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. Early Adopter of Online Gaming. While Delaware can’t claim to be the first state to regulate an online gambling site (that honor goes to gambling capital of the world Nevada, which licensed online poker a few months earlier), but they were the first to license top full Internet casinos.In November 2013, the three “racinos” in the state – Delaware Park, Dover Downs, and Harrington. 1933-1937 Delaware Racing Commission was launched in 1933 to manage the start of legalized betting at horse racing tracks. 2 years later, the first licenses were issued, for on-track betting via the pari-mutuel pooled betting machines. After few more years in June, Delaware Park and Casino opened doors as the first casino resort in the state.

Online gambling started out as an unregulated industry. The first step in the process of bringing legitimacy to the industry was the creation of online gaming commissions. Many started in island nations.

These include Malta, Gibraltar, Alderney, Isle of Man, Curacao and Kahnawake.

These jurisdictions are still by and large involved in online casino regulation. But over time, regulation of online gambling, and the development of law surrounding online gambling, has become an area of interest for larger economic powers.

Below is an overview of how online gambling is handled in a variety of major international jurisdictions.

UK online gaming regulation

The United Kingdom was the first country to address this situation. The UK Gambling Commission was created through the Gaming Act of 2005 and oversees remote gaming. This combined all gaming in the United Kingdom under one regulator. Online gaming under the jurisdiction of the Gambling Commission includes online poker, casinos, sports betting, bingo and keno.

The UK Gambling Commission created a tax on internet gaming but it had a loophole. Only companies located in the United Kingdom were required to be licensed. This motivated companies that once calling UK home to migrate to tax havens.

These offshore companies were not just evading taxes, but there were also player disputes that UK regulators could not intervene with due to a lack of jurisdiction. These two issues pushed the country to revisit its online gaming licensing process.

Any company that now operates in the UK must be licensed by the Gambling Commission. There is 15 percent tax on all gaming win, known as a point of consumption tax. The Gambling Commission also has jurisdiction in gaming disputes.

This caused some remote gaming companies to leave the market. Others consolidated brands as each required licensing under the Act.

Canada online gaming regulation

Canada is largely an unregulated country in terms of online gaming. Gaming regulations are up to the individual province. Provincial lotteries regulate online gaming in all jurisdictions where it is regulated. Poker, sports parlays and casino games are operated under a license where it is specifically approved.

Remote games are licensed under the lotteries in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.

British Columbia and Manitoba operate under the PlayNow brand. Ontario’s site is PlayOLG. Quebec’s is Espacejeux. These are the only sites operated and regulated by Canada governments.

Boss Media software is used by these lotteries. The poker sites between the lotteries are networked.

There are more than 100 other sites that accept Canadians. These are not licensed and there is little recourse if there is a dispute.

France online gambling

Online gambling in France is regulated by the Autorité de régulation des jeux en ligne. This translates into English as the regulatory authority for online games. It is typically referred to by the acronym ARJEL. It was created by the French Gambling Act in 2010.

ARJEL regulated all forms of online gambling. This includes poker, casino games and sports betting.

There are multiple criticisms of ARJEL. The tax rate is 44 percent. This is the highest of any country in the world. Only the tiny US state of Delaware has a higher rate, which is 45 percent, but 100 percent up to the $3 million in annual revenue.

This high tax rate is a burden on operators. This cuts into the marketing budgets. This is one reason there are virtually no affiliate deals in the French online gaming sector.

Another complaint by operators is that online poker in ring-fenced. Poker players in France may only play at sites that operate within the country’s borders. There is no access to international player pools on legal French sites. This hurts liquidity. It limits the game availability as well as the size of tournament prize pools.

Winamax is the largest operator licensed by ARJEL. Others include PokerStars, bwin.party and Playtech. These and other companies licensed by ARJEL will use a .fr domain.

Spain online gambling regulation

The Spanish Gambling Act nationalized regulation of the online gaming industry in Spain. It created uniform framework between all regions of the country.

Online poker, casinos and sports betting are regulated by a central authority. The tax rate is 25 percent. This is more reasonable than the 44 percent demanded in neighboring France, but it is still historically high compared to most other countries.

In addition to the high tax rate, online poker players receive a poor deal. The tax rate forces Spain’s regulated online poker companies to charge a higher rake than sites in other countries. Another issue is that Spanish online poker does not share liquidity with other countries. All Spain poker sites are ring-fenced within the country.

PokerStars.es is the largest poker site in Spain. Other Spanish operators include 888, Playtech, bwin.party and Boss Media. Licensed sites in Spain will use the .es domain extension.

Italy online gambling regulation

Italy is another European country that strictly regulates its online gambling industry. Italy originally tried to block and blacklist companies from other EU nations that accepted Italian players. The EU Commission tossed out the blacklist and demanded Italy open its country to all companies licensed in the European Union.

Amendments to the Italian online gambling laws were made in 2009. The new regulations went live in 2010. This permitted companies outside Italy to receive an interactive gaming license. Games included poker, casinos and sports betting.

The first stage of online poker only permitted tournaments. This hurt popularity and drove players to underground sites. Cash games were later added to the available list of games. Licensed Italian poker sites are ring-fenced, meaning these platforms do not have access to player pools outside of Italy.

The tax rate is 20 percent in Italy. This is lower than other ring-fenced countries, but still higher than most jurisdictions.

PokerStars is the largest poker site in Italy. Other interactive gaming providers that hold an Italian license include Playtech, Microgame, Boss Media and bwin.party.

Online gambling regulation in the United States

Online poker and casino games are legal in three states. Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey each take a unique approach to its interactive gaming industry.

There are many similarities between the three states. Each requires players to be at least 21 years of age. Geolocation software pinpoints the device being used to log into the site. This ensures that players outside the jurisdiction cannot gain access. Each state regulates and taxes the activity.

There are also several differences. The tax rates differ between the states. Delaware uses the state lottery as the hub of the gaming. The other two states license outside companies. The games are also different between the jurisdictions.

Nevada online poker and sports betting

Nevada was the first state to legalize and regulate online gambling. It all started with online sports betting in 2010. Mobile apps and websites are permitted to accept wagers from anyone 21 years of age or older in Nevada at the time of initiating the action. CG Technologies, Leroy’s (now William Hill) and Station Casinos were all early entrants into that market.

Online poker was the next step for Nevada’s online gaming industry. It started on April 30, 2013 with the launch of Ultimate Poker. WSOP.com entered the market on September 17, 2013.

Real Gaming entered the Nevada online poker market in February 2014. Ultimate Poker shuttered in November 2014. Real Gaming struggled to draw a single game most hours of the day and folded in August 2016. WSOP.com now has a monopoly in Nevada.

Delaware and Nevada entered into a poker liquidity sharing agreement in February 2014. In March 2015, this went live. WSOP.com is the Nevada platform for this network. It connects to the Delaware Lottery’s poker network. New Jersey joined this network in May 2018.

Online poker and sports betting are the only two statewide forms of regulated online gaming. Both are available over the Internet and on mobile devices. Casinos may offer mobile casino games but only within the boundaries of their property.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board regulates online poker and sports betting in Nevada. It is the same gaming regulator that oversees Nevada’s bricks-and-mortar casinos. Nevada’s online poker and sports betting industry pays a tax rate of 6.75 percent.

Delaware online poker and casinos

Delaware was the second state to launch regulated online gaming. Casino games went live on November 1, 2013. The state’s online poker network launched the following week.

The Delaware Lottery regulates its online gaming industry. There are three skins on the platform: Delaware Park, Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway. All three are nearly identical. 888 provides the software for Delaware’s interactive lottery.

In addition to online poker, casino games are permitted. This includes slots, video poker and house-banked table games. The only two table games spread in Delaware at this time are blackjack and roulette. The casino software is limited in its game selection. Online and mobile apps are permitted as platforms. There is one video poker game and about a dozen slot titles bricks-and-mortar casino players will not recognize.

The tax rate for Delaware’s online gaming industry is effectively 100 percent due to its inability to generate more than $3 million in annual revenue. That rate lowers to 45 percent if the industry manages to break the $3 million annual threshold.

New Jersey online poker and casinos

New Jersey was the third state to enter the US regulated online gaming market. It permits online poker and casino games.

Atlantic City casinos are permitted to offer up to five brands on each bricks-and-mortar license. All New Jersey casinos partnered with software providers to power poker networks and casino platforms.

Borgata and Party Poker offer one poker network. WSOP.com and 888 paired for another one. PokerStars launched in 2016 with Resorts as its Atlantic City partner.

There are numerous casino brands in the New Jersey online casino market. These include Harrah’s, Caesars, 888, Tropicana, Virgin, Mohegan Sun, Resorts, Golden Nugget, Betfair, Borgata and Party.

Most platforms offer a unique aspect in terms of game variety. Most offer dozens of slot titles, multiple video poker games, blackjack, roulette, and a number of house-banked card games. Websites and mobile apps are acceptable platforms for New Jersey online gaming.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement regulates the state’s interactive gaming industry. This is the same regulator that licenses Atlantic City’s eight casinos. The tax rate in New Jersey is 15 percent plus 2.5 percent to the state’s Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.

US Federal law regarding online gambling

Gambling law in the United States is an incredibly complicated matter, thanks in part to the awkward intersection of state and federal law on the issue.

Below are some of the key federal laws that are often invoked in discussions related to online gambling; click on any to learn more about the law:

Images Martin Good / Shutterstock.com & gary718 / Shutterstock.com

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

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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
Pennsylvania online casinos
New Jersey (in progress)

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.

Casinos 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 Park Casino Online 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.

Any future developments in favor of gambling expansion?

Delaware Online Casino License Application

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.