Legal Age to Gamble: Hold on There High Roller!

I bet you've dreamed of striking it rich in the lottery at least once in your life. Who hasn't? Perhaps you have a knack for picking winning horses. Or maybe you enjoy picking up a quick scratch-off ticket when you have a few extra dollars after buying groceries. I mean, they put the tickets in machines the equivalent of candy or soda machines, so they couldn't be that bad for you, right?

Apparently they are -- or at least some states think so. You might be legally able to enlist in the military at 18, but some states don't think you're responsible enough to choose how to spend your money without Big Brother watching over your shoulder. You can buy a pack of smokes with their jacked up prices, but forget about playing the lottery until you're 21. You can get a job, but you're not allowed to decide how to spend your income (although Uncle Sam and your state aren't giving you a tax break just for giving up your rights to spend your own dough).

Gambling vs. Gifts

Lottery tickets are (nationwide) probably one of the most hypocritical legal age issues out there. Why? Because while you might not be legally allowed to purchase your own lottery tickets until you're either 18 or 21, many states allow others to give you lottery tickets as gifts.

Let's think about smoking laws again. You can't buy cigarettes until you're 18. You've probably even seen signs in stores telling you how evil and illegal it would be for someone else to buy you smokes if you're under 18. Yet they can do precisely that with lottery tickets. Let's be clear. Cigarettes are bad for you the government says, so they want to deter you from smoking by making sure you can't get them legally, and when you can, are barely able to afford them. Gambling must also be really bad for you, given that many states make you wait three years longer than after you're allowed to smoke. But at the same time, it's not so bad that other adults are barred from buying you those lottery tickets. Confused yet? Me too!

Magically More Mature: Wanna Bet?

Not only do state laws regarding lottery tickets often make no sense (I still think it's about older folks wanting to cut down on the competition), but other gambling laws can be just as hypocritical. Take cruise ships for example. Even if you can't gamble in your home state until 21, you might be able to legally gamble while on a cruise at 18 (depending on where the cruise departs from and the company's policies -- yes, even private companies can decide when you're "old enough" to gamble with your own money).

Look at the differences between types of gambling in some states too. Let's take New Jersey as an example. When you're 18 in New Jersey you're apparently mature enough to gamble on the lottery, bingo, and to bet on the races. But if you think you're setting foot in the casinos to play a hand or two of poker, think again. You have to wait until you're old enough to drink -- 21. Common sense tells us that gambling and drinking can indeed be mutually exclusive activities, but then again who ever said legislators had to exercise common sense?

Here are a few more gambling-related tidbits to make you wonder:

Nevada, perhaps best known as the gambling capital of the country, actually has stricter legal age rules regarding gambling than many other states. You have to be 21 not only to hit the casinos, but also to take part in pari-mutuel betting. Want to play the lottery while you're in Vegas also? Too bad. Lotteries are prohibited altogether. No. I'm not kidding.

Indian reservation casinos aren't always held to the same legal age limit requirements as other gambling venues in a state (although in some cases the reservation casinos actually impose higher age limits than state laws mandate).

In 2006, the federal government voted to ban some types of online gambling (for example, online poker sites). While regulations are supposed to be in effect as of December 2009, some members of Congress are working to delay the implementation for a year due to economic concerns or overturn the gambling-related restrictions altogether. The reason for outlawing online gambling? National security (of course!).

At 18 you might not be able to place a bet on the playoffs, but you can be bombarded with credit card offers (don't even try to tell me they're not a "gamble"). Go figure.