Rhode Island online casino gambling launched

Rhode Island became the seventh state with legalized online casino gaming earlier this week. This includes slots, table games, and live dealer games on computers and mobile devices.

Online casino games launched in the state on Tuesday, March 12, after four days of technical testing. Following the launch Rhode Island joined New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut, and West Virginia as the only states that currently allow online casino gambling.

The road to legal online casino gaming in the state began in 2018 when online sports betting was launched in the state. Under Rhode Island online gaming laws and regulations one operator is allowed to deliver online sports betting and online casino games in the state. That operator is Bally’s, which runs both in Rhode Island. Bally’s is also the sole online sports betting and casino gaming operator in Delaware.

According to Bally’s Rhode Islander residents currently have access to around 170 online slots and table games.

Rhode Island Department of Revenue officials believe online gaming will provide around $25 million annually in tax revenue for the state by 2025.

Under the online gambling laws and regulations in Rhode Island online poker is also legal but has not yet launched, and currently there are no plans to do so. Bally’s does not offer online poker, but following their operational takeover in Delaware earlier this year they announced online poker would eventually come to that state. Bally’s acquired Run It Once Poker in 2022 and is expected to relaunch the poker platform.

If online poker was launched in Rhode Island, it would need shared player liquidity with other states to be successful. Rhode Island’s low population of around 1.1 million is far too small to manage a successful online poker platform alone.