank account than signing up for a gaming app.
Automating Age Verification With Technology
Managing different verification requirements across 50 states manually just doesn’t work. You’d need a team constantly checking rule changes, processing documents by hand, and somehow keeping track of which methods work where. That’s not realistic when you’ve got thousands of users signing up.
This is where Signzy’s age verification API comes in. Instead of building your own verification system from scratch, you just integrate our platform and it handles everything automatically.
To learn how your gaming platform can streamline compliance ops across all states, book a demo here.
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Tanya Narayan
Tanya is a Product Marketing Manager at Signzy and a GrowthX Fellow, with a strong focus on SaaS and fintech. She specializes in go-to-market strategy, customer research, and positioning to help teams bring products to market effectively. She has also cleared the Company Secretary foundation level, reflecting her grounding in corporate and compliance fundamentals.
FAQ
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