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Rhode Island is getting ready to introduce online casino gaming in precisely one month from now. The Rhode Island online casino law set the launch date as March 1, 2024, which the state officials have confirmed.
The Rhode Island Division of Lottery will oversee online casino regulation, as it currently supervises the Bally’s two physical casinos in the state:
- Bally’s Twin River Lincoln
- Bally’s Tiverton
Official confirms Rhode Island online casino launch for March
Paul Grimaldi, spokesperson for the Rhode Island Department of Revenue (RIDOR), confirmed the scheduled launch date of Rhode Island online casinos without revealing any specifics.
Grimaldi told PlayUSA’s Matt Kredell this week:
“I’m afraid I have little to share on that other than it will launch Mar. 1, in some form, with live dealers.”
Grimaldi also said that the next meeting of the legislative lottery committee should be Feb. 19 unless it gets delayed one day because of the holiday. He said the launch would likely be discussed at that meeting, and the lottery director would have more details to share with committee members.
After passing HB 6348, the House also passed the Senate duplicate (SB 948), which spread the existing partnership between Bally’s and the Rhode Island Lottery.
Rhode Island will be 7th state to legalize online casinos
Starting March 1, Rhode Island will become the seventh US state to have legal real-money online casinos joining:
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Michigan
- New Jersey
- Pennsylvania
- West Virginia
With a population of just over 1 million, Rhode Island will not offer multiple licensees.
Since Bally’s and IGT are the only two gaming entities in the state, Rhode Island gambling aficionados will have the option to access Bally’s online casino legally. Its owner, Bally’s Corporation, manages the only two brick-and-mortar casinos in the state and will now expand its monopoly to the online domain.
Over the recent years, online casinos have gained popularity among players. With that, there’s also been a push in several states to introduce legislation to legalize the sector. You can keep abreast of online casino legislation in the nation with our 2024 bill tracker.
Live dealer games won’t be available in Rhode Island until April
Getting ready for the launch, Bally’s revealed a partnership with live casino supplier Stakeologic in September.
The agreement happened after Gov. Daniel McKee signed SB Bill 948 into law.
The Senate bill specifies all online table games must use a live dealer. However, live dealer games won’t be available in Rhode Island until Apr. 1. Online poker games could even wait longer.
According to its agreement with Stakelogic, Bally’s plans to offer popular online live table games like Blackjack, Roulette and Baccarat.
