Top Online Live Dealer Casinos for Kentucky

In Kentucky, the approach to gambling is more conservative than liberal. The local legislators did not tie the screws on the industry as tightly as their colleagues in states like South Carolina, though. The local gamblers are still able to enjoy some forms of betting activities.

Among others, Kentucky is home to the biggest horse racing event — the Kentucky derby — and allows live, pari-mutuel, and simulcast wagering. The residents of the state are also welcome to enjoy lotteries, as well as charitable gambling.

The state has no commercially operated or tribal casinos. To enjoy such venues, the locals usually travel to neighboring states. The most popular options are Indiana with its riverboat casinos, West Virginia, and Ohio with commercially operated casinos close to the Kentucky border.

Poker is prohibited in the state. Kentucky residents are also not allowed to own vintage slot machines at home. Online gambling is currently out of the question. The closest the state got to conversations about any form of gambling happening online is switching to online lotteries, but that innovation is still in its early development stage.

In Kentucky, the annual gross gambling turnover reaches 6,254 billion USD. Out of this amount, the biggest contribution — some 3,400 billion USD — comes from a combination of live, simulcast, ADW, and historical betting. Another 1,570 billion USD is contributed by gaming, under which Kentucky-wise we mean bingo, raffles, and pull tabs. Another 1,200 million USD comes from the lottery.

If we are talking about online gambling, which is not legalized, and therefore, money flows to international online casinos, the annual player gross win reaches 21 million USD. This is not much compared to many other states.

Land-Based Casinos in Kentucky

This section will be a short one as there were no legal land-based commercially operated or tribal casinos in Kentucky. The state also does not support riverboat casinos. So, the only thing left to do is either head to either of the neighboring states where they have commercially operated betting houses or gamble online.

Pari-Mutuel Betting

Kentucky is home to one of the most popular annual racing events — the Kentucky Derby. it is held at the Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville. This historic event that dates back to 1875 attracts 100s of bettors and is one of the few racing events that beat the revenue records and is completely self-sufficient.

In addition to Churchill Downs, there are five other racetracks in the state. Bettors can count not only on live horse racing and betting but also on pari-mutuel and simulcast wagering.

What is more, in a way Kentucky racetracks can be called racinos. No, standard slot machines, video pokers, and video keno is not allowed, but the racetrack can and do offer historic racing machines at racetracks.

Lotteries in Kentucky

Residents of Kentucky enjoy the lottery very much and its annual reports show that revenues from ticket sales exceed 1 billion USD per year.

The lottery is state-regulated and is affiliated with Powerball and Mega Millions — two national jackpot lotteries. On average, one state resident spends over 200 USD on lottery tickets per year.