Self-exclusion in Arkansas

How to put yourself on Arkansas's self-exclusion list, what it covers, and what it does not.

Programme: There is no statewide self-exclusion list in Arkansas. The Arkansas Racing Commission's casino gaming rules place the duty on operators instead: 23 CAR § 358-514 ('Self-exclusion') requires that 'Operators must have and put into effect policies and procedures for self-exclusion and take all reasonable steps to immediately refuse service to or to otherwise prevent an individual who has self-excluded from participating in interactive gaming.' So self-exclusion in Arkansas is something you do with each operator, one at a time. Separately - and this is a different thing that is easily mistaken for it - the Commission does maintain a statewide 'List of Excluded Persons', but that is an involuntary list for cheats, career offenders and people whose presence would be 'inimical to the interest of the State of Arkansas'. You cannot put yourself on it.dfa.arkansas.gov, checked 3 October 2026
Covers online betting: Only operator by operator, and the rule's reach is narrower than it sounds. § 358-514 applies to 'interactive gaming', and in these rules interactive gaming means poker: § 358-516(a)(1) forbids an operator to accept or facilitate a wager 'On any game other than the game of poker and its derivatives as approved by the Arkansas Racing Commission'. Operators must close the account of a self-excluded player, keep a register of self-excluded individuals, train staff to enforce it, stop sending them marketing, and refuse a wager the operator 'knows or reasonably should know is made by a person on the self-exclusion list'. Each operator's site must also carry a live link to 'A website that allows for an authorized player to choose to be excluded from engaging in interactive gaming'.We searched the Commission's current casino gaming rules for any self-exclusion provision attached to sports wagering and found none - the only self-exclusion rule in the book is the interactive-gaming one quoted above, and the rule slot that would hold a broader scheme, 23 CAR § 358-420 'Programs to address problem gambling', is published as '[Reserved]', i.e. deliberately left empty. Arkansas casinos do offer mobile sports betting. What that means for you is that excluding yourself from an Arkansas sportsbook app is a matter for that operator's own terms rather than for any rule the Commission has written, so ask the operator what it actually does and get the answer in writing.dfa.arkansas.gov, checked 3 October 2026
Covers casinos and shops: There is no statewide self-exclusion list covering the casinos, so a retail ban is a matter between you and each casino. The rules do require a licensee to enforce the Commission's involuntary exclusion list - 'A Licensee shall exclude or eject any person that has been placed on the exclusion list' - and confirm that each casino separately 'shall have the right to exclude undesirable individuals from its premises', which is the power a casino uses when it agrees to bar you at your own request. Anyone excluded who gambles anyway 'shall forfeit all winnings immediately upon detection', and the casino 'may press trespass charges'.dfa.arkansas.gov, checked 3 October 2026
Covers the lottery: No. The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery's own player pages set out responsible-play advice - know your limits, play for fun only, the lottery is not income - and refer players to the National Council on Problem Gambling helpline on 1-800-522-4700 and to Gamblers Anonymous. They describe no self-exclusion, no account suspension and no player-ban mechanism of any kind.Read from an archived copy of the Lottery's own Player's Hub (snapshot 2026-03-01), because myarkansaslottery.com returns HTTP 403 to us behind a bot check. An archived copy of the Lottery's own page is still the Lottery speaking; it is not a third-party summary. Note also that the Lottery is a separate body from the Racing Commission, so nothing in the casino rules touches lottery play either way. If lottery play is your problem, ring the Lottery and ask directly whether any exclusion exists - we found none published.playershub.myarkansaslottery.com (archived copy of 1 March 2026), checked 3 October 2026
How long you can choose: The state sets no term lengths at all. § 358-514 fixes only a floor on how soon you can come back: an operator's policies must include 'Provisions precluding an individual who has self-excluded from being allowed to again engage in interactive gaming until a reasonable amount of time of not fewer than thirty (30) days has passed since the individual self-excluded.' Beyond that thirty-day minimum, whatever lengths you are offered are the operator's own.dfa.arkansas.gov, checked 3 October 2026
Can it be undone: Yes, and sooner than in most states - which is the thing to know before you rely on it. The only statewide constraint is the thirty-day minimum in § 358-514 before a self-excluded person may 'again engage in interactive gaming'. There is no state-mandated one-year, five-year or lifetime option, and no state body you must apply to for removal. Whether you get anything firmer than thirty days depends entirely on the operator you signed up with.dfa.arkansas.gov, checked 3 October 2026
What happens when it ends: There is no state exclusion to expire, so this is governed by each operator's own policy. The rule requires only that at least thirty days pass before you can play again; it does not say whether the operator must keep you excluded after that, nor whether you must ask to be let back in. Treat an Arkansas operator self-exclusion as something that may well lapse quietly at the end of whatever period you chose.This is the weakest expiry position of any state in this batch, and the reason is structural rather than accidental: with no statewide register there is no authority holding your exclusion, so there is nothing that can be said to continue. Before you rely on an Arkansas self-exclusion, ask the operator two questions in writing - does it end by itself at the end of the term, and what exactly do I have to do to get back in? If the answer to the second is 'just ask', you know what you are dealing with.dfa.arkansas.gov, checked 3 October 2026
How you sign up: Through each operator, not through the state. There is no Commission form, no notary and no central portal. The rules require each interactive gaming operator's website to display a live link to a site 'that allows for an authorized player to choose to be excluded from engaging in interactive gaming', so the starting point is the responsible-gaming area of each operator you have an account with. For a casino ban, ask the casino's security or player-services desk, since each licensee holds its own right to exclude people from its premises.dfa.arkansas.gov, checked 3 October 2026

Worth knowing before you start

The single most important thing about Arkansas is that there is no statewide self-exclusion list, and the thing that looks like one is not one. The Commission does keep a statewide 'List of Excluded Persons', but that is an involuntary list aimed at cheats, career and professional offenders, people whose employee licences have been revoked, people who threaten the safety of patrons or staff, and people with a documented history of disrupting a casino's operations. You cannot add yourself to it; names go on by Commission investigation or casino referral, and a person on it may petition to come off. If you ask a casino to 'put me on the state exclusion list', that is not a thing you can have. What you can have is an operator-level self-exclusion from each online poker operator, and a ban agreed with each casino. Two further cautions. First, the rule only binds 'interactive gaming' operators, and interactive gaming in these rules means poker and its derivatives - so sports betting apps are not covered by the rule even though casino gaming in Arkansas expressly includes sports wagering. Second, the rulebook slot that would contain a broader problem-gambling scheme, 23 CAR § 358-420 'Programs to address problem gambling', is published as '[Reserved]' - the heading exists and the content does not. Given all that, bank-level and card-level gambling blocks and blocking software carry more weight in Arkansas than they would in a state with a real statutory list, because nothing in Arkansas gives you a single enforceable block across every operator.

Done? The rest of the hour: blockers, a bank block, closing the accounts, telling one person.

Every fact on this page was read from an official source and dated. The oldest of them was checked on 3 October 2026. Tell us if something here is wrong.