When the Governor of Delaware plunked down $10 on June 5 to back his beloved Philadelphia Phillies within the Chicago Cubs, the wager signaled the beginning of a new age in American sports betting.
Governor John Carney’s flier on the Phillies even managed to create a $20 profit too, following the (+200) underdogs managed to upset the Cubbies.
That ceremonial bet placed at Dover Downs Hotel and Casino was followed by many bigger tickets bought by more severe bettors, including a series of 500 baseball bets placed by local ace Stu Feiner.
Overall, across the country’s three racetrack / casino places — Delaware Park, Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, and Harrington Raceway & Casino — collected $322,135 at wagers on the first day of business. That amount comes directly from Delaware Lottery manager Vernon Kirk, who heads the regulatory team helping get Delaware’s sports betting business ready to go.
Residents of and visitors to Delaware have been able to partly bet on sports for many decades, but merely on”parlay cards” according to National Football League (NFL) games. Those parlay cards demanded several winners to be linked together, and the only tickets that cashed were those who revealed all winners.
Traditional single-game or fixed-odds sports gambling, a la what you find in a Las Vegas sportsbook, was not available in Delaware — or some other American state aside from Nevada for that issue. Under a federal law known as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992, single-game sports betting was banned anywhere but the Silver State.
That all changed on May 14, however, when the United States Supreme Court issued a landmark 6-3 ruling in a case known as Murphy v. NCAA. This case originated in New Jersey, after the Garden State made repeated attempts to pass its own sports betting laws and regulations. After being sued by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Together with the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL, New Jersey’s final appeal to the Supreme Court wound up at the winning column.
Whenever the Court ruled that PASPA violated the 10th amendment to the U.S. Constitution — that grants states the right to pass their own laws absent Congressional action — PASPA was struck down for good.
What followed that decision three weeks ago was a veritable gold rush, with New Jersey rushing to put the final touches on its own statewide regulations.
But while lawmakers in New Jersey took their time, their counterparts in Delaware already had legal frameworks set up thanks to their parlay card operation. Known as the First State for a reason, Delaware went fast to become the first nation outside of Nevada to take lawful sports wagers.
Here’s how Governor Carney described the sports gambling launching in an interview with ESPN Chalk:
“For us, it’s actually an improvement of our tourism market.
It’ll attract a great deal of visitors to our nation, particularly in this time of year, throughout summer time, coming into our beautiful beaches south of this.
They come here and stop at the casinos and also do slot machines and table gaming. This will be an additional opportunity for them.”
Carney also took a moment to hype Delaware as the Northeast’s newest sports gambling destination when speaking to USA Today:
“Gloating in this industry doesn’t last quite long.
We are happy to be first today.
I don’t expect we’ll be the just one quite long, but today it seems really good to be original.”
(Quote link)
Carney’s historical first bet was placed at Dover Downs Hotel and Casino, but the state is home to 2 more racetrack / casinos with in-house sportsbooks: Delaware Park Racetrack and Harrington Raceway and Casino.
Until the sportsbooks at Atlantic City go live — that should be any minute now — Delaware stands out as the only spot for residents of the East Coast to place wagers. Bearing that in mind, bettors will be flocking to those casinos from all corners of the Northeast.
To help get you started in your sports gambling journey, I have gone ahead and seen all the 3 sportsbooks in Delaware. Below you will find objective and honest reviews of each facility, along with need to know information like the address, contact number, website, and distances from regional population centres.
So check out my reviews of the 3 sportsbook places now operating in Delaware to make a more educated decision with your gambling buck:
Delaware Park Racetrack
Address: 777 Delaware Park Blvd, Wilmington, DE 19804
Telephone: -LRB-302-RRB-??994-2521
Website:http://www.delawarepark.com/sports-betting/
Distance from Philadelphia:41 miles
Distance from Baltimore:69 miles
Distance from New York: 122 miles
Distance from Boston:355 miles
Situated in the very northernmost point of the country, in the city of Wilmington, Delaware Park Racetrack is the very conveniently available venue for people in New York and New England.
It’s also the most attractive of the trio, the casino facility nestled near the banks of the Delaware River and also a grassy green mountain. From the exterior, Delaware Park seems to be just another stately three-story property, but as soon as you step foot inside you will feel like you’ve walked on the casino floor in Las Vegas.
Between the slot machines, bright lights, and golden trimming, this place is much similar to the Golden Nugget compared to typical rural racetrack.
When you discover the sportsbook places — that are located in the clubhouses on the 1st and 3rd floors — you’ll be greeted by an array of brightly colored miniature lightbulbs displaying the day’s lines and odds. These betting boards was cutting edge in Las Vegas about 10 years back, however Sin City has phased them out in favor of high-definition television displays instead.
But you know what they say about a man’s trash being another’s treasure, so Delaware Park is pleased to have the betting boards onsite.
Just ask William Fasy, who serves as president of Delaware Park. During a meeting with Deadspin to celebrate his sportsbook opening for business, Fasy touted his venue’s most prominent technological flourish:
“These planks were purchased eight decades ago, and they are no longer employed anymore in Vegas.
But they’re the best boards in Delaware!”
(Quote link)
If you’re unfamiliar with a sportsbook betting board the picture below will show you what I am discussing.
Sports Book Beting Board
As you can see, each game or bet is coded using a base amount (401, 402, etc., in the example image above). When gambling on 401 from the image above, you’d be backing the Minnesota Vikings (-10) within the Los Angeles Rams. That (-10) figure refers to the point spread, so in this scenario, that the Vikings would be laying 10 points to the Rams.
If you wanted to take Minnesota with no spread, just look for the positive or negative amounts to the right of the point spread. These figures are called the”moneyline,” and they represent true chances on your bet. For the Vikings example, you would be financing a large (-600) preferred, while a wager on the underdog Rams would offer (+400) in your cash.
Each team or participant will get their own number, which means you would just tell the clerk”$100 on 401moneyline please” to place a c-note back on the Vikes.
In addition to the fancy betting boards, Delaware Park has also put up a bank of self employed wagering kiosks. These were not up and running just yet when I visited the centre, but they looked like ATM machines from the early 1990s. Think a boxy frame, small display, and no-nonsense interface and you’ll get the idea.
It is possible to wager to your heart’s content at Delaware Park, which provides daily actions on Major League Baseball (MLB), and also the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals, and a slew of daily golfing and tennis tournaments.
If you’re considering futures betting, have a shot in the forthcoming 2018 World Cup soccer championship, or attempt to forecast that NFL team will take the Super Bowl title this season.
Fasymade it clear in a form of meet and greets with the local media that Delaware Park will be going”all in” on its sportsbook. According to him, every form of betting will be on the table, save you:
“I feel the only thing we’re not going to offer is’in game’ wagering.
You’re likely to have prop bets. You’re just not likely to have in game prop bets going on.
And eventually you’re going to have a truly mobile device”
(Quotation link)
The notion of in-game gambling was popularized by online sportsbooks, with gamers able to put extra wagers even as the match is ongoing. Say your team falls into an early hole, and you’re keen on balancing the ledger. Putting an in-game bet on the other side provides valuable protection against upsets and unforeseen conditions.
While the in-game gambling fad won’t be coming into Delaware Park just yet, Fasy did allude to the development of mobile and internet wagering down the road.
Do not overlook, Delaware is one of just three states — along with Nevada and New Jersey — in which a legal and regulated online gaming industry has gone live. With internet casinos and poker rooms currently hosted by the country’s three casino racetracks, it won’t be long until it’s possible to download the Delaware Park sportsbook app directly for your smartphone or cellular device.
When it comes to customer support, Delaware Park really hit the ball out of the park. Under guidance from Fasy — who’s clearly enthused about turning the place into a sports bettor’s harbor — the staff here are knowledgeable and courteous. Sure, a couple hiccups could be observed in terms of erroneous tickets and so on, such as my futures bet on the Miami Dolphins season win total being entered as a Miami Marlins moneyline by mistake.
However, those growing pains should be expected for any new sportsbook. Because of this useful attendants, I managed to cancel the Marlins ticket and swap it for the Dolphins in a couple of minutes.
All in all, I can’t recommend Delaware Park enough, based equally on the venue’s contemporary sense and Fasy’s clear dedication to creating the state’s best sportsbook.
Dover Downs Hotel and Casino
Address: 1131 North DuPont Highway; Dover, Delaware
Phone:-LRB-302-RRB-??674-4600
Site:https://www.doverdowns.com/horse-racing/race-and-sports-book
Distance from Philadelphia: 78 miles
Distance from Baltimore:106 miles
Distance from New York: 165 miles
Distance from Boston: 388 miles
When I first laid eyes Dover Downs Hotel and Casino, my first thought was of those glittering Off-Strip casinos sprinkled across the Las Vegas desert.
Places like the South Point and Red Rock Resort, which combine sprawling hotel towers spanning a number of stories with classical architecture — that is what Dover Downs is about for.
And the illusion is not broken one bit when you walk through the doorways. Vaulted ceilings, fancy artwork, and marble floors all combine to turn the area into a casino connoisseur’s dream come true. This place has conference halls, shopping outlets, and of course, a racetrack in which NASCAR events are hosted every year.
Head through the primary entry and find the nearest bar off to the side, and you’ll be smack dab at the sportsbook. Just search for the big comfy chairs and massive projector displays overhead, and you’re there.
At first glance, the sportsbook facility at Dover Downs appears to indicate a flourishing enterprise place to capitalize on the demise of PASPA. And to be sure, the centre has expanded its offerings to include the complete complement of single-game wagers, props, and futures.
However during my time there, the focus from staff and clients alike stayed on horse racing. This makes sense I guess, what with the venue’s longstanding affiliation with the”Sport of Kings.”
I had been curious, but about the apparent lack of buzz concerning ordinary sports gambling, particularly with the NBA and NHL Finals going on in the time.
Just a little digging around told the narrative, as I discovered the following quotation from Dover Downs president Ed Sutor within an article printed by theDelaware Public:
“It is wonderful to have. [But] in Nevada, in which they have had it for 50 years, it merely represents about two percent of their revenues.
A lot of people are mistaking the numbers bet as the revenue.
It’s not a huge take for the business.”
(Quotation link)
Sutor wasn’t the only Dover Downs executive who seemed to be lukewarm at best as it came to expanded sportsbooks in the nation:
Dover Downs Gamingchief executive officer Denis McGlynn threw cold water on the notion that sports betting are an economic boon for the nation when speaking to Delaware Online:
“There’s a great deal of rhetoric that gets thrown around down there which doesn’t have any basis in fact.People need to manage their expectations on this.
The dollars that are left after you pay back the winners are extremely little and you divide it among many different people in this nation.
When (surrounding countries ) wake up and running, we’re going to see a draining of people that are coming , just as we have seen from the normal casino business and prior to that in the horse racing business.”
(Quotation link)
Even though a pragmatic business standpoint certainly is reasonable, particularly from an operator’s perspective, I’m not sure I understand Dover Downs’ angle on this.
By neglecting to embrace the full spectrum of sports betting options open to Delaware, the place risks being left in Delaware Park’s dust. And perhaps that’s already the case.
This past year the state of Delaware collected $1.9 million in earnings on its parlay card games. From this figure, Delaware Park dominated the marketplace with $1.2 million, nearly three times that obtained in by Dover Downs ($422,000).
The lack of faith expressed from the higher-ups in Dover Downs seems to have trickled down to the staff level. Clerks did not seem very informed when I asked about futures betting, and unless you were wagering on the ponies, nobody expressed the kind excitement I felt back in Delaware Park.
And that is a shame too, because from the outside , this venue boasts the kind of amenities every gambler appreciates.
Harrington Raceway and Casino
Address: 18500 S Dupont Hwy, Harrington, DE 19952
Telephone: -LRB-302-RRB-??398-4920
Website: http://casino.harringtonraceway.com/sports-book
Distance from Philadelphia:99 miles
Distance from Baltimore:87 miles
Distance from New York: 186 miles
Distance from Boston:409 miles
Harrington Raceway is located incentral Delaware, just one hour and a half from Baltimore and Philadelphia.
But you’ll be forgiven for driving by the place without even noticing.
This casino is affixed to a little harness racing course, and the whole grounds was built outside in the middle of nowhere.
The casino building’s exterior resembles that of non-denominational church, rather than much adorns it to imply gambling and entertainment is afoot. It’s an interesting design choice to say the least, and things don’t exactly enhance when you go indoors.
If you have ever been to the old Downtown district in Las Vegas — home of”fabulous” Fremont Street — you then understand what to expect at Harrington Raceway. Rundown slot machines, aging d??cor, along with a generally sullen scene are the defining features of this casino floor.
Fortunately for bettors, the sportsbook place does offer a little bit of improvement — but just barely. Things fell nicer in there, but the set up of private cubicles with connected TV monitors — standard for racebooks — is not exactly inviting. The projector screens overhead are big and bright however, so I’ll give them that far.
Interestingly , Harrington Raceway’s chief executive officer Patti Key has yet to comment publicly on the legalization of sport betting. Whether that speaks to some companywide philosophy emphasizing horse racing over the sportsbook isn’t to me to say — but Key staying tight-lipped is pretty interesting.
Due to the monitor’s status as a severe harness racing facility, the sportsbook is usually crowded before scheduled start times. If you’re there for sports only, make sure you grab a copy of the daily racing form to see when the lines will begin piling up.
A nice byproduct of the venue’s serious approach to horse racing is the employees are ready and ready to roll. I needed to fix a couple of ticket authors from time to time in both of the other sportsbooks, but the people in Harrington batted 1.000 in relation to precision.
In general, the experience surpassed that which I would have anticipated when I first saw the building, which is likely why they say to never judge a book by it’s cover.
Conclusion
Depending on the place you call home, among the 3 venues listed above are the most convenient based solely on proximity. That is probably reason enough to choose a favorite, but since Delaware is a small state, it is possible to hit all three inside a weekend to see them up close and personal.
In terms of my tour of the nation’s sportsbooks, I favored Delaware Park, Harrington Raceway, and Dover Downs in this order.
Delaware Park benefits from the enthusiasm of its direction, as Fasy brings a genuine interest in the sports betting business to the table. His team are really eager to help new bettors learn the ropes, and that goes a long way in my own book. When the first online sportsbooks go live in the very first State, I will bet my bottom Delaware Park is running the series.
Harrington Raceway may not be much to look at, but the place knows how to run a racebook. The staff can answer questions and lead you through the process with ease. Whether this success extends to sports betting remains to be seen, however I have a feeling serious bettors will call this place home.
In terms of Dover Downs, my feelings on the situation are simple — when the people in control do not appreciate sports betting, they wont enjoy sports bettors either. Until I hear word about a change in tone coming down the chain of control, I just wouldn’t expect the mistakes and malaise here to be solved anytime soon.

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