3 Legal Sports Books Opened in Delaware – Are they Any Good?

When the Governor of Delaware plunked down $10 on June 5 to back his beloved Philadelphia Phillies within the Chicago Cubs, the bet signaled the start of a new era in American sports betting.
Governor John Carney’s flier about the Phillies managed to create a $20 profit too, following the (+200) underdogs were able to upset the Cubbies.
That ceremonial bet placed at Dover Downs Hotel and Casino was quickly followed by several larger tickets bought by more severe bettors, including a string of $500 baseball bets placed by local pro Stu Feiner.
Overall, across the country’s three racetrack / casino places — Delaware Park, Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, and Harrington Raceway & Casino — collected $322,135 in wagers on the first day of business. That amount comes straight from Delaware Lottery director Vernon Kirk, who heads the regulatory team helping to get Delaware’s sports gambling business ready to go.
Residents of and visitors to Delaware have been able to partially bet on sports for many decades, but only 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 that revealed all winners.
Conventional single-game or fixed-odds sports gambling, a la what you find in a Las Vegas sportsbook, wasn’t available in Delaware — or any American state aside from Nevada for that matter. Under a federal law known as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992, single-game sports gambling was prohibited anywhere but the Silver State.
That all changed on May 14, but when the United States Supreme Court issued a landmark 6-3 ruling in a case called Murphy v. NCAA. That case originated in New Jersey, following the Garden State made repeated attempts to pass its 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 in the winning column.
Whenever the Court ruled that PASPA violated the 10th amendment to the U.S. Constitution — which 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 place the last touches on its statewide regulations.
But while lawmakers in New Jersey took their time, their counterparts from Delaware already had legal frameworks in place thanks to their parlay card surgery. Known as the First State for a motive, Delaware went fast to become the first nation out of Nevada to accept lawful sports wagers.
Here’s how Governor Carney explained the sports betting launching in an interview with ESPN Chalk:
“For us, it’s really an improvement of our tourism market.
It’ll attract a great deal of visitors to our state, particularly at this time of year, during the summer, coming to our beautiful beaches south of this.
They come here and stop in the casinos and also do slot machine and table gaming. This will be an additional opportunity for them.”
Carney also took a moment to hype Delaware since the Northeast’s newest sports betting destination when speaking to USA Today:
“Gloating in this industry doesn’t last very long.
We are delighted to be first now.
I don’t expect we’ll be the only one very long, but now it feels very good to be original.”
(Quote link)
Carney’s historic first bet was placed at Dover Downs Hotel and Casino, but the country is home to 2 more racetrack / casinos using in-house sportsbooks: Delaware Park Racetrack and Harrington Raceway and Casino.
Until the sportsbooks at Atlantic City go live — which should be any moment now — Delaware stands out as the sole place 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 betting journey, I have gone ahead and seen all the 3 sportsbooks in Delaware. Below you’ll discover objective and honest reviews of each facility, together with need to know information such as the address, contact number, site, and distances from regional population centres.
So check out my reviews of the 3 sportsbook places now working in Delaware to make a more informed decision with your betting buck:
Delaware Park Racetrack
Address: 777 Delaware Park Blvd, Wilmington, DE 19804
Phone: -LRB-302-RRB-??994-2521
Site: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
Located in the very northernmost point of the country, in town of Wilmington, Delaware Park Racetrack is your most conveniently available venue for folks in New York and New England.
It’s also the most attractive of this trio, the casino centre nestled close to the banks of the Delaware River and also a grassy green hill. From the outside, Delaware Park seems to be another stately three-story estate, but once you step foot in you will feel like you have walked onto the casino floor in Las Vegas.
Between the slot machines, bright lights, and gold trim, this place is much more like the Golden Nugget than your typical rural racetrack.
When you find the sportsbook areas — that are located in the clubhouses around the 1st and 3rd floors — you will be greeted by an array of brightly colored miniature lightbulbs displaying the day’s lines and odds. These gambling boards used to be cutting edge in vegas about a decade back, however Sin City has phased them out in favor of high-definition tv screens instead.
But you know what they say about a man’s trash being another’s treasure, therefore Delaware Park is pleased to have the gambling boards on site.
Just ask William Fasy, who serves as president of Delaware Park. Through a meeting with Deadspin to celebrate his sportsbook opening for company, Fasy touted his place’s most prominent technological flourish:
“These boards were purchased eight decades ago, and they’re no more used anymore in Vegas.
But they’re the top boards in Delaware!”
(Quotation link)
If you are unfamiliar with a sportsbook gaming enthusiast the picture below will show you what I’m talking about.
Sports Book Beting Board
As you can see, every game or bet is coded with a base amount (401, 402, etc., in the example picture above). When betting on 401 in the image above, you’d be financing the Minnesota Vikings (-10) over the Los Angeles Rams. That (-10) figure denotes the point spread, so in this scenario, the Vikings will be putting 10 points to the Rams.
If you wanted to take Minnesota with no spread, just search for the negative or positive numbers to the right of the point spread. These figures are known as the”moneyline,” plus they reflect true odds on your wager. For the Vikings instance, you’d be backing a large (-600) favorite, even though a wager on the underdog Rams would provide (+400) on your money.
Each participant or team 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 gaming planks, 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 seemed like ATM machines from the early 1990s. Think a boxy frame, small screen, and no-nonsense interface and you’ll get the idea.
It is possible to wager to your heart’s content at Delaware Park, which offers daily actions on Major League Baseball (MLB), and also the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals, and a ton of everyday golf clubs and tennis tournaments.
If you are interested in futures betting, have a shot at the upcoming 2018 World Cup soccer championship, or attempt to predict which NFL team will take the Super Bowl title this season.
Fasymade it apparent 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 gambling will be on the table, save you:
“I think the only thing we are not likely to provide is’in game’ wagering.
You’re going to have prop bets. You are just not likely to have in game prop bets happening.
And eventually you’re going to have a mobile device”
(Quote link)
The concept of in-game gambling was popularized by online sportsbooks, with players able to put extra wagers even as the game is ongoing. Say your team falls into an early hole, and you’re keen on balancing the ledger. Placing an in-game bet on the opposite side offers valuable protection against upsets and unexpected conditions.
While the in-game betting fad won’t be coming into Delaware Park just yet, Fasy did allude to the emergence of mobile and online wagering down the road.
Don’t overlook, Delaware is one of only three countries — along with Nevada and New Jersey — in which a regulated and legal online gambling industry has already gone live. With online casinos and poker rooms already hosted by the country’s three casino racetracks, it will not be long till it’s possible to download the Delaware Park sportsbook app directly for your smartphone or mobile device.
When it comes to customer service, Delaware Park really hit the ball out of the park. Under guidance from Fasy — who’s clearly enthusiastic about turning the place into a sports bettor’s harbor — the team here are knowledgeable and considerate. Sure, a few hiccups could be seen concerning 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 error.
But those growing pains should be expected for any new sportsbook. Because of this useful attendants, I managed to cancel the Marlins ticket and then exchange it to the Dolphins in a matter of minutes.
Overall, I can’t suggest Delaware Park enough, based both on the venue’s contemporary sense and Fasy’s clear commitment to creating the nation’s best sportsbook.
Dover Downs Hotel and Casino
Address: 1131 North DuPont Highway; Dover, Delaware
Phone:-LRB-302-RRB-??674-4600
Website: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 on Dover Downs Hotel and Casino, my first thought was of the glittering Off-Strip casinos scattered across the Las Vegas desert.
Places such as the South Point and Red Rock Resort, which unite sprawling hotel towers spanning a number of stories with classical design — that’s what Dover Downs is going for.
And the illusion is not broken one bit when you walk through the doorways. Vaulted ceilings, fancy artwork, and marble floors all unite to turn the place into a casino connoisseur’s dream come true. This place includes convention halls, shopping outlets, and of course, a racetrack in which NASCAR events are hosted every year.
Head through the main entry and find the nearest bar off to the side, and you will be smack dab in the sportsbook. Just search for the big comfy chairs and massive projector screens overhead, and you are there.
At first glance, the sportsbook facility at Dover Downs seems to suggest a thriving enterprise set to capitalize on the passing of PASPA. And to be sure, the centre has expanded its offerings to include the full complement of single-game wagers, props, and futures.
But during my time there, the focus from staff and clients alike remained on horse racing. That makes sense I suppose, what with the place’s longstanding association with the”Sport of Kings.”
I had been curious, however, about the apparent lack of buzz concerning ordinary sports gambling, particularly with the NBA and NHL Finals going on in the moment.
Just a little digging around advised the narrative, like I found the following quotation from Dover Downs president Ed Sutor within an article printed by theDelaware Public:
“It is wonderful to have. [However ] at Nevada, where they’ve had it for 50 years, it merely represents about two percent of their earnings.
A lot of people are mistaking the amounts bet as the revenue.
It is not a massive take for the business.”
(Quotation link)
Sutor was not the sole Dover Downs executive that seemed to be lukewarm at best as it came to enlarged 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 is a great deal of rhetoric that gets thrown around down there which doesn’t have some basis in fact.People have to control their expectations on this.
The dollars that are left over after you pay back the winners are extremely little and you divide it among a variety of people in this state.
When (surrounding countries ) wake up and running, we are going to see a draining of people who are coming , as we’ve observed in the regular casino business and prior to that at the horse racing business.”
(Quotation link)
Even though a pragmatic company outlook certainly is reasonable, especially from an operator’s perspective, I am not sure I know Dover Downs’ angle on this.
By failing to embrace the entire spectrum of sports betting options open to Delaware, the place risks being abandoned in Delaware Park’s dust. And maybe that’s already true.
This past year the state of Delaware accumulated $1.9 million in revenue on its own parlay card games. From this figure, Delaware Park dominated the market with $1.2 million, almost three times that taken in by Dover Downs ($422,000).
The absence of religion expressed from the higher-ups at Dover Downs appears to have trickled down to the team level. Clerks didn’t seem very informed when I asked about futures and unless you’re wagering on the ponies, nobody voiced the kind excitement I felt back at Delaware Park.
And that is a shame too, because from the outside , this venue boasts the kind of conveniences every gambler enjoys.
Harrington Raceway and Casino
Address: 18500 S Dupont Hwy, Harrington, DE 19952
Phone: -LRB-302-RRB-??398-4920
Site: 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, only one hour and a half from Baltimore and Philadelphia.
However, you’re going to be forgiven for driving right by the location without even noticing.
This casino is affixed to some small 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, and not much adorns it to imply gambling and entertainment is afoot. It’s an interesting design choice to say the least, and things do not exactly enhance when you go inside.
If you have ever been into the older Downtown district in Las Vegas — home of”fabulous” Fremont Street — you then know what to expect at Harrington Raceway. Rundown slot machines, aging d??cor, along with a generally sullen scene would be the defining characteristics of this casino floor.
Fortunately for bettors, the sportsbook area does offer a little bit of advancement — but only barely. Matters fell more straightforward in there, however, the setup of personal cubicles with attached TV monitors — standard for racebooks — is not exactly inviting. The projector screens overhead are large and bright though, so I’ll give them that much.
Interestingly enough, Harrington Raceway’s chief executive officer Patti Key has yet to comment publicly about the legalization of sports gambling. Whether that speaks to a companywide philosophy highlighting horse racing over the sportsbook isn’t for me to say — but Key staying tight-lipped is pretty intriguing.
Due to the monitor’s status as a severe harness racing centre, the sportsbook is generally crowded ahead of scheduled start times. If you are there for sports only, be sure to catch a copy of the daily racing form to observe when the lines will begin piling up.
A wonderful byproduct of this place’s serious approach to horse racing is the staff are prepared and ready to roll. I had to correct a couple of ticket authors from time to time at both of the other sportsbooks, but the folks at Harrington batted 1.000 in terms of precision.
In general, the experience surpassed that which I would’ve anticipated when I first saw the building, which is likely the reason why they say to never judge a book by it’s cover.
Conclusion
Depending on the place you call home, one of the 3 places listed above are the most suitable based solely on closeness. That’s probably reason enough to choose a favorite, but since Delaware is a small state, you can hit all three inside a weekend to view them up close and personal.
In terms of my tour of the nation’s sportsbooks, I preferred Delaware Park, Harrington Raceway, and Dover Downs in this order.
Delaware Park benefits from the excitement of its leadership, as Fasy brings a real interest in the sports gambling business to the table. His team are really eager to assist new bettors learn the principles, which goes a long way in my book. When the very 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 guide you through the process easily. Whether that success extends to sports betting remains to be seen, but I’ve a feeling severe bettors can call this place home.
As for Dover Downs, my feelings on the problem are easy — if the people in charge don’t enjoy sports gambling, they won’t enjoy sports bettors . Until I hear word of a change in tone coming down the chain of control, I just wouldn’t expect that the mistakes and malaise here to be solved anytime soon.

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