Delaware is the second smallest state in the country and one of the least populated, as well. The expectations for it to become a hub for residents in USA gambling for real money were not that high, given the starting premises. However, Delaware managed to surprise everyone with its obvious predilection towards legalizing and even promoting the expansion of gambling, in almost any form. Besides the Delaware casinos, which are pretty much common around the country, excepting a few conservative states, DE managed to get a very early start in the online wagering business.

Best Delaware Online Casino Sites

In Delaware online casino gambling is provided through the state’s three land-based casinos, controlled by the Delaware Lottery. The DE Lottery contracted a deal with leading iGaming software providers, including 888Holdings and Scientific Games, to provide the online casino platforms of the state’s casinos. The Delaware Council on Gambling Problems offers confidential assistance to gamblers, their families, and to those who are concerned about a friend or colleague. The Council provides literature, support meeting information, treatment information, and 24-hour help. Speakers are available for community groups and for professional training. The Delaware Lottery Commission oversees the conduct of online gambling as offered by each of the state’s three land-based casinos. Each casino is authorized to offer online slots, table games and poker to players 21 or older and physically located within Delaware. Delaware Gets Boost to Online Casino Revenue Because of Coronavirus. May 29, 2020 – Gamblers in Delaware have chosen to play casino games online in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. With live casinos closed, the revenues for online casino gaming have showed a sharp increase during. Delaware Online Gambling Laws In 2012, Delaware became the first state to legalize online gaming. §4826 of the Delaware Code authorizes an internet lottery and also specifies that interstate compacts are legal.

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Delaware Gambling Laws

The true unexpected move came in the area of online gambling, with Delaware becoming one of the American pioneers, being quick to react to the option of legalizing these activities.
The context for this development of the Delaware gambling laws can be understood by looking at it through two points of view:

• A long history with state-allowed gambling, ever since the first laws came to order in 1933, regulating horse racing. This would become a pivotal subject, seeing how even nowadays, the importance of these racetracks is high, in the strategy and budget planning. The tax revenues based on the activity of these casinos are the fourth source for the state’s incomes.
• Seeing how we’re not talking about one of the most touristic places, the lack of people travelling to these facilities in order to spend their money stateside had to be compensated through some other alternative scenario. Hence, the Delaware online casino idea came to life.

The state just seems to uphold the best laws on gambling, rivalling with great Nevada and New Jersey states in this area, check out this summary to know more details. The way the law-makers chose to hop on this train was by giving the institution tasked with surveying this area, full authority of decision on the matter. And the Delaware Department of Gaming Enforcement decided that every sort of gambling should be allowed. Furthermore, any new addition or any new concept had been issued in this field would quickly become a debate topic and after reviewing the pros and cons, it would be decided on how to fit in the gambling expansion strategy.

The three racetracks existent in DE, made the jump towards becoming the first items on the Delaware casinos list, in 1995, after the decision to allow in their locations VLTs, owned by the state’s lottery.

Trying to keep up with some of the surrounding states, constantly battling for the same customers, the racetracks became what is known in the market as “racinos”, after being allowed to enter in their offer table games: blackjack, roulette, craps, poker, baccarat.

In the meantime, after the implementation of PASPA federal law in 1992, Delaware was part of the four states which were still offering some form of sports betting. In 2018, after the Supreme Court took down PASPA, it was among the first states to jump right at the prospect of giving customers the possibility to enjoy sports betting, through the three state establishments.

Online Gambling

Long before the latest addition to the list of states that legalized online gambling of Pennsylvania, Delaware had already been in the business for some time, alongside Nevada and New Jersey. As a matter of fact, Delaware online gambling came to life even before the law-makers of the other two rival states managed to put it all in a final shape. The year of 2012 found DE making Delaware online slots real money available for state residents, along with all the other games usually found in any online casino.

The way this works in this state is by having a consolidated platform where all the games can be found and which can be accessed by any willing gambler, as long as he is located between state’s boundaries. However, each current casino has the right to set its own path to the platform. This is the best way the authorities have found to divide revenue, depending on the path each customer used to join the website.
There is a domain that is not yet up to speed to the latest progress, although there is work in progress there. The Delaware online sports betting stage is not yet set up. Since the last months of 2018, state lawmakers have been given the possibility to choose for themselves if the state wants to allow sports betting or not, this not being a decision in federals hands anymore. DE went on with it, but the online platform for sportsbooking, which would also be under the state’s supervision, is not yet fully functional. Players also have an opportunity to gamble at off-shore RealTime Gaming online casinos. You can find such brands on our website. Bovada Casino is our favourite choice. Bovada is legal in Delaware and offers a huge option of games.

Offline Options

Racinos

The Delaware Park is the oldest and most history field of the racetracks, going back to the birth of the gambling laws in this state. Dover Downs is the facility with the greatest number of VLTs of the three, with over 2300 machines.

The interesting aspect in the supply of the racinos with video lottery terminals is that their operation is supervised by the state’s lottery, with revenues from taxes going straight into funding the state.

Another thing to ponder is the fact that there are only three available units and they possess so many facilities and services in their offer. For a state of fewer than 1 million people, the 3 casinos simply seem to be the right number. No future expansion plans regarding land-based casinos are set in motion, so far.

Sports Betting

This is the latest development in the Delaware gambling market, with states’ authorities seizing the opportunity of settling on their own terms to which they should allow the phenomenon. At this point, each of the three casinos holds a license for keeping sportsbooks and being able to collect the betting money, this last sequence being the forbidden activity, under previous federal laws.

Lottery

Besides the classical type of lottery available in DE, the state’s lottery also serves as one of the great players in this market, by controlling all the Delaware slots. The VLTs, as stated in the name, is the lottery’s property and it holds ownership on these machines. Meaning, the taxes are collected by the lottery itself and sent directly into the state’s treasury.

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Maryland online casinos
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New Jersey (in progress)

Delaware Online Casino Gambling

Is gambling legal in Delaware?

Yes. There are few games or wagering activities that the market of gambling in Delaware doesn’t offer. There are possibilities to play in casinos, to bet on the happenings on horse racetracks, bingo, the state lottery and the coup de grace, online websites, legal and available for any stateside user.

Are there casinos in Delaware?

Not only are the classical casinos in Delaware a popular sight, but online casinos have also made an appearance. Actually, this state was the first in the US to legalize online casinos. The way to participate in this new market was the following: the three venues already in business, have created a simple branded path towards a mutual website. Even though the paths are different, the outcome refers to the same platform, and the clients feel no difference in provided services. The only difference is felt by the site’s operators, the revenue going to the one who owns the path users signed on from.

Is online gambling allowed in DE?

For anyone who cares to gamble online without any sort of setback from a legal point of view and doesn’t want to start using the gray market of off-shore based websites, Delaware is the state that covers all those conditions.
The state was the first to find a solution to the issue of regulated Internet gambling and ever since 2012 there has been an official website, under the patronage of the three land-based casinos, where players located between the state’s limits, can attend to online poker tournaments, online slot machines, as well as many other versions of table games. For now, the only wagering type that can’t be used in its online form refers to sports betting, but authorities are currently working on solving this issue, as well.

Online Gambling In Delaware

Is online sports betting possible in Delaware?

Perhaps the only betting possibility that hasn’t yet found a legal standpoint is that of being able to bet on sports online. This is due to the fact that an extended area of sports betting has only come into state’s regulations at the end of 2018, after the already famous decision of the Supreme Court to put the responsibility of legalizing this aspect in the hands of state legislators, instead of federal’s. Delaware’s casinos already have sportsbooks and can take on wagers, while working on expanding this option to the Internet-based market.

What is the gambling age?

Delaware Online Casino Gambling

The legal gambling age in Delaware is split into two categories, the same as in many other places across the country, with a minimum of 18 in the case of bingo, the lottery and betting on horse races. The second part of the age limitation refers to entering a casino and enjoying the full offer of table games and slot machines there, and for this, any player must be over 21 years old.

Delaware Online Casino Gambling Casinos

Any future developments in favor of gambling expansion?

Delaware Park Casino

Perhaps the number of only three establishments might seem a small one at first glance, but statistics show that it covers just right the needs of DE. For a population of under 1 million and the second smallest area from the US states, it seems to be enough and no other prospects of opening new venues soon. The residents also have the option of playing online, so that seems to be covering all bases.