Casinos In Kentucky Near Me

  • CASINOS in & near CLARKSVILLE, TENNESSEE - 2020 up-to-date list Franklin Kentucky Downs Gaming & Racing Kentucky Downs is a gaming & racing center located in Franklin, in the state of Kentucky. Kentucky Downs is an entertainment venue offering 513 gaming terminals based on.
  • Kentucky, known as the “Bluegrass state,” does not have any traditional casinos. The most common form of gambling found in Kentucky is pari-mutuel betting on thoroughbred horse racing, which can be found at the 10 racetracks located through out the state.
  • Horseracing (1783), Lottery (1988), Historical Racing (2010)
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  • Kentucky does not have a smoking ban
  • Off-track betting

Kentucky is considered the home of horse racing in the U.S. The Kentucky Derby, one of the best-known horse races in the world, is hosted at Churchill Downs in the state. Kentucky was home to the first known horse race in the country in 1783. The state has always accepted that its residents and tourists visit Bluegrass Country to take in the races and wager a few dollars.

The minimum gambling age at Kentucky casinos is 21 years old. Though a popular city, Louisville, Kentucky does not have any casinos. The closest casino to Louisville is, Red Mile, which is located about 75 miles east in Lexington. Planning a visit to Kentucky casinos? For more information on visiting casinos in Kentucky, call the Kentucky.

While gambling on horses has always been embraced, it has not been quick to expand into Kentucky casinos. There is a state lottery in Kentucky. Instant racing, which are slot machines that display winning symbols based on past races, started appearing at racetracks earlier this decade. Kentucky racetracks may also offer off-track betting. Charities can offer games of chance with limited prizes and a number of events.

Paying Gambling Taxes in Kentucky

OnlineUnitedStatesCasinos has gathered everything you need to know about paying taxes on your gambling winnings straight from a Certified Public Accountant. Find out how you can report your gambling income to the IRS with our in-depth Gambling Taxes Guide. Learn which forms you have to fill out, how to report your winnings, as well as deduct losses.

Kentucky Casinos Map & Guide of Racetracks

  • Ellis Park – Henderson
  • Red Mile – Lexington
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Types of Kentucky Online Gambling

The only form of legal Kentucky online gambling is off-track betting on horses. These wagers may be placed on websites and apps belonging to companies like TVG, Twinspires, and BetAmerica. TwinSpires is based in Kentucky. It is owned by Churchill Downs.

Daily fantasy sites claim legality under Kentucky’s skill gaming laws. While the state attorney general and its legislature have not addressed daily fantasy sports, some sour gamblers have filed lawsuits against the companies in an attempt to recover losses through qui tam laws. These cases are still in the court system.

Online poker, casino, and sports betting sites are not legal in Kentucky. The state has filed its own qui tam lawsuits to recover losses for the state’s residents. One judgment against PokerStars compelled the site to pay Kentucky $870 million. That case is under appeal. The state also filed a lawsuit in an attempt to seize 141 domain names from gambling sites.

Types of Live Kentucky Gambling

  • Slots: No
  • Blackjack: No
  • Poker: No
  • Craps/Roulette: No
  • Horses: Yes
  • Lottery: Yes

There are three types of live Kentucky gambling available to residents. A state lottery sells scratch-off and lotto tickets. This includes interstate drawings. Popular games include Lucky for Life, Pick 3, Pick 4, 5 Card Cash, Powerball, and Mega Millions.

There are six Kentucky racetracks. All offer horse tracks. Greyhound racing is not legal in Kentucky. All six tracks offer off-track betting on horses.

Kentucky Downs, Ellis Park, and Red Mile offer a controversial form of gambling that is working its way through the court system. These two tracks offer instant racing machines. These devices are programmed with thousands of past horse races. Players put cash into the machine and make a wager. The machine pulls one of these historical races and displays the reels on the device to match a payout similar to what the event would have paid. These are described as historical racing machines. Some consider them to be slot machines because that is exactly how they look and feel. The only difference is how the position of the reels is determined.

There are currently no Kentucky casinos operating at the moment. There is legislation that racetracks are trying to pass so that they can legally offer more popular electronic casino games, like electronic blackjack and roulette. We may see the racetracks and Kentucky casinos legislation combine and form “racinos” that are already popular in other states.

Kentucky Gambling Laws

Kentucky gambling laws define gambling as,

“staking or risking something of value on the outcome of a contest, game, gaming scheme, or gaming device which is based upon an element of chance, in accord with an agreement or understanding that someone will receive something of value in the event of a certain outcome.”

It only exempts the state lottery, horse racing, and arguably, instant racing machines. Charities may operate bingo games and raffles.

Promoting gambling is a Class A misdemeanor or Class D felony, depending on the charges. The minimum gambling age in Kentucky is 18 years for lottery, racing, and instant racing bettors.

Where to Gamble in Kentucky

There are more than 1,000 lottery retailers in Kentucky. There are also dozens of charitable organizations that offer bingo and similar games to raise funds for nonprofit operations.

Outside of these options, there are only six Kentucky racetracks to gamble at. You might consider these racetracks to be Kentucky casinos, as they already have permission to offer racing machines, which are very similar to slot machines. This may be the start of new Kentucky gambling legislation.

Nearest medical marijuana dispencary to gold coast casino. You can look for the specific racetrack you want to wager at on our Kentucky casinos map and guide located above.

RacetrackSizeAddressWebsite
Churchill Downs – LouisvilleNo Instant Racing®700 Central Ave.www.churchilldowns.com
Ellis Park Race Course – Henderson170 Instant Racing® Machines3300 US-41www.ellisparkracing.com
Keeneland – LexingtonNo Instant Racing®4201 Versailles Rd.www.keeneland.com
Kentucky Downs – Franklin500 Instant Racing® Machines5629 Nashville Rd.www.kentuckydowns.com
The Red Mile – Lexington900 Instant Racing® Machines1200 Red Mile Rd.www.redmileky.com
Turfway Park – FlorenceNo Instant Racing®7500 Turfway Rd.www.turfway.com

History of Kentucky Gambling

Horse racing dates back to 1783 in Kentucky. That is nine years before it became a state. The first organized racing venue was created in Louisville. It was called Elm Tree Gardens. Racing spread to Lexington in 1787 where horses competed in The Commons. Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, opened in 1883.

Kentucky did not regulate horse racing like it does today in its early years. It was simply impossible to control pari-mutuel pools and organize the tracks and horses centuries ago. It took until the early 1900’s for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to be created. Tracks have come and gone over the years. There are five in operation today. This makes Kentucky one of the most thriving states when it comes to horseracing.

The first legal lottery in Kentucky was held in 1792. It occurred in an attempt to fundraise for a church in Lexington. The Kentucky Lottery that exists today was created through a November 1988 constitutional referendum. The first ticket was sold in April 1989. The Kentucky Lottery sells scratch-off and lotto tickets.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission modified its regulations to permit instant racing machines in 2010. These games mimic slot machines. The devices display slot symbols in a pattern to show the payout of a horse race based in the past. The exact race is never known. The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the racing commission had the authority to legalize these games. Anti-gambling groups are still fighting instant racing in the courts. Kentucky Downs, Ellis Park, and Red Mile offer instant racing, and can be considered to be the only Kentucky casinos operating today.

Kentucky has been the home of two disputes with offshore online gambling sites. In 2008, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear’s office initiated a lawsuit in an attempt to seize 141 domain names related to gambling. Major sites were included in the list. Big names like PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker, DoylesRoom and Cake Poker were among them. The case dragged out until 2014 when a state appeals court essentially quashed it. This case was the beginning of offshore gaming sites moving to domains that do not use the .com extension. Kentucky received a small settlement related to Black Friday due to this case before it ultimately failed.

PokerStars Debacle

Kentucky is also the venue where PokerStars was sued for $290 million for accepting players in the state. Government officials alleged that PokerStars operated illegally and should be compelled to pay the state for its residents’ gambling losses under qui tam laws. The alleged events occurred from 2006 to 2011.

These loss recovery laws permit anybody to recover illegal gambling losses if the loser does not act within six months. A lower court awarded the $290 million as well as treble damages, making the total judgment $870 million. The case is currently under appeal

PokerStars was owned by Rational Group at the time the lawsuit is based. It has since been acquired by Amaya Gaming. The new owners of PokerStars have vowed to fight the case or pursue the former owners if it ultimately loses the legal battle.

Kentucky Casinos & Gambling FAQ

Yes. Kentucky is considered the home of the horse racing industry in the country.

Yes. There are six race books in Kentucky.

The only form of online betting legal in Kentucky is off-track horse racing.

No, only horse racing.

Is smoking permitted in Kentucky race books and instant racing casinos?

Are casinos legal in Kentucky?

No, the closest thing to casinos in the state is instant racing machines. There are casinos in West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

The minimum Kentucky gambling age is 18 years for all legal forms of gambling, including lottery and racing bets.

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Yes, the Kentucky Lottery sells scratch-off and lotto tickets.

Does the Kentucky Lottery sell tickets over the Internet?

Lottery sales are not permitted over the Internet.

Are online poker, casino or sports betting sites legal in Kentucky?

None of these types of websites are licensed to operate in Kentucky.

There is currently a court battle over alleged illegal online gambling where a lower court ruled PokerStars owes Kentucky $870 million. It is currently under appeal.

The view that authorities hold on online gambling Kentucky is far from being on the favourable side of the matter. To put it simply, there is not even a slight chance that we would witness the start of any online casinos Kentucky based invasion, in the foreseeable future. We need to remember that there is no casino gambling in Kentucky, this being one of the few US states that hasn’t got any land-based establishments of this kind.

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List Of Casinos In Kentucky

Contents

Kentucky Gambling Laws

Wagering history started long ago in a Newport Kentucky casino of sorts, this town is famous for the illegal betting activities. Up until the start of the 20th century, this was the hub of organized crime. Things have definitely changed ever since, and by the 1980s these activities remained nothing but a distant memory.

Given the state’s history, however, there’s no surprise in the fact that lawmakers seem reluctant in licensing casinos in Kentucky. The Kentucky gambling laws had to be severe in order to reestablish authority, and they remained in the same note even in more modern times. As an example, state lottery became active in 1989, while the adherence of Kentucky lottery slot games to USA interstate games such as Powerball and Multi Millions occurred in the late 2000s.
However, if there is something to substitute the missing KY casinos locations, those are the world-famous race tracks, this state is so proud of.

Kentucky Online Gambling

The whole betting market of the state revolves around the renowned horse racing. Therefore, no type of being allowed to place bets other than those pertaining to horse races are being allowed, for fear it might hurt this business. And by that logic, Kentucky online casinos aren’t going to be legalized soon. Actually, the authorities have been publicly and openly against this kind of business.
However, the online gambling Kentucky market is not completely closed, seeing how some sort of Kentucky sports betting is available as we speak. Of course that it’s directly related to the horse racing industry, players being allowed to place bets on specific authorized sites.
Surely, though these aren’t the only possibilities to join Kentucky gambling casinos for real money. This being an unregulated field, it’s legal for residents to play all the sorts of games available on off-shore based websites, which are open to US citizens. We only advise for caution, because there are many scammers out there. Perhaps, in order to make sure the website is 100% legit and secure, check out the selection of verified and reviewed virtual casinos that is available. Also, we reviewed many websites and can recommend you Bovada casino. Bovada is legal in Kentucky and is a well-known online casino among US gamblers.

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Horse Racing

The Kentucky casinos list being next to none, the whole betting industry of the state is centred on horse racing. In other words, most decisions are taken with the purpose of aiding these businesses to grow and prosper. For example, the gambling age in Kentucky is 18 for horse racing. Also, the only legal Kentucky sports betting out there are those regarding horse racing.
Some considerations regarding the most populous race tracks:

Casinos
  • The largest and most renowned track is the Churchill Downs, where the famous Derby is being annually held.
  • Considering the impact of the important race known as Keeneland, which takes place in Lexington Kentucky, casinos wanting to start a business in this area would surely make a nice profit. Also, it’s understandable why locals, authorities and anybody with a keen sense for history wouldn’t openhearted agree to such a venture.
  • With another track in the same city, at Red Mile, a casino KY-based, which would want to open up shop here, might find little to no understanding.
  • The same goes for the eventual opening of a Franklin Kentucky casino, which might rival with the Kentucky Downs races.

Lottery

Coming after a long battle against illegal betting operators, the KY residents have been left with very few options for earning extra based on their luck. That is until 1989 when the population voted in an alarmingly high percentage in favour of opening a state lottery. To initial offer meant Kentucky lottery scratch-off games. Later on, Kentucky’s lottery joined the interstate Powerball and Multi Million.

Future Endeavours

Lawmakers have set as top priority protecting the horse racing business. They also need to look at the competitors. A KY resident and taking can easily access a riverboat casino in Kentucky’s neighbouring states, from the numerous ones that are cruising up and down the Ohio River.
With these in mind, without going to the extreme of licensing casinos in KY, at first, they might allow slot machines at Kentucky Derby’s venue, perhaps turning it into the first KY Downs casino. The Churchill Downs from Louisville, home of the state’s famous derby, already owns a couple of casinos near Kentucky, that also offer horse racing, the so-called “racinos”.
The Churchill Downs has also invested a fair amount of money in expanding their website, simply stating that they are awaiting the legalization of Internet wagering and they just want to be ready to start once that happens. But perhaps this is also a sort of push from one of the strongest business in the state towards the law-makers, hoping it will bring them out of their apathy.

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FAQ
❓ Is gambling legal in Kentucky?

In its wider meaning, it is legal. However, casino gambling in Kentucky doesn’t exist seeing how neither online nor land-based venues are licensed. The main option is represented by race track betting and the lottery.

❓ Are there any casinos in Kentucky?

This state hasn’t allowed any Kentucky casinos within its borders. Gambling in Kentucky is focused on horse racing, this being at the core of the offer for this kind of service. Also, there probably won’t be any new casino in Kentucky any time soon, for the same reason of protecting the racing business.

❓ Any chance for a Franklin KY casino to open soon?

Franklin KY casinos are a dream at this point, seeing how the local authorities reckon that such a venue might affect the classical race track’s incomes. This is a generally accepted point of view on regards the opening of Kentucky casinos, statewide.

❓ Are there any Kentucky online casinos to legally play in?

There are no online casinos Kentucky based, nor is there any hope of such virtual establishments to be given rights in the near future. There is the option of betting online, using accredited websites on horse races in this state. The only other alternative is playing in safe and licensed websites, based outside the state’s limits, as are the ones in the list of recommended casinos at the beginning of the article.

❓ What is Kentucky gambling age?

The gambling age in Kentucky is of 18 years old if it’s on horse racing. Although KY casinos don’t exist, the minimum age required for a state resident to gamble in such venues is 21.

❓ Is there any predicted change for legalizing online betting?

The rules that govern gambling in Kentucky are some of the strictest in the US. As long as the race tracks won’t press the matter in a sustained way, there is a low probability of seeing at least one Kentucky casino, not to mention the prospect of entering into the Internet era. The sole alternative remains, for now, the use of websites that are not based within state limits.