Missouri

Learn about riverboat gambling in Missouri!

The government of the state of Missouri established the Missouri Gaming Commission in 1993.  This commission regulates gambling activities that take place on riverboats in Missouri’s jurisdiction.  The primary role of the commission is to ensure that no criminal activity is taking place in licensed gambling operations.  In addition, the Missouri Gaming Commission ensures that the casino games are fair and they are conducted in accordance with all rules with full disclosure.  There are a total of 13 riverboat casinos in Missouri and there are 10,900 employees in total on those riverboats.  The annual payroll of these employees is approximately $374 million. 

The Charitable Games Division of the Missouri Gaming Commission is in charge of maintaining integrity for charitable games as well as regulating bingo operations and other games associated with bingo to ensure fairness.  The profits that are made from charitable games held by sponsoring organizations are donated to charities as stated in the Constitution in the state of Missouri.  Operating bingo and other games can only be done by qualified religious, licensed, fraternal, service, veteran and charitable organization.  Bingo was first made available for play in in 1980 and it has since brought in more than $100 million in tax revenue for the state of Missouri.  This revenue has been given to the Proceeds for Education Fund to promote better education for the citizens of Missouri. 

Besides riverboats and charitable bingo games, no other type of gambling is allowed in Missouri.  Casinos that are strictly land-based are not allowed in Missouri but riverboats are allowed to provide casino table games as long as the equipment is purchased from an approved supplier.