Delaware licensed casinos work differently from every other regulated state. There is no list of competing licence holders, because Delaware does not licence casino companies at all. The state runs the games itself through the Delaware Lottery, and three racinos put their names on the result.
This page covers the licence structure: who authorises what, which agencies supervise it, how the single-vendor contract works and how to confirm a site is legitimate. For the wider market picture, including revenue figures, game selection and payment methods, see our guide to online casinos in Delaware.
The Delaware Lottery holds the authority. The three racinos hold video lottery agent licences that let them offer the games. One contracted platform provider supplies the software for all of them. The Division of Gaming Enforcement licenses the people and companies involved and investigates when something goes wrong.
Which casinos are licensed in Delaware?
Three online casino brands operate legally in Delaware: Delaware Park Online, Bally’s Dover Online and Harrington Online. Each belongs to one of the state’s racinos, which hold video lottery agent licences from the Delaware Lottery. All three run on a single contracted platform, currently BetRivers from Rush Street Interactive. The Lottery operates the games and the Division of Gaming Enforcement handles licensing and investigations. No other online casino is authorised to serve Delaware residents.
Delaware splits the work between two agencies that sit in different departments, and the division is deliberate. When a state both runs a gambling business and polices it, keeping those functions apart is the only way to preserve independent oversight.
The Delaware Lottery operates under the Department of Finance. It holds the underlying authority for internet casino gaming under the Gaming Competitiveness Act, contracts the platform provider, operates and markets the games, and publishes the monthly revenue and distribution reports. In practical terms the Lottery is the operator, not just the regulator.
The Division of Gaming Enforcement sits under the Department of Safety and Homeland Security. It is the licensing and investigative arm: it vets and licenses companies and individuals, conducts audits, investigates violations and issues enforcement orders against unlawful operators. The cease and desist orders that pushed sweepstakes platforms out of Delaware came from this agency.
Notice what is missing from that list: there is no online casino operator licence in the sense that New Jersey or Pennsylvania would recognise. The state does not licence brands to compete. It authorises agents to distribute a state product.
Because the state operates the games, the licensing question is not which brands qualify but who is authorised to participate in a state programme. The table sets out the tiers.
| Authorisation | Who holds it | What it permits |
|---|---|---|
| Underlying authority | Delaware Lottery | Operating internet casino games as a lottery product |
| Video lottery agent licence | Delaware Park | Offering the games under its own brand |
| Video lottery agent licence | Bally’s Dover Casino Resort | Offering the games under its own brand |
| Video lottery agent licence | Harrington Raceway and Casino | Offering the games under its own brand |
| Internet gaming vendor contract | Rush Street Interactive (BetRivers) | Supplying the platform for all three |
Games and systems must be approved before launch under the Lottery’s internet rules and regulations. Geolocation has to confirm the player is inside Delaware on every wager. Identity and age verification must establish that the player is at least 21 for casino games. Revenue is reported monthly and published, which is a level of transparency that comes with the product being a state programme rather than private business.
Licensing runs past companies to individuals. The Division of Gaming Enforcement vets key employees and occupational licensees, conducts audits and can act against licence holders. Suppliers and game studios need their own approvals before their content can appear on the platform.
The most consequential document in Delaware gaming is not a licence but a contract. Rush Street Interactive won a five-year exclusive agreement that began on 27 December 2023, replacing 888 Holdings after more than a decade. That contract, rather than any licensing decision, determines who supplies online casino games in Delaware until it expires.
Delaware’s small market and high tax rate make it an attractive target for offshore and sweepstakes operators, who face neither constraint. The comparison below is the practical difference when something goes wrong.
| Factor | Delaware licensed | Offshore or sweepstakes |
|---|---|---|
| Authority | Delaware Lottery and Division of Gaming Enforcement | None recognised in Delaware |
| If a withdrawal is refused | Complaint route through the Division | No recourse a resident can use |
| Game testing | Approved before launch | Unverifiable |
| Revenue reporting | Published monthly by the Lottery | None |
| Age verification | Mandatory, 21 and over | Frequently minimal |
| Legal status | Authorised state programme | Unlawful under state law |
Delaware did not need to pass a sweepstakes ban. The state constitution reserves gambling to the lottery, so a dual-currency casino product had no legal space to occupy from the beginning. The Division of Gaming Enforcement applied the rules that already existed.
It issued a cease and desist to Virtual Gaming Worlds in February 2023, then escalated. On 7 April 2025 the state announced that as of 2 April, Delaware residents could no longer use VGW LuckyLand’s platforms. Investigators found the company had presented itself as a promotional sweepstakes while selling coins for casino-style games that paid cash, violating the constitution, the penal code and the 2012 act at once. More than thirty platforms have since left the state.
A licence is a set of obligations owed to the player, and in Delaware those obligations sit on a state agency rather than a private company. That changes the character of the protections in ways worth understanding.
In most states a disputed withdrawal means arguing with a private operator, with the regulator as a distant backstop. In Delaware the operator is a state agency and the investigator is a different state agency in a different department. Neither has a commercial interest in dismissing a complaint about the other.
The Delaware Council on Gambling Problems runs a confidential helpline for residents, and the national line on 1-800-GAMBLER is free and available at any hour. The Lottery funds responsible gambling programmes as part of its statutory duties. Reaching out does not require closing accounts first and does not trigger any automatic action. BeGambleAware also provides free confidential advice.
Two agencies share it. The Delaware Lottery, under the Department of Finance, holds the underlying authority and operates the games. The Division of Gaming Enforcement, under the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, licenses companies and individuals, audits them and investigates violations. The state runs the product and a separate agency polices it.
Three racinos hold video lottery agent licences and each offers an online casino under its own name: Delaware Park Online, Bally’s Dover Online and Harrington Online. All three run on one contracted platform, currently BetRivers, so the game library and software are identical across them.
Not under the current structure. Delaware does not licence competing casino brands; it contracts a single platform vendor and lets its three racinos distribute the result. Rush Street Interactive holds that contract under a five-year exclusive deal from December 2023. House Bill 365 would open the market to multiple operators, but it has not passed.
Only three brands qualify, so start there. If the site is not Delaware Park Online, Bally’s Dover Online or Harrington Online, it is not licensed. A legitimate site names its racino, references the Delaware Lottery and states a minimum age of 21 for casino games. Crypto-only deposits and outsized welcome offers are reliable signs a site sits outside the framework.
The Division of Gaming Enforcement acts under existing law rather than a dedicated statute. It issued cease and desist orders against VGW in February 2023 and April 2025, finding that the operator violated the Delaware Constitution, the Delaware Penal Code and the Gaming Competitiveness Act simultaneously. Delaware residents lost access to VGW LuckyLand from 2 April 2025, and more than thirty sweepstakes platforms have since withdrawn from the state.
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