Delaware to Launch Internet Gambling October 31
Key Takeaways
  • Speaking at the World Regulatory Briefing in Philadelphia on Tuesday, President and CEO of Dover Downs, Ed Sutor, announced that the state-wide program would be kicking off in nine days.
  • Scientific Games and 888 Holdings have been selected as the primary vendors for online gaming services in the state.

Delaware will be the first state to offer regulated online gambling—other than poker—when it opens its virtual doors on October 31, 2013.

Speaking at the World Regulatory Briefing in Philadelphia on Tuesday, President and CEO of Dover Downs, Ed Sutor, announced that the state-wide program would be kicking off in nine days.

Delaware was the first US state to pass a law regulating a full slate of online gambling in June 2012 when Governor Jack Markell signed The Delaware Gaming Competitive Act of 2012 into law.

Scientific Games and 888 Holdings have been selected as the primary vendors for online gaming services in the state. Delaware’s three racinos, including Dover Downs, launched free versions of popular casino games on Facebook in August of this year.

Concerns have been raised over Delaware’s to ability achieve enough liquidity to sustain online poker. Players will need to be physically located within the borders of the state which consists of less than one million residents and draws only seven million tourists per year.

In contrast, questions still remain whether Nevada, the only state currently offering regulated online poker in the US, can sustain a healthy internet poker ecosystem. The Silver State has three times the number of residents and draws almost 40 million visitors per year.

New Jersey is set to become the second state to offer full internet gambling (the third to offer internet poker) when it launches its internet gambling program in November.