Gambling Casinos In Louisville Ky

4/7/202222.08.2017admin

Casinos and Gambling in Louisville, KY For-profit companies, Native American Indian tribes and a non-profit organizations are all getting into the casino and legalized gambling business. It's a lucrative industry, but also one that's governed by a host of confusing (and sometimes conflicting) federal, state, county and city laws.
That means the casino-style venues can accommodate up to 1,784 people, in the case of Oak Grove Gaming & Racing (also owned by Churchill Downs), according to figures provided by the Kentucky Horse.

Map showing the location of casinos near Louisville Kentucky with drive time, distance, map and casino description.

Introduction to Kentucky Slot Machine Casino Gambling in 2020

Kentucky slot machine casino gambling does not include games of chance, which are strictly illegal. Instead, Kentucky has competition-based electronic gaming machines at four out of its five pari-mutuel wagering racetracks.

Theoretical payout limits are not available but monthly return statistics are available for electronic gaming machines.

This post continues my weekly State-By-State Slot Machine Casino Gambling Series, an online resource dedicated to guiding slot machine casino gambler to success. Now in its third year, each weekly post reviews slots gambling in a single U.S. state, territory, or federal district.

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Relevant Legal Statutes on Gambling in Kentucky*

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

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

Kentucky’s interpretation of legal gambling requires the competitor’s level of skill “must sufficiently govern the results.”

Therefore, competition-based games are legal as well as pari-mutuel wagering. Traditional slots are illegal, including those referred to as Class III, Vegas-style, and games-of-chance slot machines.

Kentucky has competition-based electronic games available in a few of their pari-mutuel facilities. These skill-based games are anonymously-based historical race results.

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.

If you’re ever in Newport, directly across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, consider walking the Newport Gangster Tour.

*The purpose of this section is to inform the public of state gambling laws and how the laws might apply to various forms of gaming. It is not legal advice.

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.

These devices are Historic Horse Racing (HHR) electronic gaming machines. The KHRC reports Kentucky offers 2,981 HHR machines.

Casinos in Kentucky

There are five pari-mutuel racetracks in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Of these, only four sites offer skill-based HHR electronic gaming machines.

The largest casino in Kentucky is Derby City Gaming with 1,000 HHR gaming machines.

The second-largest casino is Red Mile Gaming & Racing, an HHR parlor in partnership with Keeneland Race Course, with 938 gaming machines.

Commercial Casinos in Kentucky

The four out of five of Kentucky’s pari-mutuel racetracks with skill-based HHR electronic gaming machines are:

Derby City Gaming in Louisville located 74 miles west of Lexington on the Indiana border.
Ellis Park Racing and Gaming in Henderson located 105 miles northwest of Bowling Green.
Kentucky Downs Gaming in Franklin located 29 miles south of Bowling Green.
Red Mile Gaming & Racing in Lexington.

Tribal Casinos in Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky has no federally-recognized American Indian tribes and, therefore, no 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: Indiana and Ohio Slots
East: West Virginia Slots
Southeast: Virginia Slots
South: Tennessee Slots
West: Missouri Slots

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

Our Kentucky Slots Facebook Group

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

There, you’ll be able to privately share your slots experiences as well as chat with players about slots gambling in Kentucky. Join us!

Payout Returns in Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky does not offer any theoretical payout limits for their competition-based HHR gaming machines.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission offers statistics for HHR gaming under Quick Links entitled Wagering on Historical Horse Races. Its December 2019 report indirectly offers actual return statistics including comparisons to past actuals.

To calculate a player’s win percentage from the report, divide Less: Return to Public by Total Handle. For December 2019, the monthly Player’s Win% for HHR machines were:

State-wide: 91.5%
Derby City: 90.9%
Ellis Park: 93.9%
Keeneland/Red Mile: 91.3%
Kentucky Downs: 92.0%

From this December 2019 report, Ellis Park had the highest player win% at nearly 94% while Derby City had the lowest at nearly 91%.

Summary of Kentucky Slot Machine Casino Gambling in 2020

Kentucky slot machine casino gambling exists as competition-based, games-of-skill Historical Horse Racing (HHR) electronic gaming machines instead of games-of-chance slot machines.

No minimum or maximum theoretical payout limits have been set. Monthly return statistics are publicly available for each pari-mutuel racetrack with HHR games.

Annual Progress in Kentucky Slot Machine Casino Gambling

In the last year, Kentucky increased its HHR machines by 9% to 2,981 devices. However, the average daily handle for HHRs increased by 46%. For 2020 so far, it’s an amazing 59% increase compared to 2019.

Online Casinos in Kentucky

Although Kentucky has a long tradition with horse racing, it has not legalized casinos (online or otherwise).

There have been limited discussions of legalizing online casinos, but it seems unlikely that we'll see online casinos offered there in the foreseeable future.

Kentucky does have a state lottery, which can indicate an openness to other forms of betting.

The nearest online casinos will be in West Virginia, which has already approved legislation. Tennessee has recently approved online sports betting.

But, you can still register with a legal online casino while you're in Kentucky.

That means you can get the casino's bonus offers or deposit, and then play whenever you're in states where it's legal (even in a layover at the airport). (Do be aware of the casinobonus's expiry date, though.)

The only forms of legal online gambling in the state include the lottery and pari-mutuel betting.

Land-Based Casinos in Kentucky

The most common type of gambling offered is pari-mutuel betting on thoroughbred horse racing at the 10 racetracks located throughout the state.

The most famous horse race offered in the state is the Kentucky Derby, which has been run annually since 1875.

The Kentucky Derby is always run at Churchill Downs on the first Sunday in May.

A festival is also held each year for two weeks before the race in Louisville, where the track is located. Louisville is also the state's largest city.

There are three racetrack casinos in Kentucky that offer some form of casino gambling. There are no traditional slot machines in Kentucky casinos. Instead, they all offer instant racing bettingmachines.

While these machines may appear to be regular slot machines, they are actually gaming machines that are based on unidentified past horse races and the spinning reels shown on the machinesare for entertainment purposes only.

Those instant racing machines are the only types of casino gambling offered in Kentucky casinos. You will not find any table games offered at the casinos in Kentucky.

Types of Casinos in Kentucky

There are no traditional casinos in Kentucky.

Residents have numerous racetracks to choose from, as explained above.

List of Racetracks in Kentucky

Click on any of the race tracks below to learn more about them.