Delaware Adds Online Sportsbooks, REMOVES Online Poker

On Wednesday, Jan. 3, the Delaware Lottery announced the launch of its first licensed online sportsbooks. In-person sports betting was already possible at the state's three retail casino locations. These same casinos have opened sportsbooks on their websites, but all three of them are powered by the Delaware Lottery's tech partner, Rush Street Interactive (RSI). At around the same time that the new sportsbooks appeared, the Delaware-licensed online poker sites disappeared.

About the New Online Sports Betting Sites

As mentioned above, the three Delaware legalized sports betting websites are each attached to one of the state's terrestrial casinos: Bally's Dover, Harrington Park, and Delaware Park. Because Delaware law calls for a single technology provider for its igaming products, all of these sites are powered by RSI. They are co-branded with BetRivers, one of RSI's properties that's also active in more than a dozen other states.

All three sites thus share the same basic layout and functionality. The sportsbook consists of a few special categories, like Streaming Live, Prop Central, and House Specials, followed by lists of the most popular sports and all sports.

The betting product appears very comprehensive with all major athletic competitions covered and hundreds of wagering options available on the most notable matches. The House Specials area of each site contains interesting combinations of bets, like wagers on which of two named sportsmen will post the better stats or a player to score a certain number of points while his team covers the spread. Prop Central only lists a few leagues, but within them, you can take a flier on many aspects of particular players' performance, like NFL rushing yards over/under, NBA total rebounds over/under, and soccer “to score two goals” yes/no. Parlays are, of course, possible as are teasers on a few sports.

Sportsbook at the Bally Dover Website

Casinos Relaunched Too

To go with its three new sportsbooks, the State of Delaware has also revamped its three attached online casinos. At these sites, players can enjoy dozens of slots, a few varieties of blackjack and video poker, and table games, like roulette and three card poker.

Casino at the Bally Dover Website

Tech Transition Leaves Poker Players Out

The reason for the appearance of online sportsbooks and transformed internet casinos in Delaware lies in the selection of RSI as the state's igaming technology provider. In August, RSI was selected to fill this role, replacing the previous contractor, 888 Holdings.

This meant that 888's offerings were retired and replaced by products from RSI. While 888 did not extend any sports betting services to Delaware, the RFP that RSI responded to called specifically for a wagering system “with the option for the Lottery to add internet sports betting.” It appears that the Lottery did exercise this option, and RSI delivered.

However, with the abandonment of 888's software platform came the disappearance of online poker sites. Accordingly, the three Delaware internet poker rooms went dark on Dec. 27, 2023, and they have not reappeared since then.

RSI does not have any experience operating online poker sites. Yet, the company has acquired the now-shuttered international online cardroom RunItOnce Poker, the creation of poker pro Phil Galfond. RSI has dropped hints over the past few months that the emergence of RunItOnce Poker on the U.S. regulated scene was imminent. However, it might be rebranded as “BetRivers Poker.”

Poker (With Above Image) Is Listed as “Coming Soon” on RSI's Website

It's very likely that RunItOnce will see its U.S. debut in Delaware within the next month or two. Another possibility, since Delaware is a member of the MSIGA traffic-sharing agreement, is that RunItOnce will deploy simultaneously in several states, including Delaware, creating a cross-border network from the get-go. However, this is a longshot because in every other case, domestically regulated online poker sites first began doing business in several separate states before joining together under the auspices of the MSIGA compact.

Delaware Sports Betting History

Delaware has actually had legalized sports betting longer than most other states. Its lottery has historically offered parlay card betting, which was enough to grant it a limited exemption from the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which outlawed the expansion of sports betting across the United States although it did permit existing sports betting to continue unhindered.

By the 2000s, this sports lottery had fallen into abeyance until Delaware in 2009 passed a law to bring it back and expand it. A lawsuit was filed by the sports leagues, and Delaware's plans were ruled illegal. Delaware was allowed to revive its sports lottery product but was not allowed to expand it beyond parlays to include single-game wagering.

In 2012, Delaware became the first state in the nation to legalize internet casino and poker operations. However, because sports betting was not then allowed, it was not a consideration when choosing 888 as the designated tech vendor in 2013. Thus, when real money play began in November 2013, it launched without sportsbooks.

Delaware was ready to go live with brick-and-mortar sports betting almost immediately upon PASPA being declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The Court rendered its verdict on May 14, 2018, and the first bets were accepted at Delaware casinos on June 5 of the same year.

Any hopes that Delaware's expanded terrestrial sports betting options would be soon replicated online were dashed. 888 had received a five-year extension of its original five-year contract and thus was to remain the online gaming partner until 2023. We’ve already mentioned that its Delaware igaming suite lacked sportsbooks, and no new sports betting platform was in the works, so Delawareans were restricted to physical sportsbooks at this time.

State law mandates that applications be accepted from outside online gaming vendors every 10 years, so Delaware duly issued an RFP for “Internet Wagering System and Services Solution” in January 2023. The Delaware Lottery had meanwhile concluded that no further legislation needed to be passed for it to offer online sports betting, so the RFP explicitly mentioned online sports betting as a desired product. 888 and RSI were the only applicants, but 888 backed out of the process, leaving RSI as the winner.

Future of Delaware Online Sports Betting?

RSI may have felt like a scored a major coup by displacing the long-established 888 as the internet gaming vendor for Delaware. Yet, changes could be on the horizon that would make this deal a lot less lucrative for RSI.

In January 2023, the Delaware Internet Sports Lottery Legislative Working Group was tasked with making recommendations for sports betting over the internet within the state. It was originally scheduled to submit its report in June, but this process was delayed until Dec. 1 when the Working Group finally delivered its report.

The recommendations included a call for multiple sportsbook companies to participate, which would be a break with how Delaware has operated hitherto with just a single online betting partner at a time. From the report:

The success seen in states with multiple online operators suggests that Delaware could benefit from a similar approach, encouraging a more competitive and economically thriving sports wagering market.

These recommendations are not binding on the Lottery or the legislature, which can pass whatever legal changes it deems appropriate. Still, the fact that opening up the market to other competitors is being seriously discussed probably has a few execs at RSI a bit worried.

Poker Still Available

Notwithstanding the fact that poker has temporarily been removed from the list of licensed online gaming options in Delaware, there are still ways to play. In fact, a number of trustworthy offshore poker rooms cater to Delaware's residents and operate independently of the Delaware Lottery or any other stateside regulator.

To find out more about the online cardrooms available to you in Delaware, read this detailed guide to Delaware internet poker. Those who live in the rest of the country may instead with to peruse this rundown of the top USA online poker rooms.

The sites covered on these pages are perfectly legal for you to play at because the laws and penalties against this activity are squarely directed at those running the sites, not individual players. For additional info on this topic, check out this USA poker legalities article.