Gambling in a casino or in a poker room can be a great source of entertainment for the evening, but involves a number of complicated choices with high stakes.
As such, all states in the United States have set a minimum legal age for gambling. If you’re in Mineral, Virginia and interested in traveling down to Richmond for a night out, you may be wondering what the legal age to play in the casino is.
The short answer is that it depends on what kind of establishment you’re going to. Probably because, it is true that different establishments have different minimum age requirements.
If you want to go to a brick and mortar casino to play the slots, roulette, blackjack, or any number of other exciting games, you need to be 21 years old. The same is true for most kinds of online betting as well: if you want to get on the internet and play in a virtual casino, bet on sports, or play poker, the law requires you to be at least 21 years old.
There are, however, several gambling options in Virginia that you can participate in at the age of 18. Old Dominion is home to many poker rooms, and many of them are run for charity. Due to the philanthropic nature of such rooms, the minimum playing age is only 18 years old. This only holds if the poker room is not within a larger casino—in that case, the minimum age is 21 years old.
Betting on horse and dog races has a strong tradition in Virginia, and the minimum age to participate in that tradition is also 18 years old. If you want to play bingo, either in a brick and mortar bingo parlor or online, or buy a lottery ticket, the minimum age will be 18 years as well.
The many casinos, poker rooms, bingo parlors, and racetracks in Virginia can help you to pass an 
exciting evening, and maybe even win some money in the process. If you didn’t know what the legal age to play in a Virginia Casino is before, now you do.
Here’s a recap:
Minimum age 21: brick and mortar casino, online casino, online sports betting, online poker room.
Minimum age 18: horse racing, dog racing, bingo, brick and mortar poker room, state lottery.
With this information in your hands, you’re equipped to enjoy yourself responsibly and legally in a gambling establishment here in Virginia.