Delaware

The Delaware Gaming Competitiveness Act of 2012 authorized state-operated internet casino, poker and (later) sports betting. The Delaware Lottery runs online gambling as a monopoly through the state's three casinos/racinos (Delaware Park, Bally's Dover, Harrington Raceway), with the Division of Gaming Enforcement providing oversight. Online casino and poker launched November 2013, among the first three US states. In 2023 Delaware replaced 888 Holdings with Rush Street Interactive (BetRivers), which relaunched online casino and added mobile sports betting in January 2024.

A state-run monopoly, not a licensed market

Delaware runs one of America's most unusual online-gambling models: a state-owned monopoly rather than a competitive licensed market. The Delaware Lottery, within the State Lottery Office, itself operates online casino, online poker and online sports betting under 29 Del. C. Chapter 48. The framework was widened by the Gaming Competitiveness Act of 2012 and the platform launched in 2013, making Delaware one of the first three states to legalise online casino. Rather than issuing operator licences, the Lottery procures a single technology provider and channels play through its three "racinos" — Delaware Park, Bally's Dover (formerly Dover Downs) and Harrington Raceway — which act as the retail agents behind the branded sites.

One procured platform, and a shared poker pool

Because the State is the operator, there is no open licensing round and no roster of competing brands; access is defined by a single procured platform. Following a public RFP, the Lottery replaced its former supplier (888/Scientific Games) with Rush Street Interactive, whose BetRivers platform has powered the three online casinos and, from January 2024, online sports betting under an initial five-year term extendable at the Lottery's discretion. Online poker relaunched under BetRivers in 2025. Liquidity is a structural constraint in so small a market, so Delaware — a founding party to the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) — lets its poker players share pooled tables with partner states rather than play in isolation.

Player protection through the Lottery's own rules

Player protections run through the Lottery's own rules rather than many operators' policies. A self-exclusion programme spans iGaming, video lottery and table games, and the "Play Responsibly" messaging carries the Delaware Council on Gambling Problems' 24/7 helpline (1-888-850-8888), with problem-gambling funding directed through Health and Social Services. Age gating is tiered: 18+ to buy draw tickets, but 21+ to play video lottery, table games, sports lottery and internet games. Online play is confined to bettors physically within Delaware, which in practice relies on geolocation and identity and age verification at account level, though the Lottery's public pages describe these controls only in general terms.

Where the money goes: a statutory revenue-share

Delaware does not levy a flat operator tax; instead the statute (29 Del. C. § 4815) prescribes a revenue-share in which the State keeps the largest slice. For internet play the Lottery first covers operating and vendor costs, then transfers the first $3.75m each fiscal year to the State Lottery Fund; remaining internet video-lottery proceeds follow the video-lottery formula and internet table-game proceeds the table-game formula. Industry reporting summarises the net effect as roughly 56% of online GGR to the General Fund, with the three racinos taking commissions, a share to horse-racing purses and a portion to the technology provider. The precise split varies by game type rather than being one headline rate.

Oversight, small-market strain and what is shifting

Oversight sits with the Lottery Office, which as both operator and regulator sets the rules, approves the platform and can suspend or exclude players; there is no separate commercial-licensing enforcement caseload as in open markets. The dominant dynamic is scale: Delaware's population is small, so volumes are modest and monthly results can be volatile — the sportsbook even posted a losing month shortly after launch. The most consequential recent change is the 2024 switch to Rush Street/BetRivers, which added mobile sports betting and refreshed the casino and, in 2025, poker. Legislators have periodically floated opening the market to multiple sports-betting vendors, but the monopoly model remains in place.

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