Kentucky presents an interesting case when it comes to online gambling offerings. No other state has such a prohibitive atmosphere and an unmistakable place in the national gambling landscape. Kentucky’s gambling laws are as restrictive as those found in other largely conservative states. No casinos exist inside state lines, and numerous bills to allow their introduction have failed.

This has resulted in several government lotteries opening safe, regulated online Kentucky Downs Casino Reviews casinos and poker rooms. Players can have a much higher sense of security knowing their deposits are being handled by the government, but the offerings are limited when it comes Kentucky Downs Casino Reviews to content. Visit Kentucky Downs Gaming, just 30 minutes north of Nashville, for exciting gaming action, dining, drinks and more. Jackpots are closer than you think! Gaming Promotions Players Club Dining & Drinks Entertainment Places To Stay Bingo. Poker in Kentucky Poker is not legal in the state of Kentucky. Just like residents who want to play casino games, Kentucky players often travel to Indiana, West Virginia, and Ohio to play in legalized poker rooms. The casinos in Cincinnati, OH, Cross Lanes, WV, and most in.

At the same time, the Bluegrass State is also home to the most prestigious horse race in the world, the Kentucky Derby. Pari-mutuel wagering is almost a birthright and can be found at several large tracks throughout the state.

That’s the extent of gambling in Kentucky right now, but lawmakers in the state have been persistent in efforting the legalization of sports betting.

Kentucky Downs doesn’t have the largest casino floor, as it’s paired with the fantastic Kentucky Downs race track, which we’ll get into later down the page. It actually only services slot machines, and does not have any table games or poker room currently. However, the slot range is fantastic, take a look.

The latest includes Gov. Andy Beshear, during his State of the Commonwealth in January, announcing his “commitment to the future” by creating new revenue streams in Kentucky. This involves a KY sports betting bill filed by Rep. Adam Koenig that would also legalize online poker and daily fantasy sports.

This is also the place where bourbon whiskey is produced, yet distilleries are often located in dry counties. Many residents cannot even buy the state’s most famous products. Perhaps Kentucky is content to be a place of contradictions.

Sweepstakes casinos in Kentucky

Social casino options

With no in-state casino options, there are also no options for tie-ins to local casinos through social gaming. The social casino routes are the usual group of offerings. These include: Slotomania, Double Down, Big Fish, and Zynga.

Residents of Northern Kentucky may also be interested in some of the properties that surround the state, in Illinois, Indiana, and West Virginia. Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, offers a Play4Fun network (as do all Hollywood properties) where players can sample games for free.

Sports betting in Kentucky

The Bluegrass State in 2019 made multiple efforts to legalize sports betting. Of four proposed bills, only Koenig’s advanced through a committee. But that was as far as it got.

This latest bill, House Bill 137, will remove the ban on in-state college wagering while adding an 18-month limit on the in-person requirement for online registration.

That prohibition on betting on Kentucky teams apparently drew the most complaints from legislators and the public alike.

In addition to legalizing online poker and DFS, Kentucky could potentially expand gaming even more by giving the green light for online casinos.

While that remains to be seen, Koenig’s proposal would authorize land-based and online sportsbooks to operate via horse racing tracks and motorsports speedways throughout the state.

The bill has sailed through a state House committee by a vote of 18-0 and is expected to clear the full chamber in due time.

Online gambling

There is no specific statute in Kentucky that governs online gambling’s legality. However, given the restrictive nature of the state’s laws with regard to gambling in general (basically everything is unlawful except horse racing), it’s a dodgy proposition to engage in online gambling in Kentucky.

There is one gigantic exception. Many states allow gambling under the auspices if said gambling is a function of the state lottery. Hence, many states that outlaw slot machines permit video lottery terminals, which are functionally the same to players. Kentucky has a similar situation, but unsurprisingly, it must funnel its gambling through the horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering carveout in its laws.

So Kentucky does have online gambling of a sort. Churchill Downs operates Twin Spires, a website that allows residents to wager on horse races at the track from the comfort of their home. Twin Spires is even accessible via mobile devices.

Kentucky residents can also play the state lottery online. The state’s lottery website simply advertises the ability to “Play Now” on multi-state drawings offered through the site. In a state without any casinos (even tribal ones), it is startling to find two unabashed gambling sites doing business — one run by the state, no less.

Online gambling operators

State casino operator history

As mentioned earlier, there are no casinos of any kind in Kentucky. State law is very explicit in its prohibition. It uses what is known as the “Dominant Factor” theory in its determination of the law. The theory ascribes the mantle of gambling to any game where random chance predominates the outcome over skill. This standard has a carveout for horse racing (which could withstand some argument for skill being the dominant factor – handicapping has plenty of validity) and, somewhat farcically, lottery, which is perhaps the least skillful game in existence.

Horse racing

Nevertheless, Kentucky’s history with gambling as it pertains to horse racing is rich and vibrant. The first horse races in the territory ran in the 1780s in Lexington and Louisville, despite the lack of formal tracks at that time. The horses ran through city parks and, in Louisville’s case, right down Main Street.

The first official track opened in 1805. It wasn’t until 1873, when Meriwether Lewis Clark (grandson of William Clark, the famous explorer) developed a series of races that culminated in the grand finale – a derby, which mimicked similar events in Europe.

Clark’s maternal side of the family, the Churchills, were a prominent Louisville family that owned several acres of land in the area. Clark designed a mile-and-a-quarter-long track on one piece of their land in the southern part of Louisville’s downtown. The track became known as Churchill Downs.

Each year, tens of thousands of people flock to Churchill Downs to view the Kentucky Derby. It is considered the most prestigious horserace in the US, and perhaps the world. The Derby has run each May since 1875 and is the first leg of the Triple Crown. The Derby itself is an event steeped in traditions of old. The men wear suits and ties, and women often wear ornate dresses and humongous hats.

Churchill Downs is one of six racetracks in the state. All the racetracks offer what is known as Instant Racing. These are machines that allow wagering on historical races and resemble a slot machine. Though none of the other tracks match the renown of Churchill Downs, many are quite well-respected venues in the horse racing community. This is especially true of Keeneland, which has been rated the best thoroughbred track in the US. It’s also on the National Register of Historic Places.

Out-of-state casinos

There are also many casinos situated along the borders of Kentucky, particularly on the northern border along the Ohio River. Of significance is Horseshoe Southern Indiana. This casino is, for all intents and purposes, a Louisville casino (separated only by the river itself). Elsewhere, residents of Kentucky also have easy access to Belterra Casino Resort (a mere 80 miles from Lexington), Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack in West Virginia, Rivers Casino in Pennsylvania, and even Rocky Gap Casino in Maryland.

All in all, Kentucky residents have some options available, even without the benefit of homegrown casinos. At this time, no legislation appears forthcoming. A bill introduced in 2016 found no support in the state legislature. But, given the decadence of Kentucky’s horse racing and the proximity to other states, Kentuckians should have no problems finding a good time.

Kentucky racetracks

State legal environment

Introduction to Kentucky Slot Machine Casino Gambling in 2021

Kentucky slot machine casino gambling consists of six parlors offering pari-mutuel-based electronic gaming machines, four of which are at horse racetracks.

I’ve dedicated this weekly series to slot enthusiasts such as yourself as you master casino slots and win your way to success by using this State-By-State Online Resource to improve your slots gambling performance by reviewing your state’s slots gaming industry.

Keep Reading … Or Watch Instead!

Or … Listen Instead!

Find my podcast wherever you listen to audio!

Relevant Legal Statutes on Gambling in Kentucky

The minimum legal gambling age in Kentucky depends upon the gambling activity:

• Land-Based Casinos: 21
• Poker Rooms: Not available
• Bingo: 18
• Lottery: 18
• Pari-Mutuel Wagering: 18

Historically, Kentucky has had a fascinating relationship with gambling. While casino gambling was never legal, gambling dens were prevalent before the Great Depression of 1929. To this day, the open display of illegal gambling from that time in American history continues to negatively affect the perception of gaming in Kentucky.

Kentucky’s constitution prohibits Class III Vegas-style slot machines. In 2011, Historic Horse Racing (HHR) electronic gaming machines arrived in Kentucky. These gaming machines look like slot machines, but the results of each bet made are based on many past, anonymous, horse racing results from across the U.S.

Based on pari-mutuel wagering regulations for horse races, the HHR machines circumvented the constitutional prohibition against slot machines. In recent years, HHRs have become increasingly, some say wildly, popular.

Kentucky’s flourishing slots industry has recently come under scrutiny by state lawmakers. Why? Because most of the taxes generated by HHR machines go to horse industry funds and program.

Since 2011, HHR bets total $5.3 billion. About $80 million went to taxes, of which $51 million went to the horse industry. Only $29 million went to general tax revenue for the state.

While this $29 million may seem like a lot, Kentucky lawmakers noticed it’s substantially less than the tax revenue received from slot machine bets in other states.

These HHR machines revived the horse racing industry in Kentucky and manufacturers of these games are looking to expand across the U.S. And the Commonwealth of Kentucky has decided it wants a bigger piece of the pie.

For more details, see WDRB’s Top Story in its Sunday Edition from mid-2019, “Is Kentucky being ‘shortchanged’ on its ‘slots’?”

In February 2021, state lawmakers came to an agreement to push off a controversial tax revenue increase until 2022.

Slot Machine Private Ownership in Kentucky

In Kentucky, it is legal to own a slot machine privately.

Gaming Control Board in Kentucky

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) regulates skill-based games at pari-mutual racetracks in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Kentucky Downs Poker

These devices are Historic Horse Racing (HHR) electronic gaming machines. In January 2021, the KHRC reported Kentucky offers 3,672 HHR machines, a nearly 20% increase from a year before.

Casinos in Kentucky

Kentucky has six commercial casinos with HHR electronic gaming machines.

The largest casino in Kentucky is Oak Grove Racing Casino Hotel with 1,300 gaming machines.

The second-largest casino is Red Mile Gaming & Racing with 902 gaming machines, an HHR parlor in partnership with Keeneland Race Course.

Commercial Casinos in Kentucky

There are six gambling establishments offering HHR gaming machines in Kentucky including:

1. Derby City Gaming in Louisville, 74 miles west of Lexington on the Indiana border.
2. Ellis Park Racing Gaming in Henderson, 105 miles northwest of Bowling Green.
3. Kentucky Downs Gaming in Franklin, 29 miles south of Bowling Green.
4. Oak Grove Racing Gaming Hotel, 59 miles northwest of Nashville on the Tennessee border.
5. Newport Racing & Gaming, 86 miles north of Lexington on the Ohio River just across the state border from Cincinnati.
6. Red Mile Gaming & Racing in Lexington.

Tribal Casinos in Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky has no federally recognized American Indian tribes and, therefore, is unable to have tribal casinos.

Other Gambling Establishments

As an alternative to enjoying Kentucky slot machine casino gambling, consider exploring casino options in a nearby state. Bordering Kentucky is:

• North: Illinois Slots, Indiana Slots, and Ohio Slots
• East: West Virginia Slots
• Southeast: Virginia Slots
• South: Tennessee Slots
• West: Missouri Slots

Each of the links above will take you to my blog for that neighboring U.S. state to Kentucky.

Our Kentucky Slots Facebook Community

Are you interested in sharing and learning with other slots enthusiasts in Kentucky? If so, join our Kentucky slots community on Facebook. All you’ll need is a Facebook profile to freely join this closed Facebook Group community.

There, you can meet online and privately share your slots experiences with local slots enthusiasts about playing slot machines in Kentucky. Join us!

Payouts and Returns in Kentucky

Kentucky Downs Poker

The Commonwealth of Kentucky does not offer any theoretical payout limits on HHR gaming machines.

However, return statistics are available after a bit of number crunching. The KHRC offers monthly return statistics for HHR gaming under Reports.

Calculate player win percentage by dividing Less: Return to Public by Total Handle starting on page 15. For January 2021, the monthly Player’s Win% for HHR machines were:

• State-wide: 91.1%
• Derby City: 90.9%
• Ellis Park: 90.6%
• Keeneland/Red Mile: 92.5%
• Kentucky Downs: 91.2%
• Newport: 90.2%
• Oak Grove: 90.9%

From this January 2021 report, Red Mile at Keeneland had the highest player win percent at 92.5% while Newport had the lowest at 90.2%.

Summary of Kentucky Slot Machine Casino Gambling in 2021

Kentucky slot machine casino gambling exists as competition based Historic Horse Racing (HHR) gaming machines where the results of bets are based on many past horse race results.

Annual Progress in Kentucky Slot Machine Casino Gambling

In September 2020, Oak Grove Racing Gaming Hotel opened. Otherwise, in the last year, Newport Racing & Gaming opened.

Other States from Professor Slots

• Previous: Kansas Slot Machine Casino Gambling
• Next: Louisiana Slot Machine Casino Gambling

Have fun, be safe, and make good choices!
By Jon H. Friedl, Jr. Ph.D., President
Jon Friedl, LLC