Gambling in Mississippi

When discussing gambling in Mississippi, our minds wander to romantic black-and-white images of steam-powered riverboat casinos, card sharps, cheats and professional gamblers.

Despite lean pickings in the past for gamblers (No state lottery, horse racing, online gambling – including sports betting online, or social gambling) now gambling permissive Mississippi now offers its residents; land-based sports betting, gambling in casinos, Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS), a great state lottery, charitable gaming and poker rooms in all the state’s casinos.

Casino gambling is a major industry for the state of Mississippi and a big generator of income to help pay for government infrastructure and services for the state’s citizens.

In answering the question, ‘is gambling legal in Mississippi?’, Mississippi’s state lawmakers in 1990 bowed to people pressure from the Mississippi citizens residents and thereby legalized casino gambling along the Mississippi River and on the Gulf Coast.

In approximately only one generation, the Mississippi town of Tunica has emerged as the third-largest gambling region in the country, and is quickly gaining on Atlantic City for the number two spot in the United States (behind Las Vegas of course). The State coffers of Mississippi earn an estimated $500,000 a day in revenue from the state’s casino operations alone.

Mississippi has 30 casinos, including land-based (both Tribal and Commercial Casinos) and now docked, riverboat casinos. You’ll find more than 39 000 slots and gaming machines at Mississippi’s casinos and there is a total of more than 1050 table games. According to our intensive research, the minimum bet we’ve located at casinos in Mississippi is $0.01 and the maximum bet is a whopping $10,000.

The law governing online casinos in Mississippi is as murky as the state’s great river. As far as we can ascertain, online gambling is illegal in the state of Mississippi. There is no specific law the state has written to ban online casinos. However, online gambling is implicitly illegal. What that basically means is that the law implies that online casinos are unlawful without coming right out and saying so directly. Remember, throughout most of the United States, if the gambling practice (including online casinos) is unregulated, it is best and safest to assume that it is deemed illegal by relevant State and Federal authorities.

This charge has been applied in some other US states to prosecute gamblers when no other charge existed to cover the game they were playing.

Our advice to people who live in or visit Mississippi is simple;

Obey all gambling laws and for the time being at least, don’t use online casinos (US-based or Offshore) within the state of Mississippi.

Conversely and painting a positive picture on the future of online gambling and online casinos in Mississippi, if no law currently exists, it may be simple in the future for Mississippi State Legislators to add an online casino legalization to produce entities akin to New Jersey online gambling sites without being required to ‘undo’ an existing law.

As soon as we hear a positive outcome or otherwise on the future of online casinos in Mississippi, we’ll let you know. Meanwhile, you can take part in DFS competitions for real money perfectly legal in the state of Mississippi.

There are no establishments in Mississippi that specifically run Poker games, however, legal Poker is carried out in Mississippi through the state’s 30 legal Casinos. There are over 100 Live Poker tables available for play throughout the state.

Poker Rooms

Live Poker in Mississippi is conducted in the states Casinos, and it is perfectly legal to play different types of poker without fear of breaking any of the state’s laws (including Casino Hold’em, Texas Hold’em, Caribbean Stud Poker, Omaha 8 or better, No Limit Hold’em etc.).

Online Poker Laws

No online poker options are currently legally available in Mississippi – See above section regarding ‘Online casinos in Mississippi’ for full explanation.

1790’s – Before the creation of the State of Mississippi, racetracks were established on the territory by the early French settlers in the region.

1800’s – River Boat Casino heydays with hundreds of Paddle Steamer Casino on the Mississippi River until the beginning of the Civil War.

1938 – Pinball Gaming and Slots Outlawed in Mississippi.

1990 – The Mississippi Gaming Control Act came into effect with River Boat Casino Gambling legalized on counties next to the coast or river.

1992 – Charitable Gaming Legalized on a limited basis.

2012 – Online Poker Bill overturned by Mississippi State Legislature.

2017 – Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) Betting Legalized by Mississippi State Legislature.

2018 – Sports Betting Legalized at Mississippi Casinos.

2021-22? – Online Casinos Legalized on the back of a successful implementation of Mississippi Sports Betting?

Visit Our page about Mississippi’s Online Sports Betting laws or our list of the state’s top online sportsbooks