Best Casinos in Delaware: The Three Racinos, Ranked

If you’d rather warm up at home first, Delaware keeps that simple too. There is one licensed online casino operator in the state, Rush Street Interactive, which runs its BetRivers platform for the Delaware Lottery. The three casinos each put their own name on it, so you’ll see Delaware Park, Bally’s Dover and Harrington sites, but it’s one operator and one set of state rules behind all of them.

You have to be 21 and physically inside Delaware to play, and anything else offering you real-money Slots from a Delaware address isn’t licensed here, however polished the site looks or however big the bonus it waves at you. Our US gambling laws guide explains why only a handful of states allow online casinos at all.

BetRivers

Rush Street Interactive won the Delaware Lottery’s contract through a public request for proposals in 2023, for an initial term of five years, and its online casino and sportsbook soft launched on December 27, 2023. The Delaware Park and Harrington sites run through the multi-state BetRivers app and website, while Bally’s Dover has its own standalone app and website.

Evolution’s Live Casino tables arrived in July 2024, with Live Roulette, Blackjack, Baccarat and Craps, and the Lottery’s own figures show players placed $276.5 million in online table bets in July and August 2026 alone. I’d pick whichever casino’s site matches the players card you already carry. The games are the same, and so is the Lottery’s self-exclusion list, which covers the online sites as well as the casino floors.

Here’s our list of the best casinos in Delaware, side by side. The machine and table counts are the Delaware Lottery’s own, from its report for the month ending August 31, 2026, and they’re the only counts every casino reports to the same standard.

How I Ranked Three Casinos

With only three to choose from, the ranking comes down to what kind of night you want. I put Bally’s Dover first because it’s the only one where you can play, eat, see a show and sleep without getting back in the car, and it never closes. Delaware Park has the biggest gaming floor and the only dedicated Poker tables in the Lottery’s count, so it’s the pick for serious players in the north. Harrington is the smallest and the most local, and it’s the closest casino to the beaches.

No casino paid to be on this list. If you’re new to the games themselves, our casino games explained page covers the basics before you sit down.

• 5,270 slot machines: the Lottery’s count across all three casinos for the month ending August 31, 2026.
• 99 gaming tables: plus 10 Poker tables, all of them at Delaware Park.
• 87% to 95%: the range every Delaware slot machine must pay back over a year, by law.
• 500 hotel rooms: at Bally’s Dover, the only casino hotel in the state.
• 21 to play: the age for Slots, Table Games, sports betting and online games, while lottery tickets start at 18.
• 38% to the state: the share of slot revenue that went to Delaware’s General Fund in August 2026.
• November 7, 2013: the day Delaware launched online casino games, first in the nation.

Bally’s Dover Casino Resort is the best casino in Delaware for a full night out, and the only one that feels like a resort. It opened as Dover Downs Slots on December 29, 1995, and Bally’s Corporation runs it today from 1131 N Dupont Hwy, right in the middle of the state capital. Its harness track sits inside Dover Motor Speedway, the 1-mile concrete oval NASCAR fans call the Monster Mile.

The casino is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Bally’s advertises more than 2,000 slot machines, while the Lottery counted 1,917 in August 2026, along with 29 gaming tables. Craps, Roulette and Blackjack are all on the floor, and there’s a daily $10 minimum bet on Table Games, which is friendly for a casual player. Live harness racing runs from November through April, with simulcast racing all year.

Rooms, Shows and Food

The hotel has 500 rooms, and the standard rooms run to 450 square feet, which is generous. The Rollins Center puts on concerts and comedy in an 18,000-square-foot room, and the resort has more than 41,000 square feet of event space in all. Dinner can be Jerry Longo’s Meatballs & Martinis, Macau Kitchen, Royal Prime Steakhouse or Sugar Factory.

Then there’s Círculo Lounge, Delaware’s first and only rotating bar, which makes four full turns an hour above the casino floor. I’d book a room on a race weekend, eat at Royal Prime and finish the night at Círculo, and if that sounds like a lot for Dover on a Saturday, it is, which is exactly why it gets the top spot.

Delaware Park Casino at 777 Delaware Park Blvd has the biggest gaming floor in Delaware by the Lottery’s count. It is the easy choice if you live in the north or you’re coming down from Philadelphia. The racetrack opened on June 26, 1937, and it’s the only thoroughbred track in the state, home of the Delaware Handicap. The Rickman family sold it in 2021 to Clairvest Group and Rubico Gaming after 38 years, and the Delaware Racing Association still runs the site.

The Lottery counted 2,032 slot machines here in August 2026, more than the “over 1,800” the casino still quotes, plus 44 gaming tables and 10 Poker tables. Denominations run from a penny to $25, and there’s an Outdoor Slot Patio of nearly 10,000 square feet with 257 machines, and it’s one of the spots where smoking is allowed. The main casino floor and the Table Games are open 24 hours, while the second-floor Slots keep shorter hours. The Poker room is on the second floor, track side, and the Table Games include Blackjack, Craps, Three Card Poker and Spanish 21.

Racing, Food and Where to Stay

There is no hotel on site. The casino’s host hotel is the Residence Inn by Marriott in Newark, a few minutes away, with a discounted Delaware Park rate if you call. The High Steaks Brewery does steaks and its own beer, and the Sports Book on the casino side has 30 TVs.

The 89th live racing season is running in 2026, and a nor’easter pushed the Delaware Handicap card back to Saturday, October 3. I’d come on a race day, bet a couple of races from the paddock and move inside for the tables once the last race is run, and if you’re a Poker player in the north, this is the only casino where the Lottery counts dedicated Poker tables.

Harrington Raceway & Casino is the small-town pick, on the Delaware State Fairgrounds at 18500 S. DuPont Highway. The track has run a race meet every year since 1946, the casino opened as Midway Slots on August 20, 1996, and Harrington Raceway, Inc., which the nonprofit Delaware State Fair majority owns, runs it.

The Lottery counted 1,321 slot machines and 26 gaming tables here in August 2026, with machines from 1 cent to $25. The Table Games include Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Spanish 21 and Heads Up Hold’em, and the tables run from 10 a.m. to 3 a.m. Sunday to Thursday and 10 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. The casino itself is open 24 hours on Fridays and Saturdays and from 8 a.m. to 4 a.m. the rest of the week. A Poker room runs from Thursday to Sunday.

Shows, Food and Where to Stay

The draw here is the free live entertainment every Friday and Saturday night, plus Bōnz Restaurant & Lounge for steaks and seafood. The casino is smoke-free inside. There’s no hotel on site, but the Quality Inn is across the street and the Holiday Inn Express is about half a mile away, and Players Club members get a 20% room discount.

It’s 25 minutes from Dover and 45 minutes from the beaches. If you’re staying at the beach for a week and fancy one night of Blackjack away from the boardwalk crowds, it’s the one I’d drive to, because the atmosphere is friendlier than you’d guess for a casino on a fairground.

Delaware’s three casinos are the only ones in the state, so for more choice you’ll be crossing a state line. Two options make sense from the south, and both are outside Delaware, under different rules.

Ocean Downs, Maryland

Ocean Downs Casino is at 10218 Racetrack Road in Berlin, Maryland, near Ocean City, and Churchill Downs Incorporated runs it. It’s another racino, you have to be 21 to enter the gaming area, and there’s a free shuttle bus from its partner hotels in Ocean City. Our Maryland gambling guide covers the rules there.

Atlantic City by Ferry

From Lewes, the Cape May-Lewes Ferry crosses the Delaware Bay to Cape May in about 85 minutes, a 17-mile trip, and Atlantic City’s casinos are a drive up the Jersey Shore from there. It’s the scenic way to turn a beach week into a casino night. I’d only make that trip if you’re already staying down there, and our New Jersey guide has the details.

Delaware’s casinos run north to south, one in each part of the state. Choosing between the best casinos in Delaware comes down to which one is closest to you.

Is There a Casino in Wilmington?

Yes. Delaware Park is on the edge of Wilmington, just off I-95 at Churchman’s Road, and SEPTA trains stop at Fairplay Station on the grounds on weekdays. It’s about 30 miles from Philadelphia and minutes from the Delaware Memorial Bridge.

Is There a Casino in Dover?

Yes, Bally’s Dover, right on N Dupont Hwy in the middle of the capital. It’s also the only casino in Delaware where you can stay the night on site, with 500 rooms upstairs.

Is There a Casino Near the Delaware Beaches?

The closest is Harrington, which the casino puts 45 minutes from the Delaware beaches and the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. From Ocean City, Ocean Downs in Maryland is the closer option.

By the Lottery’s count, the biggest casino in Delaware is Delaware Park, with 2,032 slot machines, 44 gaming tables and 10 Poker tables in August 2026. Bally’s Dover calls itself the largest casino destination in Delaware, and it has the state’s only casino hotel, but on the floor it counted 1,917 machines and 29 tables. Harrington comes third with 1,321 machines and 26 tables, which is still a proper casino floor, and the gap between the top two is small enough that you should choose between the best casinos in Delaware on location rather than size.

The Numbers You’ll See Elsewhere

Plenty of casino lists carry figures that don’t match what the casinos report to the Lottery. You’ll see Bally’s Dover with 2,200 slot machines and anywhere from 40 to 58 tables, against the 1,917 and 29 on the state report. Harrington turns up with more than 1,800 slot machines and 51 tables, when the Lottery counted 1,321 and 26, and Delaware Park gets a 25-table Poker room when the report shows 10 Poker tables.

Ownership gets muddled too. Churchill Downs Incorporated runs Ocean Downs in Maryland, not Delaware Park, which the Rickman family sold to Clairvest Group and Rubico Gaming in 2021. Even the Lottery’s own Video Lottery page still says the three casinos offer more than 6,200 machines, well above its latest monthly count of 5,270. I’d trust the monthly report over any brochure, because it’s the count each casino files with the state. If you want to know why the house keeps winning on all of them, read how casinos make money.

A night at a Delaware casino starts at the door. You must be 21 or older to play Video Lottery, Table Games, sports betting or online games, while Delaware Lottery tickets and horse race betting start at 18. At Bally’s Dover you can’t even be in the casino under 21, other than passing through.

ID, Hours and Dress

Bring a government photo ID. Bally’s takes a US state driver’s license or photo ID card, a US military ID or a permanent residence card. Hours vary more than you’d think. Bally’s Dover never closes, Delaware Park’s main floor and tables run 24 hours, and Harrington closes from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. from Sunday to Thursday, so check before a late weeknight drive south. I’d keep the ID in your pocket rather than the car, because Bally’s can ask for it on the floor as well as at the door.

Círculo Lounge at Bally’s asks for smart casual attire, so dress up a notch if you’re heading up there. Delaware Park is a non-smoking casino with set smoking areas, the Outdoor Slot Patio among them, and Harrington is smoke-free inside.

How the Slot Machines Pay

Every machine is a Lottery-run Video Lottery terminal, and by law each game must return between 87% and 95% of all wagers over a year. In August 2026 the Lottery reported players won back 91% of what they played at Delaware Park and 92% at Bally’s Dover and Harrington. For a game-by-game look at the odds, our Slots guide explains return to player in plain English.

The Delaware Lottery runs casino gambling in the state. It controls the games, and the three casinos are its licensed video lottery agents, which is why the same agency runs the scratch cards, the Slots and the online sites. The law creating the Lottery was signed on May 31, 1974, and Video Lottery machines went into the three racetracks in 1995 and 1996.

Who Polices the Casinos?

The Division of Gaming Enforcement, under the Secretary of Safety and Homeland Security, has exclusive jurisdiction over gaming crimes in a licensed video lottery facility and runs the background checks on applicants the Lottery licenses. Table Games came to all three casinos in May 2010, and full sports betting launched on June 5, 2018.

Where the Money Goes

The split is written into the monthly report. In August 2026, 38% of slot revenue went to the state, 8% to vendors, 11% to racing purses and 44% to the casinos. On Table Games the casinos keep 80%. I find that split the most useful thing to know about gambling here, because that purse money is the whole reason the casinos exist, since Delaware allowed slot machines at its tracks to keep horse racing alive. For how the state rules compare with its neighbors, read our guide to US gambling laws.

If gambling stops being fun, the Delaware Council on Gambling Problems runs a free, confidential helpline around the clock at 1-888-850-8888. Nationally, the National Council on Problem Gambling’s helpline answers at 1-800-MY-RESET.

Delaware’s Self-Exclusion Program

The Delaware Lottery’s self-exclusion program bars you from all three casinos and their online sites, and the Lottery’s app, in one go. You choose one year, five years or life, and you sign up in person at the Lottery office at 1575 McKee Road in Dover, Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 302-744-1669 to book an appointment.

It has teeth. Anyone on the list who knowingly enters a gaming area commits a Class A misdemeanor, and any winnings are forfeited. But the simplest tool is still deciding before you walk in how much you’re willing to lose, taking that much in cash and leaving the cards at home, so that when the cash is gone the night is over and there’s nothing left to chase. Our Responsible Gambling guide covers the warning signs and the tools in more detail.