Gambling age in Latvia: 18 or 21?

The gambling age in Latvia is 18. It applies to casinos, gaming halls, bingo halls, sports betting and the totalisator, and to gambling and lotteries online. The law sets no age for buying a paper lottery ticket. Raising the gambling age to 21 has been proposed several times, but it is not in the law: in the text of the Gambling and Lotteries Law we checked on 1 October 2026, the threshold is 18 and 21 does not appear anywhere.

How old do you have to be to enter a casino in Latvia?

You have to be 18 to enter a casino, gaming hall or bingo hall, to bet on sport and to gamble online.

Visiting Riga? Casinos check ID at the door and record every visitor, so bring a passport or ID card. The law repeats the age limit in several places, one for each kind of gambling:

• Casinos and gaming halls - 18. Article 37 of the law requires the operator to keep anyone under 18 off the premises.
• Bingo halls - 18, under the same Article 37.
• Sports betting and the totalisator - 18. Article 41(1)(6) bans organising any gambling in which under-18s take part.
• Online gambling (the law's term is "interactive gambling") - 18. Under Article 53, the operator must state on its site that people under 18 may not play.
• Online lotteries - 18, under Article 80.
• A paper lottery ticket in a shop - the law sets no age. Latvijas Loto prints "Not recommended under 18" on its tickets itself, and its online channel iLOTO only lets you register and buy tickets from 18 (clause 3.2 of the iLOTO terms).

The limit is your 18th birthday, not the year you turn 18. If your birthday is in December, the casino door stays shut for you in January.

The 21 age limit: proposed, not in force

Raising the gambling age to 21 has been proposed at least four times since 2021, and none of the proposals has become law.

This is how the question has moved:

• 15 April 2021 - the Saeima declines to send to committee a bill that would, among other things, have raised the gambling age: 35 members voted for, 15 against and 27 abstained (TV3).
• 2 June 2022 - the Saeima supports in principle amendments banning gambling for people under 21 (Saeima).
• 16 April 2023 - the Finance Ministry puts new amendments with a 21 threshold out for public consultation (LSM).
• 13 August 2024 - the government backs amendments that would allow gambling from 21 and lotteries from 18 (LSM).
• 26 September 2024 - the Saeima passes these amendments to its Budget and Finance (Taxation) Committee (LV portāls).
• 1 April 2026 - amendments take effect that hand gambling supervision to the State Revenue Service (VID). They keep the age threshold at 18.

If the Saeima ever adopted the 21 threshold, under the government's 2024 proposal it would cover casinos, gaming halls, the totalisator and online gambling, while lotteries would stay at 18. Until that happens, the rule is simple: 18. If you read somewhere that gambling in Latvia is allowed only from 21, that is a proposal, not the law in force.

How casinos check your age

Casinos and gaming halls check your age at the entrance; online, it is checked when your account is verified.

Article 37 requires casinos, gaming halls and bingo halls to make sure of a visitor's age and to ask for an identity document when in doubt, and the visitor has to show it. Casinos go further. Under Article 39, a casino registers every visitor on every visit and asks for an identity document. On a repeat visit, a visitor card issued by that casino can be shown instead of the document.

Online, your age is checked when the account is verified. A licensed casino asks you to confirm your identity and at the same time checks that you are not on the self-exclusion register. Which documents you need and how verification works step by step is covered in our casino verification guide.

What happens if a minor gambles

The operator faces a EUR 7000 fine, and the casino usually closes the minor's account.

For letting a minor into a gambling venue or allowing a minor to take part in gambling, Article 89(8) of the law sets a fine on the company of 1400 fine units. One fine unit is five euros (Article 16 of the Administrative Liability Law), so the fine is EUR 7000.

For the player, the casino's own terms decide. They usually say that a minor's account is closed and winnings are not paid out. What happens to money already deposited depends on each casino's terms.

Offshore casinos and the age limit

Offshore casinos set their own age limit in their terms, and Latvian licence conditions and the self-exclusion register do not bind them.

Offshore casinos are not licensed in Latvia and are not supervised by VID. That also means that in a dispute with one, you have nowhere to turn in Latvia. What a licence does and does not give a player is explained in our article on casino licences, and why many still choose offshore casinos is covered in a separate article.

An age limit is not an obstacle to get around. If you are not 18 yet, gambling is not meant for you - not in Latvia and not on an offshore site.

If a teenager is gambling

If you notice a teenager betting or playing casino games online, start with a conversation and limits on their devices.

Explain that gambling is an adult activity and that losing is the most likely outcome. On computers and phones, parental control software that blocks gambling sites helps, and many banks can block gambling-related card transactions. A lottery ticket is not the best present for a teenager either - there is a reason Latvijas Loto prints "Not recommended under 18" on its tickets.

People sign up to the self-exclusion register themselves, so it is not a tool parents can use to block a child. Other tools and tips are collected in our safe gambling guide and our article on responsible gambling tools.

Gambling is entertainment for adults, and you can lose money at it. If you play, set a budget before you start and stop when it is spent. Help resources and tools for keeping play under control are on our responsible gambling page.