Online Casinos in Minnesota

Minnesota Licenses No Online Casino

Minnesota's gambling law is a general prohibition with a short, closed list of exceptions, and online casino play is outside it. Section 609.755 provides: "609.755 GAMBLING; MISDEMEANOR. Whoever does any of the following is guilty of a misdemeanor: (1) makes a bet;". Running the operation is treated more seriously: under section 609.76 a person may be sentenced to imprisonment or a fine who "(1) maintains or operates a gambling place or operates a bucket shop;". A gambling place is defined broadly: "A gambling place is a location or structure, stationary or movable, or any part thereof, wherein, as one of its uses, betting is permitted or promoted, a lottery is conducted or assisted or a gambling device is operated."

What counts as a bet is defined too — "A bet is a bargain whereby the parties mutually agree to a gain or loss by one to the other of specified money, property or benefit dependent upon chance although the chance is accompanied by some element of skill." — and the things that are not bets are listed exhaustively, among them "(4) the game of bingo when conducted in compliance with sections 349.11 to 349.23", "(5) a private social bet not part of or incidental to organized, commercialized, or systematic gambling", "(7) pari-mutuel betting on horse racing when the betting is conducted under chapter 240; and" and "(8) the purchase and sale of State Lottery tickets under chapter 349A." No online casino licence appears anywhere in Minnesota law, and this site does not point readers at operators that are not licensed where they are.

Minnesota Licenses No Online Sports Betting Either

Unlike many states, Minnesota has not separated the two questions, because it has authorised neither. Sports wagering is not on the list of things that are not bets, and the statute treats it as the most serious of the gambling offences: "Whoever engages in sports bookmaking is guilty of a felony." The definition is specific: "Sports bookmaking is the activity of intentionally receiving, recording or forwarding within any 30-day period more than five bets, or offers to bet, that total more than $2,500 on any one or more sporting events." Readers comparing states should note that Minnesota belongs with the smaller group that licenses neither vertical.

Tribal Casinos Are Not State Online Licences

The casinos that operate in Minnesota are tribal, and Minnesota's own statute book marks the distinction. The gambling device licensing section permits a licensed distributor to supply a device to "the governing body of a federally recognized Indian tribe that is authorized to operate the gambling device under a tribal state compact under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, Public Law 100-497, and future amendments to it;". A tribal-state compact is an agreement about gaming conducted by a tribe on Indian lands. It is not a state licence, it is not an online casino licence, and the existence of tribal casinos in Minnesota says nothing about whether an online casino may lawfully take Minnesota players.

Sweepstakes Casinos: Why No Status Is Recorded

Minnesota law does not address dual-currency online sweepstakes casinos, and the provisions that touch prize play point in different directions, so this page records no sweepstakes status rather than inferring one. A lottery under Minnesota law requires consideration — "A lottery is a plan which provides for the distribution of money, property or other reward or benefit to persons selected by chance from among participants some or all of whom have given a consideration for the chance of being selected." — and the statute then sets out when a no-purchase promotion is not a lottery at all, beginning with the condition that "(1) participation is available, free and without purchase of the package, from the retailer or by mail or toll-free telephone request to the sponsor for entry or for a game piece;".

Pulling the other way, Minnesota defines a gambling device to include a video game of chance, and defines that term unusually widely: "A video game of chance is a game or device that simulates one or more games commonly referred to as poker, blackjack, craps, hi-lo, roulette, or other common gambling forms, though not offering any type of pecuniary award or gain to players." How those provisions apply to an online dual-currency product is a question no Minnesota statute, rule or official opinion read for this page answers. Sweepstakes casinos and real-money casinos are separate products and neither is presented here as a licensed version of the other.

Who Does What, and the Minimum Age

No Minnesota body licenses casino gaming. The Gambling Control Board, which "is created with the powers and duties established by subdivision 4.", licenses lawful charitable gambling under chapter 349. Enforcement sits with a division of the Department of Public Safety: "Effective October 1, 1996, the duties and powers of the Division of Gambling Enforcement are transferred to the Division of Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement in the Department of Public Safety, under the control and supervision of a director appointed by the commissioner and serving at the commissioner's pleasure in the unclassified service." That division also licenses gambling device manufacturers and distributors, where "a person may not (1) manufacture, sell, offer to sell, lease, rent, or otherwise provide, in whole or in part, a gambling device" without first obtaining a licence.

The minimum age attaches to the forms Minnesota permits rather than to online casino play. For the State Lottery, "A person under the age of 18 years may not buy or redeem for a prize a ticket in the state lottery."