Mississippi casinos and hotels attract guests from around the world. Visitors to the Mississippi Gulf Coast sometimes discover that good people end up at the wrong place at the wrong time. When an arrest happens, some guests mistakenly believe that they can simply leave and return home to forget the legal consequences.
FindLaw's Mississippi Gambling and Lotteries Laws section covers the gaming-related laws of the state, both in terms of gambling in general (such as casinos and horse tracks) and official state lotteries. While Mississippi does not allow horse racing, licensed casinos are able to operate as water-borne riverboats. In addition, Native American casinos are legal in the state. Gaming Control Act The Gaming Control Act is found in the Mississippi Code of 1972 title 75, chapter 76. Mississippi Gaming Control Act but for a federal preemption, and the Mississippi Lottery Corporation. The term “Mississippi gaming winnings” or 'gaming winnings' includes all amounts that are paid, whether in cash or other form, by Mississippi gaming establishments to.
If you or a loved one has been arrested in a Mississippi Gulf Coast casino or hotel, you should immediately contact a Mississippi Gulf Coast defense lawyer. Thinking “what goes on the road stays on the road” is not a strategy. A casino arrest can shadow you home and linger.
Gulfport defense attorney Rufus Alldredge was the assistant district attorney in Biloxi, Mississippi when casino gaming was legalized. Back then, the first Mississippi Gulf Coast casinos were on small boats. Some of the boats left the dock for a cruise, and others remained at the dock. Gaming laws and regulations were initially enforced by the Mississippi Highway Patrol. Over the last 25 years, Mississippi Gulf Coast casinos have become bigger and permanent. The legislature created the Mississippi Gaming Commission to enforce gaming laws and draft regulations. After Hurricane Katrina destroyed the casino boats in 2005, Mississippi law adapted to allow casinos to rebuild onshore.
Cheating a Casino is a Serious Charge
Mississippi originally adopted Nevada’s gaming laws almost word for word. There have been changes but Mississippi’s Gaming Control Act still prohibits cheating in any form. Some examples include:
- Sliding. This means prearranging dice to your numeric values and sliding them down the table.
- Bet capping or past posting. This means making a bet after the outcome of the game is known.
- Marked decks. This means altering top of a card so the player can tell what the card value is.
- False shuffles. This is when a cheating dealer pretends to shuffle the deck in a random manner without doing so.
- False dealing. This means giving or withholding known cards to a player.
- Monkey paw. This is a flexible rod with a claw to hold open the slot machine payout chute.
Mississippi Gaming laws prohibit card counting or possession of any device to:
- Keep track of cards played
- Project the outcome of a game
- Analyze probability of outcomes
- Analyze betting strategy
Gaming laws, gaming regulations, and local laws all apply to casino patrons. Some common examples include:
- Underage gambling. The legal age to gamble is 21. Mississippi Gaming Commission and local police departments are authorized to make arrests.
- Gambling with a minor. Helping a minor violate the gaming laws or conspiring to do so is illegal in Mississippi.
- Using fake I.D. to enter casino nightclub. This is not a gaming violation per se but takes place on casino property. This is generally enforced by local police.
- Reentry after a no trespass notice or self ban from casino. This is a form of trespass enforceable by the Mississippi Gaming Commission or local law enforcement. Casino patrons should be aware that being arrested in a casino usually means being banned. Any reentry can be charged with trespass.
When a person is charged with violating the Mississippi Gaming Control Act, or regulations, the case file is forwarded to the district attorney for grand jury presentation. The best Mississippi defense attorneys know how to advocate at the district attorney’s office. The grand jury is authorized to consider and indict alternative charges, including common law offenses. For example, if a casino guest is charged with stealing cheques (chips), the grand jury could bring an indictment for a common law charge such as grand larceny.
Surveillance and Security
The Mississippi Gaming Commission regulations mandate surveillance camera coverage on all gaming floors. Casino video is supposed to promote safety and security. Professional gamblers are aware that if they win big, the cameras watch them more closely. Other security measures can include sensors tracking a patron’s movement across the gaming floor. Casino dealers, pit bosses, and staff are trained to detect cheating and other violations of law by casino patrons as well as employees. Larger casinos may employ additional measures such as license plate readers in the garage and biometric face recognition.
You have Defenses
Defenses are always fact specific to each case. Defenses can include lack of evidence, lack of intent, innocent mistake, mistaken identity, or alibi. We defend tourists, out of state visitors, and local residents including casino employees.
Don’t Gamble on Your Reputation and Future
If you have been arrested in a casino or hotel, or charged with a Mississippi gaming violation, call us. We can help you separate the issues to achieve your best outcome. Contact Gulfport defense lawyer Rufus Alldredge at 228.863.0123. We are located at 1921 22nd Avenue in Gulfport, Mississippi.
When it comes to poker, the name of the game in the state of Mississippi is regulation. Though Mississippi is one of the most politically-conservative in the USA, the state has not moved to make poker and gambling illegal – instead, the state government is trying to regulate poker play at all levels. Whether you want to play poker in your home, in a casino, or at an online poker room, all three forms of poker games are permitted within a strict set of regulations. Follow the law in Mississippi and your poker game won’t get you in legal trouble.
Home Poker Games & Mississippi Law
Though gambling is not illegal in the state, Mississippi has a very strict set of gambling laws. Home poker games, where one person hosts a group of poker players in private, are even a bit risky. According to Section 97-33-1 of the Mississippi penal code, a misdemeanor charge is possible for hosting a home game if it can be proven that he was gambling “for money or other valuable thing.” Home games using chips or other meaningless tokens instead of cash are the only legal and safe games in Mississippi.
Some poker players may be surprised to learn that a game taking place in the privacy of their own home is subject to state law. Mississippi’s legal system has not made an exception for poker in private games, so long as those games are played for profit. If the host and the players of your private game aren’t making any financial gain from it, it’s legal. Otherwise, you could face prosecution.
Mississippi Casinos & Poker
For a state with such a strong stance against private poker games, Mississippi has a very active casino industry. The state allows gambling, regulated by the state and taxed at a relatively high rate, in state-licensed casinos. Mississippi’s traditional casinos and riverboat gaming venues host poker games, casino-style poker, slots, and every table game you’d find in a Vegas casino.
Mississippi’s riverboat casinos are popular – floating down the Mississippi river, which makes up a big part of the border of Mississippi, gamblers can play poker or their favorite table game in a totally legal and regulated environment. Because the gambling-by-riverboat scene has been active for centuries, the state’s penal code has an entire section set aside to regulating how these businesses can operate. Riverboat casinos are now basically the same as Mississippi’s land-based casinos, in the eyes of the law.
Ms Gaming Regulations
Because playing in a private game is potentially dangerous, heading to one of the state’s many casinos or riverboat gambling sites is a much better option for citizens of The Magnolia State that want to play a few hands of Texas Holdem.
Mississippi Gaming Law
Online Poker Law in Mississippi
The state of Mississippi has not yet produced any legislation about the issue of gambling over the Internet. No laws about online poker, craps, or any other game have yet been written. The state is not shy about gambling laws – casino regulation has been taking place at the state level for over a hundred years. The problem is that the state hasn’t yet considered the legality of wagering on a poker game via an Internet connection. Most laws about gambling in the state are so old, they make no mention of electronic communication methods at all; when these laws were written, gambling did not yet involve even the humble telephone, so it should come as no surprise that Internet gambling laws don’t yet exist.
Depending on how the state chooses to interpret existing gambling law, the laws the state currently has in place may be used in the case of online poker. But the state hasn’t made any move to prosecute poker players who wager on the Internet, and no arrests or legal actions against Internet poker players have been reported within state lines.
Learn About Other State Laws
Online Gambling & Mississippi Law
The state known as the Birthplace of America's Music doesn’t have any state law against online gambling. With no federal law against playing poker online, Mississippians who want to play at online poker rooms don’t face prosecution.
Ms Gaming Commission Regulations
Some Mississippi citizens may be concerned about federal law – the United States government did take some actions in 2006 to combat the spread of online gambling. A bill called the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was tacked on to the end of a can’t-fail anti-terrorism bill. But this law is focused on how banks and other financial institutions do business with known gambling websites. The UIGEA limits how Mississippians can fund their online gambling account, but does not make that gambling illegal.