The minimum gambling age is 18 for horse racing, bingo, and lottery games and 21 for casino-style games. It's clear Ohio laws are geared towards prosecuting illegal operators rather than individual players. It also forbids the act of gambling in a public place, a minor misdemeanor. Ohio Revised Code, section 29, chapter 2915 defines illegal gambling as “bookmaking facilitating schemes or games of chance for profit betting on schemes or games of chance for one’s livelihood possession of gambling devices playing craps roulette or slot machines for money.”Ĭuriously, therefore, Ohio law does not prohibit engaging in unlicensed gambling as a player unless winnings constitute a substantial source of an individual's income or livelihood, a first-degree misdemeanor. Ohio’s constitution bans gambling that is not licensed by the state. Up until the 2010s, legal gambling options in Ohio were limited to parimutuel horse race betting (legalized in 1933), lottery games (1974), and bingo (1975).Ĭonstruction of Vegas-style casinos was authorized in 2009, when both lawmakers and voters in the cash-strapped state realized that Ohio gamblers were spending their money at casinos in Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.įollowing the fall of PASPA, the federal prohibition, land-based and mobile sports betting was legalized in December 2021, and the first retail sportsbooks and mobile apps went live in January 2023.
