State lottery minimum age
The state lottery in the United States has different minimum ages to play in different states. This is typical for all types of regulation concerning gambling age on state level. Some states lack regulation about the age requirement to play on the state lottery (as far as we have been able to determine), and anyone is hence welcome to play the lottery in that state, or the state do not feature a state lottery.
The most common gambling age for the state lottery is 18 yearsbut certain states such as Arizona and Iowa require you to be 21 years of age before you are allowed to play. Below you can find a list of the minimum required age to play the state lottery in different states in the USA.
Minimum Gambling Age for State Lottery
Alabama n/a
Alaska n/a
Arizona 21
Arkansas 18
California 18
Colorado 18
Connecticut 18
Delaware 18
District of Columbia 18
Florida 18
Georgia 18
Hawaii n/a
Idaho 18
Illinois 18
Indiana 18
Iowa 21
Kansas 18
Kentucky 18
Louisiana 21
Maine 18
Maryland 18
Massachusetts 18
Michigan 18
Minnesota 18
Mississippi n/a
Missouri 18
Montana 18
Nebraska 19
Nevada n/a
New Hampshire 18
New Jersey 18
New Mexico 18
New York 18
North Carolina 18
North Dakota n/a
Ohio 18
Oklahoma 18
Oregon 18
Pennsylvania 18
Puerto Rico 18
Rhode Island 18
South Carolina 18
South Dakota 18
Tennessee 18
Texas 18
Utah n/a
Vermont 18
Virgin Islands 18
Virginia 18
Washington 18
West Virginia 18
Wisconsin 18
Wyoming n/a
Information in the list may be wrong and should not be considered legal advice. Check with a lawyer or with the state to make sure.
The minimum age to play on the lottery varies in the rest of the world just like it does between the different states in the USA. The most common legal gambling age for lotteries around the world is 18 years, but there are plenty of exceptions. If you want to play the lottery in a foreign country you should therefore always ask the staff about the gambling age if you are below 25 years of age. If you where to win you may not get your prize if they find out that you are actually to young to play the lottery. Also remember that gambling, including lotteries, are illegal in some areas and countries – regardless of the age of the player.
The rules regarding minimum gambling age may differ between different lotteries and between different types of lotteries within the same jurisdiction. The gambling age might as an example not be the same for the national lottery as it is for small local charity lotteries with small prices. It can therefore be good to ask about the gambling age every time you play a new lottery if you want to be certain that you do not break any rules. As stated above, you might lose your prize if you turn out to be too young to play that particular type of lottery in that jurisdiction.