Rhode Island Sports Betting Launches Monday At Twin River Casino


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Twin River Casino sportsbook

You can make that eight states where sports bets can be made legally, once Rhode Island officially gets into the game Monday.

Twin River Casino, in Lincoln, will launch its sportsbook at 3 p.m. Monday, the facility confirmed in a press advisory.

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An opening bet ceremony will kick off the new product with Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello, Senate President Dominic Ruggerio and John E. Taylor, Jr., executive chairman of Twin River Worldwide Holdings, Inc., placing the ceremonial first bets.

The ceremony will be held in the Phase 1 area of sports betting located on the third floor of the casino, in the Simulcast area. 

RI sports betting arrives finally

Rhode Island sports betting has been months in the making.

The state enacted the sports betting law in June, and many had expected RI to have legal wagering by fall. But delays pushed a planned October launch back until almost December.

Officials had promised a launch around Thanksgiving, and they will deliver, only a few days after the turkeys are carved.

The state is getting 51 percent of any revenue the Twin River Casino generates from sports betting, as the state’s lottery, which operates the sportsbook in partnership with IGT and William Hill.

The state has not legalized online and mobile wagering, which has been a key part of wagering and revenue in the nascent New Jersey sports betting industry.

What does the Twin River sportsbook look like — so far?

The sportsbook is apparently not close to the finished product, as it’s being termed “Phase 1” by the casino.

Rhode Island could become a destination for Northeastern gamblers wanting to bet on sports legally. It’s the only state to have legal wagering in New England, and New York is not likely to have sports gambling until (and if) it passed a new law in 2019.

Welcome to the sports betting party 

Rhode Island will join the seven states where legal single-game wagering can take place in some fashion. Six of them have launched since the striking down of the federal ban this spring:

Just this past week, the first PA sports betting facility went live and a new sportsbook opened up in West Virginia.