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Online Gambling in Rhode Island
What's Legal in Rhode Island?
Online Casino
Legal since March 2024 — Rhode Island was the seventh state to allow it. But there’s only one app, Bally Casino, run by the state lottery. Uniquely, all online table games must be live-dealer (streamed from a studio at Bally’s Lincoln), not computer-generated. Age 21+.
Online Sports Betting
Legal since 2019, also as a lottery monopoly — the one app is Sportsbook RI. No FanDuel or DraftKings here. A second operator (Bally’s) is licensed to launch no earlier than late November 2026. Age 18+.
Casinos & Live Poker
Legal. Rhode Island’s two casinos — Bally’s Lincoln and Bally’s Tiverton — are both Bally’s-owned. Lincoln’s poker room reopened in 2024 with 20+ tables. There are no tribal casinos in the state.
Online Lottery
Legal. Separate from the casino app, the Rhode Island Lottery sells draw games, Keno, and digital instants online at rilot.com (18+).
Horse Racing (ADW)
Legal. Rhode Island has no live racing, but national online horse-betting apps like TwinSpires serve residents, and simulcast wagering runs at Bally’s Lincoln.
Daily Fantasy Sports
Grey area. DFS operates in Rhode Island — DraftKings and FanDuel run fantasy contests here even though they can’t offer sports betting — but the state never passed a DFS law; it rests on a 2016 attorney-general opinion.
Sweepstakes Casinos
Grey area. Rhode Island hasn’t banned sweepstakes casinos, even as neighbors Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey have. They operate in an unregulated space for now.
Online Poker
Not offered. Rhode Island’s legal online casino is slots and live-dealer tables only — there’s no online poker, and the state isn’t part of any multi-state poker network. For poker, play live at Bally’s Lincoln.
Legislative Timeline
In May 2026, Rhode Island licensed Bally’s to run a second online sportsbook, ending the single-operator model — though it can’t launch before late November 2026. Online casino remains a one-operator monopoly.
Rhode Island became the seventh state with legal online casino, launching Bally Casino on March 5, 2024 — a lottery-run monopoly, with all online table games streamed live from a studio at Bally’s Lincoln.
Governor Dan McKee signed SB 948, authorizing online casino through the state lottery with Bally’s as the sole operator.
Mobile sports betting went live statewide, roughly a year after retail betting began — again as a single-operator lottery monopoly.
After the Supreme Court struck down the federal betting ban, Rhode Island launched retail sportsbooks at its two casinos.
Live dog racing at Lincoln stopped in 2009 and was banned in 2010; the venue kept simulcast wagering and leaned fully into casino gaming.
Rhode Island launched its state lottery in 1974. Today that same lottery oversees the casinos, sports betting, and online gambling — a uniquely centralized model.
Online Casino & Poker in Rhode Island
Rhode Island is one of only a handful of states with legal online casino — but it runs the most unusual model in the country. Instead of licensing many competing operators, the state lottery runs a monopoly: a single online casino (Bally Casino) and, for now, a single sportsbook (Sportsbook RI), both operated by Bally’s, the company that owns Rhode Island’s two land-based casinos.
That means no choice. The big national brands that dominate other states — FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM — don’t offer casino or sports betting in Rhode Island at all (oddly, DraftKings and FanDuel do run daily fantasy here). It also brings unusual rules: Rhode Island law requires every online table game to be live-dealer, streamed from a studio built inside Bally’s Lincoln, rather than computer-generated. In exchange for the monopoly, the state takes a large cut — around 62% of online slot revenue. Bigger competitive markets like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan license a dozen or more casino apps; Rhode Island deliberately chose one.
One thing the monopoly does not include is online poker. Rhode Island’s iGaming is slots and live-dealer tables only — there’s no online poker room, and the state is too small to join a multi-state network. For poker, players use the reopened room at Bally’s Lincoln in person, or cross into Connecticut or Massachusetts for other options. Offshore sites remain the only way to play online poker outside the state’s single app — but they carry no Rhode Island oversight.
The practical reality: If you’re in Rhode Island, the legal online options are Bally Casino (slots and live-dealer tables, 21+) and Sportsbook RI (sports, 18+), plus the online lottery. There’s no competition and no online poker, so players wanting choice or poker look to neighboring states or offshore sites.
Where Rhode Islanders Actually Play
Rhode Island has legal online casino and sports betting — but only one app each, run by the state lottery through Bally’s. Here’s what that means in practice.
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- Online casino: one legal app, Bally Casino — slots and live-dealer tables, 21+
- Online sports betting: one legal app, Sportsbook RI — a second (Bally's) launches no earlier than late 2026, 18+
- The big national brands (FanDuel, DraftKings) don't offer casino or sports betting in Rhode Island
- There's no legal online poker — for poker, play live at Bally's Lincoln
- The online lottery (rilot.com) is a separate, legal option for draw games and instants
Casino Gaming in Rhode Island
Rhode Island’s land-based gambling is compact and unusual: two casinos, both owned by Bally’s — Bally’s Lincoln (the larger property, formerly Twin River) and Bally’s Tiverton. They’re the state’s only land-based gambling, and the same company runs the online casino and sportsbook.
There are no tribal casinos in Rhode Island. The Narragansett Tribe has sought gaming for decades but was blocked — most decisively by the 2009 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Carcieri v. Salazar, which stopped the federal government from taking land into trust for the tribe. No fix has passed since.
For poker players, there’s good news: Bally’s Lincoln reopened its poker room in 2024 as the Maverick Poker Room, with 20+ tables running Texas Hold’em and Seven-Card Stud plus daily tournaments. It’s the state’s live-poker hub — even though online poker isn’t offered.
Player Protections in Rhode Island
Licensed online casino & sports betting
Because the state lottery runs online gambling directly, the legal apps (Bally Casino and Sportsbook RI) are tightly overseen, with responsible-gaming tools and a self-exclusion program covering both online and the Bally's casinos.
Land-based casinos & lottery
Bally's Lincoln and Tiverton, and the state lottery, are all lottery-regulated. Self-exclusion runs 1 year, 5 years, or lifetime.
Offshore & sweepstakes sites
No Rhode Island protection. Offshore casinos and poker sites — and sweepstakes apps — are unlicensed here, with no fund segregation or dispute recourse. Stick to the state's legal apps for full protection.
Our guidance: Rhode Island is one of the few states where online casino and sports betting are fully legal and state-regulated — so there’s little reason to go offshore. Use Bally Casino (21+) and Sportsbook RI (18+). Online poker isn’t offered here, so players use offshore sites or play live at Bally’s Lincoln — weigh the lack of state protection before playing offshore.
Responsible Gambling Resources — Rhode Island
If gambling stops being fun — or you're chasing losses — free, confidential help is available 24/7. Rhode Island's helpline connects residents to assessment and treatment.
Sources & References
Primary sources cited throughout this guide.