Best Casinos in Rhode Island: Lincoln vs Tiverton, Compared

Rhode Island has one legal online casino, and it comes from the same company as both land casinos. Governor Dan McKee signed the iGaming bill, Senate Bill 948, in June 2023, and the site went live on March 5, 2024 after a four-day technical trial. You have to be 21 or older and physically inside the state to play, and any other site offering you real-money casino games here isn’t licensed in Rhode Island. Our Rhode Island online casino guide covers the law in full, and the US gambling laws guide shows how the state compares with the other online casino states.

Bally Bet Casino Rhode Island

Bally Bet Casino is offered by Bally’s Rhode Island companies, UTGR, LLC and TRT, LLC, in conjunction with the state’s Division of Lottery. State law only allows live-dealer Table Games online, so the Blackjack, Roulette and Baccarat tables are streamed from the casino floor at Lincoln, and the live tables run 24 hours a day. You can fund the account with Apple Pay, Visa, Mastercard or a VIP Preferred eCheck.

It’s a small market. The RI Lottery’s own report puts online casino revenue at $6.6 million for August 2026, which is about a fifth of what the machines at Lincoln alone took that month. I’d use it for a few spins on the sofa before a night out, and I like that the dealer you see on your phone is working a real table in Lincoln. Bonus offers change often, so check the current one on the Bally Bet site before you deposit.

Here’s how the best casinos in Rhode Island compare side by side. The slot counts are the machines in play in August 2026 and the payout figures are for the same month, both from the Rhode Island Lottery’s monthly reports, and the table counts come from the Lottery’s venue pages.

How I Compared Them

With only two casinos in the state, picking the best casinos in Rhode Island isn’t a ranking so much as a choice between two very different nights. I looked at the size of the gaming floor, what there is to do once you step away from the machines, what the state says each floor actually pays back, and how easy each one is to reach from Providence and Newport. Nobody paid to be on this page, and I’ve said plainly where each one falls short.

• 3,897 slot machines: Lincoln’s count in the RI Lottery’s August 2026 report, against 999 at Tiverton.
• 92.24% paid back: what Lincoln’s machines returned in August 2026, per the RI Lottery, while Tiverton’s returned 91.62%.
• 136 hotel rooms: the hotel at Lincoln, the only casino hotel open in the state.
• 18 to get in: the minimum age on both casino floors, while the online casino is 21 and over.
• July 7, 1947: the day Lincoln opened as the Lincoln Downs racetrack.
• $700 million: what Gaming and Leisure Properties paid for Lincoln’s land and buildings in 2026.
• $6.6 million: Rhode Island’s online casino revenue in August 2026, per the RI Lottery.

Bally’s Twin River Lincoln at 100 Twin River Road is the best casino in Rhode Island, and it is not close. It opened on July 7, 1947 as the Lincoln Downs racetrack, ran greyhounds from 1977, took the Twin River name after a $220 million expansion opened in March 2007, and has carried the Bally’s name since November 2021. The floor now covers over 164,000 square feet of gaming space.

The RI Lottery counted 3,897 machines in play in August 2026, and they paid back 92.24% of the money put through them that month. There are more than 100 live Table Games, from Blackjack, Roulette and Craps to Three Card Poker, Spanish 21, Let It Ride and Pai Gow Poker, plus a dedicated Poker room, a sportsbook and a racebook for simulcast horse racing. Level 2 is fully non-smoking, and there’s another smoke-free area on Level 1.

Hotel, Spa and Shows

The hotel opened in October 2018 with 136 rooms, and you get an indoor pool, a fitness center and free self-parking, though a daily resort fee applies to every booking. The 14,000 square foot Spa Light International Spa next to the hotel entrance is a Korean-style bath house with dome saunas, a Himalayan Salt Room and an Ice Room, open from 10 a.m. to midnight.

Bally’s Event Center brings in touring acts and bands, and the Lighthouse Bar has live music through the week. For food there’s Fred & Steve’s Steakhouse from Thursday to Sunday, Johnny Rockets, Nathan’s and a food court. I’d book a room on a Saturday, eat at the steakhouse, catch whoever is on at the Event Center and then spend an hour at the tables, because it is the only place in the state where you can do all of that without getting back in the car.

Is Bally’s Lincoln Open 24 Hours?

Yes. The casino floor never closes, and the RI Lottery lists it as open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The racebook keeps shorter hours, and Level 2 is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Bally’s Tiverton at 777 Tiverton Casino Boulevard is the small, easy one. It opened in September 2018 as a $140 million casino and hotel on a 21-acre site near Route 24, right at the Massachusetts border, and it took over the gaming license of the Newport Grand slot parlor, which closed on August 28, 2018.

The floor covers about 33,600 square feet, and the RI Lottery counted 999 machines in August 2026, which paid back 91.62% that month. There are more than 30 live Table Games, including Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat, Craps, Three Card Poker, Spanish 21, Let It Ride and Pai Gow Poker, plus a sportsbook with 24/7 kiosks. For Poker, Lincoln is where the room is.

Is There Still a Hotel at Tiverton?

Not one you can book. The hotel next to the casino closed abruptly during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 and has stayed shut, and Bally’s now sells the property as Bally’s Tiverton Casino & Sportsbook. As late as October 2024, Bally’s was still calling the closure temporary. If you want to stay over, book in Newport or Fall River, or at Lincoln.

What you do get is a relaxed floor with less walking. The Center Bar has live music every Friday and Saturday from 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., the Casino Café & Grille does chowder, burgers and steaks, and VIP guests get the Legends Lounge on Friday and Saturday evenings. I’d pick Tiverton for a quick session on a weeknight, because you’re parked, playing and back on Route 24 in the time it takes to find a space at Lincoln on a busy Saturday.

Rhode Island’s two casinos serve different corners of the state, so where you’re staying decides which one is your casino for the night. Lincoln covers Providence and the north, and Tiverton covers the East Bay, Newport and the drive in from southeastern Massachusetts.

Is There a Casino in Providence?

Not in the city itself. The closest is Bally’s Twin River Lincoln, about five miles north of Providence with easy access from Route 146. Tiverton is the other option, a short drive from Providence and Newport, in Bally’s own words.

Is There a Casino in Newport, RI?

Not anymore. Newport Grand closed on August 28, 2018, and its license moved to the new casino in Tiverton, which opened days later. From Newport, Tiverton is the one I’d aim for.

Just Over the Border

If two casinos isn’t enough, the big resorts are one state away, and they are not Rhode Island casinos. Foxwoods is at Mashantucket and Mohegan Sun is in Uncasville, both in Connecticut, and Mohegan Sun puts itself within 45 minutes of Providence. Encore Boston Harbor is in Everett, Massachusetts. Our Connecticut gambling guide and Massachusetts gambling guide cover what’s legal across the line.

The biggest casino in Rhode Island is Bally’s Twin River Lincoln, by a distance. It had 3,897 machines in play in August 2026 against 999 at Tiverton, more than 100 live tables against more than 30, and a gaming floor of over 164,000 square feet against about 33,600. When Gaming and Leisure Properties bought the Lincoln real estate in 2026, it counted around 3,900 Slots and 118 Table Games and said Lincoln generated over $490 million in gross gaming revenue in 2025.

The Numbers You’ll See Elsewhere

A lot of what’s written about these two casinos is out of date. Lists still give Lincoln 4,200 slot machines and 125 Table Games, which is more than the state counts today, and one of the top-ranked visitor guides still calls it Twin River Casino Hotel and says Tiverton opened in 2019, a year late.

The Tiverton hotel is the bigger trap. Plenty of pages still call it Tiverton Casino Hotel and list an 83-room hotel, and the RI Lottery’s venue page still lists an 84-room hotel, but it has been closed since 2020. One list even includes Newport Grand, which shut in 2018. If you want to know why the house keeps winning at both, read how casinos make money. I’d trust the Lottery’s monthly counts over any list, mine included, because they’re updated every month.

Rhode Island is one of the few states where you can gamble at 18. The RI Lottery limits admission at both casinos to those 18 and older, while the online casino needs you to be 21. Both floors are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and both have smoking and non-smoking sections.

ID, Rewards and Parking

Bring a valid photo ID. You’ll need it to join Bally Rewards on the floor, and the rewards card earns points you can redeem for free play. Parking is free at Lincoln, where the hotel lists free self-parking, and Tiverton sits right off Route 24 near the Massachusetts line.

Which Casino Pays Back More?

Lincoln, every month this year. The RI Lottery publishes a payout percentage for each casino’s machines, and in every month from January to August 2026 Lincoln returned more. In January it paid 92.44% against Tiverton’s 91.07%, and in August it was 92.24% against 91.62%.

That gap sounds small, but on every $100 you feed through the machines over time, it’s the difference between roughly $92 and $91 coming back. I checked all eight months before writing this, and the order never flipped once. If you only play Slots, Lincoln is the better bet on the state’s own figures.

The Rhode Island Lottery oversees all aspects of Lottery operations and gambling in the state, from its base at 1425 Pontiac Avenue in Cranston. It’s a division of the Rhode Island Department of Revenue, and Bally’s names its regulators as the Department of Revenue, the Division of Lottery, the Department of Business Regulation and the Rhode Island State Police. That’s why the slot machines are counted as video lottery terminals in the state’s reports.

Who Owns the Buildings?

Bally’s runs both casinos, but it no longer owns all the bricks. In 2026 it sold Lincoln’s land and buildings to Gaming and Leisure Properties for $700 million and leased them back for $56 million a year, and Tiverton’s real estate was part of the same deal first agreed in 2022. Nothing changes on the floor for you, but it’s why you’ll see both names in the news. For the wider rules, read our guide to US gambling laws.

If gambling stops being fun, help in Rhode Island is free and open 24/7. These are the numbers to keep:

• Rhode Island helpline: 1-877-9-GAMBLE, sponsored by the RI Lottery and open 24/7.
• National helpline: 1-800-MY-RESET, run by the National Council on Problem Gambling.
• Treatment: Problem Gambling Services of Rhode Island, 401-383-0301, with or without insurance.

You can also self-exclude from either casino for one year, five years or permanently. You have to hand the form in person at the casino’s Security department, which at Lincoln is on 401-475-8220 and at Tiverton on 401-816-6000, and you can’t sign anyone else up on their behalf. Online, Bally Bet offers deposit limits, cool offs and session reminders. I’d set a limit before you leave the house rather than at the table, and our Responsible Gambling guide covers the tools in more detail.