Gambling Sites For 16 Year Olds
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There are so many arbitrary decisions that are made in life that we all accept without any real question. If you went to a pub and ordered a pint when you were seventeen-years and three-hundred-and-sixty-four days old then you would be breaking the law. Do the same thing the following day and you won’t be. Why is it that an eighteen-year-old can be trusted to drink alcohol and not be daft with it but a seventeen-year-old can’t be? Add to that the fact that the law in the UK dictates that it’s OK for an adult to buy beer, cider or wine for someone over sixteen if they’re having a meal at a table in a licensed restaurant and you can see that the whole thing becomes even more complicated. That’s to say nothing of the fact that a child aged five to sixteen can drink alcohol at a private premises such as home without breaking any law. The fact that the United States of America says that people must be over the age of twenty-one to drink alcohol merely serves to confirm the idea of the age selection being arbitrary.
Regardless of the arbitrary nature of the cut off point for the legality of drinking, we all accept it because it is the law. The same thing can be true for the age at which we’re allowed to have sex, drive and, of course, gamble. Just as with alcohol intake, however, there are a host of various different rules and regulations around the age limit for gambling that muddy the waters somewhat. The age you need to be to gamble in a casino or place a bet at a bookmaker’s is different to the age you need to be to buy a lottery ticket, for example. So how were the rules decided on that front? Why is one form of gambling seen as less problematic than another? Should it not be a blanket decision regarding an acceptable age for gambling, regardless of the event that you’re gambling on? That’s not to say that the age should be lowered to sixteen across the board, of course; perhaps some feel that it should be raised to twenty-one. In this piece we’ll explore the various rules, how they came about and what might happen to them in the future.
New Age Verification Laws Come Into Place In 2019
Following a review of age verification procedures for UK licenced gambling business the Gambling Commission announced in 2019 that companies that offer gambling to UK citizens must now verify the age of any customer before they make a deposit or bet.
Previously brands were allowed to let people sign up, deposit and bet as long as they verified age within 72 hours or before a withdrawal was made. The commission argue however that this still potentially allows minors to gamble, even if they ultimately may not be able to withdraw.
The effects of this mean there will likely be longer delays between signing up and betting, however it will mean children are less able to bet online. The rules also extend to demo and free-to-play games online, such as slots. While this is not technically gambling as no prizes are provided the GC argue rightly that kids should not be able to play these games as they are a clear gateway to gambling proper.
What Are The Current UK Laws?
Gambling Type | Age Limit |
---|---|
Casino Or Licensed Premises | 18 |
Gaming Machines From Categories A, B1, B2, B3, B3A, B4 and C | 18 |
Gaming machines From Category D | No Age Limit |
National Lottery | 18 |
Scratchcards | 18 |
Football Pools | 18 |
Private Or Non-Commercial Betting | No Age Limit |
Equal Chance Gaming | No Age Limit |
Prize Gaming At Entertainment Centre Or Travelling Fair | No Age Limit |
If we’re going to have a look at the age restrictions that are in place over gambling then it makes sense to first explore things as they currently are. In the United Kingdom there are several different age limits depending on what exactly it is that people are gambling on, as the table above demonstrates.
You can see from the table that the current laws are slightly complex, with the age limit in place depending entirely on what it is that someone’s hoping to gamble upon. A sixteen-year-old could spend £100 on scratchcards, football pools or the National Lottery, for example, but wouldn’t be allowed to bet £1 inside a casino. Theoretically, a five-year-old could sit and spend thousands of pounds on coin pusher-type games or teddy grabbers without stepping outside of the legal boundaries for gambling. Quite where a five-year-old would get thousands of pounds from is another matter, of course, but the point still stands that they wouldn’t be breaking the law if they did.
The issue around the age of gamblers is further complicated by the rules that individual premises choose to put in place. It is not illegal for someone under the age of eighteen to enter a bingo hall, as an example, but if they were to do any gambling whilst they were in there then that would be against the law. For that reason, most licensed bingo clubs choose to instigate a blanket ban on anyone under the age of eighteen from entering the premises. Similarly, it’s legal for those under eighteen to play bingo at a private members clubs or institute, though they need to be a member of that club to do so and membership is often limited to eighteen-year-olds and over. For more see our article on UK gambling licensing and law and our article on the Gambling Commission.
Why Are There Different Age Limits?
None of that is to say that the gambling age should be levelled out to just to stop confusion, of course. Yet there’s surely something of a contradiction when kids of any age an gamble on machines that have jackpots of less than £5 but can’t if the prize amount goes above that. Why is it that one form of gambling is seen as worse than any other? It surely can’t be because of the amount of money that can be won, given that a sixteen-year-old could play the EuroMillions and win over £100 million. It’s also difficult to believe that the rate at which young punters could invest their money on something likes roulette or blackjack makes a difference, given that you can buy, play and then re-buy a scratchcard in the same amount of time as either of those games.
Research suggests that underage gamblers are between two and four times more likely to develop a gambling problem than an adult is. What we don’t know, however, is why it was felt that one form of gambling is naturally less addictive than another. Given the high potential yield for a relatively low output, you’d have thought that something like a National Lottery would be the most addictive thing of all. It’s certainly odd that something so clearly in favour of the ‘house’ is legal for those under the age of eighteen, but other forms of gambling are not. The ‘edge’ in the lottery is around 50%, whilst in blackjack it’s closer to 1% and in roulette it’s around 2.7%.
One argument is that of rapid re-staking, as mentioned a moment ago. If you sit and play roulette you’ll be able to gamble more money within a minute or so of your previous bet, whereas with the lottery you have to wait a minimum amount of time of a couple of hours between placing your bet and finding out the result. Where that argument falls down, however, is once again in the fact that scratchcard gambling is legal for sixteen-year-olds. In 1998, four years after the National Lottery was launched in the UK, Oflot, the then lottery watchdog, released a report that suggested that 5% of those under sixteen had a gambling problem and 2% had an obsession with scratchcards. The question obviously remains, why isn’t the age eighteen for the lottery as it is for other forms of gambling?
The obvious answer is a rather cynical one, but it states that the National Lottery was introduced by the government and they didn’t want to miss out on the increased revenue that would be lost if they’d made the legal age two years older than it currently is. There is also little appetite to change the legal age limit for the lottery, meaning that it’s unlikely to be pushed by one political party or another when they can’t see the benefit of doing so. A petition to raise the age limit to eighteen that was set up during the Conservative Government of 2015-2017 garnered just nine signatures, for example.
Would Raising The Age Make A Difference?
Age | % That Used Slot Machines Pre Law Change | % That Used Slot Machines After Law Change |
---|---|---|
12 | 18.1 | 7.3 |
14 | 40.5 | 11.7 |
16 | 58.4 | 16.6 |
16-18 | 43.7 | 12.7 |
18 & Over | 50.5 | 40.2 |
(Source Information)
It’s intriguing that you are able to quite literally create a new life at the age of sixteen by procreating and at seventeen you can get into a motorised vehicle that would easily allow you to take a life, but you have to be another year older before you’d even be allowed to set foot in a casino. That obviously begs the question, ‘would changing the raising the legal age for gambling make any difference?’ For something approximating an answer we can turn to Finland, where a decision was taken to raise the legal age limit from fifteen to eighteen back in 2010. Research done on minors who used slot machines before and after the change in age limit was quite startling, as the table above suggests.
You can see that the difference in users of slot machines before and after the age was raised is fairly stark. Obviously, as with any survey, that is only the percentage of respondents that had used the machines, but you have to assume that it’s a fairly reflective example of the entire age group. That 40% of fourteen-year-olds were happy to gamble on slot machines a year before they were legally allowed to do so tells an interesting story, as does the fact that that figure dropped but close to one-third after the age limit changed. Of course, one of the reasons for the drop would undoubtedly be that less fourteen-year-olds will have looked close to the legal age once it was moved to eighteen, but it’s an intriguing shift nevertheless.
What’s also interesting to note is the ten percent drop between eighteen-year-olds and over using slot machines before the age limit changed and after. It’s suggestive of the idea that teens had grown accustomed to using slots in their earlier lives and had simply continued to do so as they’d grown older. It would have been interesting to see a more defined age range after eighteen, given the fact that there was a fifteen percent drop between sixteen-year-olds and eighteen-year-olds using slot machines prior to the change in the law. This is suggestive of the notion that they’d got excited when they were legally allowed to use the machines and then got bored after they’d done so. Might the same be true of nineteen or twenty-year-olds using the machines after the age range had switched to eighteen?
It’s also true that raising the legal age isn’t the only argument out there when it comes to talking about the legal age for gambling. As long ago as 2008 there were calls for the legal age for betting on horse racing to be lowered to sixteen. The argument put forward was that younger people will always struggle to get into racing if they’re allowed to get married before they’re allowed to place an each-way bet on a horse race. Whilst virtually every sport has its own language and communication barriers, it’s a lot easier for young people to get into football, cricket or rugby when they’re allowed to participate in those sports at school and so on. Few are able to get into horse racing in the same manner and one of the chief appeals of the sport is the ability to have a bet on it.
As long as there’s no real appetite from the public for the age limit to change, it’s unlikely to do so. Whether there are louder calls for the age restriction to move in either direction in the coming years remains to be seen, but as long as politicians don’t think there’s anything in it for them then they’re not likely to lead the charge. One thing that might make people sit up and take notice is the 2017 decision by the Irish Government to move the age limit for all forms of gambling to eighteen-years-old. It was already set to eighteen for the lottery in Ireland, but those under that age could enter an amusement hall or arcade and use a slot machine. It may be a matter of the British government monitoring how things go in Ireland before making a decision about a similar law here.
Interest in 18 and over sports betting has gained considerable momentum across the United States. Multiple professional sports leagues and commercial gambling investors are eyeballing the opportunities and possibilities legalized sports gambling can provide. Nevertheless, a division stands between the two interested parties on how to exactly regulate and tax sports wagering operations, which we discuss in further detail within our sports betting laws and legality resources.
Approximately twelve to fifteen million hard-core American bettors over the age of eighteen illegally wager on sports events and contests. This information becomes even more impressive considering that in 2017, it was estimated that 97% of bets on sports made in America were either illegal or placed at a licensed offshore sportsbook and only 3% were legally made through Nevada sportsbooks. Clearly, there is a desire for sports gambling
Top Rated Sportsbooks Allowing 18 Plus And Up
Sportsbook | Bonus | USA | Rating | Visit |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bovada | 50% Up To $250 | 4.7/5 | Visit Site | |
Betonline | 50% Up To $1,000 | 4.6/5 | Visit Site | |
Mybookie | 50% Up To $1,000 | 4.5/5 | Visit Site | |
Xbet | 100% Up To $500 | 4.4/5 | Visit Site | |
Bookmaker | 50% Up To $500 | 4.4/5 | Visit Site | |
SportsBetting | 50% Up To $1,000 | 4.3/5 | Visit Site |
Legalities of Sports Gambling in the US
Sports wagering faced two periods of difficulty, once during the Great Depression were nearly all gambling in the U.S. went underground and again in the 1990s after the creation of PASPA, a US law that prevented domestic brick and mortar sports wagering operations. Recently, PASPA was thrown out by the highest court of the land, the Supreme Court, and ruled unconstitutional for violating the state’s rights to equal access and offers.
The official repeal of PASPA by SCOTUS has facilitated a new expansion of interest in sports gambling. Cash-strapped stated are eyeing the potential tax revenue legal sports wagering can provide while private interest groups are looking to seize partnership opportunities with casino chains and US states offering 18+ sports betting. Currently, several states are drafting and proposing sports betting legislation with varying restrictions concerning betting locations, methods to bet, and minimum state betting ages.
States with 18+ Access to Sports Betting
States that passed laws to allow 18+ sports betting:
States that currently allow sports betting options to those 21 years of age and over:
*New Mexico’s Tamaya tribe has recently begun offering sports gambling to those 21+ through their Class III license and gaming compact, the state has yet to consider state-operated sports betting.
States About To Launch Domestic Sports Betting Services:
States Pending Sports Betting Legislation:
In addition, Alaska, Hawaii, Vermont, Virginia, and Utah are choosing to outlaw sports wagering entirely. Regardless, young bettors within those states are can legally gamble online at licensed offshore sportsbooks as an alternative.
States That Allow For 18+ Online Sports Betting
Federal and state sports betting laws have no domain over international sportsbooks operating in regulated territories, and that is why they cannot stop offshore sports betting sites from accepting bets on sports over the Internet from 18+ American customers.
Washington and Connecticut have laws that forbid online gambling in all of its forms, but the overseas sportsbook sites that we suggest on this page accept members from those two states. Sports betting and gambling laws tend to target the providers and don’t go after individual participants, and we’ve yet to hear of anyone being prosecuting at the age of eighteen or older for betting on sports online.
Each 18-and-over online sportsbook sets its own requirements for membership, and some of them exclude certain states like New Jersey. Be sure to inspect the conditions of becoming a member at one of these sports betting sites to make sure that the state that you live in is among the allowable regions.
Online Sportsbooks For 18 And Over Bettors
Offshore online sportsbooks are legally acceptable for Americans to participate on if they are licensed and regulated by an external host not located in the United States. Certain online sportsbooks specialize in serving 18+ bettors while others exclusively cater to those 21 and over. Legitimate online sportsbooks will often be more advantageous than a physically-located domestic sportsbook by offering bonus benefits, mobile betting capabilities, high-roller rewards, more extensive betting lines, odds and wagering options, and referral programs. To learn more about the online sportsbooks listed in this guide visit our 18+ sportsbook reviews page.
Available Sports Events to Bet On Now
18+ NFL Betting
Offshore sportsbooks allow players over the age of 18 to sign up and bet on NFL games. While some state-based operations might require players to be 21+, the online sportsbooks listed in our 18+ NFL betting guide will accept players from the United States over the age of 18. New account holders can also take advantage of lucrative bonus funds, reward programs, other services including casino games and poker, and more.
18+ Betting On NFL Thanksgiving Games
There is no better tradition than eating turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and betting on NFL Thanksgiving games. With the help of online sportsbooks that cater to 18-year-olds, betting on thanksgiving games has never been easier and more convenient than right now. New accounts can take advantage of numerous bonus options, and the sites listed in our guide typically offer additional platforms, including online casinos, racebooks, and poker gambling. Just don’t fall asleep after you stuff your belly with juicy turkey meat.
18+ Betting On Super Bowl 55
Can 18-year-olds bet on the Super Bowl? Yes, they absolutely can! A major sports event like the NFL Super Bowl is a prime sporting event 18+ bettors can wager on. The Super Bowl provides a variety of betting lines and wagering options from futures, money lines, over and unders, prop bets, and novelty bets that even first-time bettors can wager for or against. 18+ Super Bowl betting may just be one of the easiest ways for casual bettors to try out their skills. Learn more about where you can bet on the Super Bowl if you are 18 and over.
18+ College Football Betting
There is nothing like the sport of college football, and with 18 + online sportsbooks, account holders can wager on props, futures, winners, and more. 18+ Betting on college football is one of the most popular wager games of modern times, and our betting guide is here to help you navigate through the defense.
18+ MLB Betting
Betting on Major League Baseball has been popular since the game was popularized in the early 1900s; however, it wasn’t technically legal until offshore sportsbooks started accepting US bettors. In the post-PASPA era, many states have passed sports betting laws to allow residents over the legal age another opportunity to bet on the diamond sport. Our guide to betting on the MLB walks you through the steps and prepares you for a home run.
18+ Boxing Betting
Professional fighting has grown in popularity with 18+ bettors over the past decade, and with mega-fights rumored to happen in 2021, there is no better time than now to get set up and get ready to bet on professional boxing. Boxing has long been one of the most bet on sports since superstars like Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather, and others stepped into the ring.
18+ NBA Betting
The NBA season is now underway and bettors can take advantage of the multiple game lines listed online. With 82 games and 30 teams, there is something for every fan of the game. Our guide to 18+ betting on NBA games takes a closer look at how game lines work, what sportsbooks are available to 18+ bettors, and how sports bettors should prepare for the betting season.
18+ NCAA Basketball Betting
18+ Betting on College basketball has never been so easy. Now that multiple states have passed domestic sports betting laws, there are multiple ways 18+ sports bettors can get in on the action and place bets on their favorites. Our guide to betting on College Basketball explores the various ways you can place a bet on regular-season games or on the March Madness tournament.
18+ UFC Betting
There is nothing more pleasing for some people than watching men and women throwing knockout blows for money. Now fans can get more involved in the action by betting on UFC matchups and events. With the help of offshore sportsbooks that accept bettors over the age of 18, there is no need to float like a butterfly or sting like a bee.
18+ Virtual Sports Betting
Virtual sports betting for 18 and up sports fans is not completely new but was made widely popular by quarantine circumstances during the Covid19 pandemic. Virtual sports have brought us an option when traditional sports have been absent for us, and it certainly has become a betting platform that is here to stay. At any given time there are multiple virtual sports to bet on, including football, basketball, soccer, horse racing, auto racing, camel racing, and more.
18+ Betting On Other Sports
In addition to football betting sports fans have plenty of other options to wager on as a number of events are underway or are about to start:
Available | Sport |
September- | NFL Season, NCAAF Season |
October- | NHL Season, NBA Season, MLB Playoffs |
November- | College Basketball |
December- | College Football Playoffs, NFL Playoffs |
January- | CFP Championship |
February- | Super Bowl 55, Daytona 500 |
March- | NCAA March Madness |
What Sports Can I Bet On?
Sportsbooks offer a wide range of sports events and categories that bettors can hand-select from. Sports categories include Football, Basketball, Baseball, Softball, Hockey, Tennis, Soccer, FIFA World Cup, MMA, UFC, Darts, Cricket, Bicycle Racing, Horse Racing, Entertainment, E-sports, Simulated sports, NASCAR, Formula 1, Politics, and Volleyball. Online sportsbooks tend to have more niche or obscure sports to wager on than physical bookmakers.
How Do I Register To Bet On Sports?
Registration is required whether online or in-person before placing a bet on any particular sport. A brick and mortar sportsbook will often ask a bettor to first register for an account and provide a valid form of identification similar to how online sportsbooks register users. However, online bettors simply need to create an account and fund their sportsbook account balance to begin betting.
Are There Sports Betting Apps Available To Use?
A number of sportsbook brands have created downloadable apps that allow bettors the same online betting and navigation capabilities as a PC would but for any mobile device, regardless of brand or operating system. These apps take up little storage in devices but for those wary of downloads, most sportsbooks can be played and operated through a mobile browser using WiFi. Our recommended offshore mobile sports betting portals are perfectly legal for American bettors to participate in.
What States Are Thinking About Legalizing Sports Gambling Next?
Gambling Sites For 16 Year Olds Development
A vast majority of US states are considering sports betting legalization, most of whom have introduced bills with language which would regulate and allow the operation of sports gambling within their state borders. Of these states, Michigan, New York, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Indiana seem to be next in line for passing legal sports wagering while the rest may pass their bills in the following session or year.
Gambling Sites For 16 Year Olds Voting San Francisco
Missouri, Oklahoma, Ohio, Kentucky, South Carolina, California, Massachusetts, and Kansas must await legalization due to varying factors affecting each state and their respective legislative processing.
Can I Bet On Sports With Crypto Currencies?
Yes, a variety of sportsbooks are offering 18+ banking methods that include cryptocurrencies. With the growing popularity of cryptocurrency, applications for crypto betting and gambling have begun their integration with sportsbook brands. Physical sportsbooks have yet to begin accepting crypto, however, online sportsbooks are more than delighted to provide crypto-deposit bonuses and accept a wide range of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dash, Bitcoin Cash and more.
What Will Happen to Fantasy Sports If Sports Wagering Becomes Legal Nationwide?
While fantasy sports companies have fought tooth and nail to justify their existence as legal outside of sports gambling, and if considered so, requiring more skill than the former, the legalization of sports gambling may cannibalize their business model.
Fantasy sports companies allow players to create fictional athletic teams and compete against friends; with sports wagering, fans can directly bet on the outcome of the exact games and events they watch. However, several major fantasy sports companies have thought ahead and switched gears to serve both fantasy and sports gambling fans.