Are you looking to gamble in New England? Well you’re in luck, because there are three enormous casino resorts available to you, and you can also visit any of the offshore online casinos to gamble safely from the comfort of your own home.
Five of the six New England states allow gambling in some form, and it’s safe to say that land-based casinos dominate the scene as regulation of online gambling, especially casinos, didn’t yet take off. Sports betting is, as is often the case, the frontrunner when it comes to placing wagers online, as it’s already legal in three states.
On this page you’ll find out exactly what forms of gambling are allowed in each state, what land-based casinos are near you and what kind of games and amenities they offer, and how and where you can gamble online. Depending on which state you reside in, you may have to travel to a nearby casino. Or you can simply visit one of the online casinos and gamble right now.
Key things you’ll find on this page include:
New England is comprised of six states – Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Each state has its own laws regarding gambling, but one thing’s for sure – wherever you are in New England you’re a short drive away from a land-based casino.
This is a quick overview of the gambling laws in the six New England states, from most to least gambling-friendly:
Massachusetts is home to three large casinos, with two more tribal casinos planned. State lottery, parimutuel wagering and daily fantasy sports are also available. Sports betting and online gambling are, however, not yet regulated. This makes Massachusetts one of those traditional gambling states where land-based casinos exist but the market hasn’t yet regulated any online gambling activities. It seems Massachusetts will adopt online gambling soon enough, though.
Maine law allows two casinos, Hollywood Casino in Bangor and Oxford Casino in Oxford. State law also permits Maine’s four federally recognized Indian tribes to conduct high-stakes bingo games with unlimited prize values, but the tribes don’t have the same rights that tribes in other states possess. Maine also has two racetracks, one in the Hollywood Casino and the other in Scarborough. There is also a state lottery and charitable gaming. Sports betting is legal, both online and retail, as of August 2022. However, the Maine Gambling Control Unit have said that people won’t be able to place bets until summer of 2023 at the earliest.
In Connecticut, gambling is legal, and it’s all about the two huge Indian casino resorts, Foxwoods and Moneghan Sun, as these also run the newly-regulated sports betting scene in partnership with DraftKings and FanDuel. A third casino is planned but the location is unknown as of yet. There is also a state lottery, parimutuel wagering on dogs and horses, and charitable gambling.
After an act of Congress cleared the path for Native American tribes to establish gaming enterprises, modern versions of casinos in New England didn’t appear until the late 20th century. The Mashantucket Pequot tribe opened a high-stakes bingo hall on their Connecticut reservation in 1986, and it had grown into Foxwoods by 1992, which for years would rank as not just the biggest casino in Connecticut but also the country. The Mohegan tribe from Connecticut opened their Mohegan Sun casino in 1997, attracting a throng of 75,000 people on opening day.
There are two casinos in RI, the Twin River Casino Hotel and the Tiverton Casino Hotel, both operated by Bally. Recently, sports betting market was regulated. In 2018 local casinos were authorized to start offering sports betting, and in 2019 this expanded to online sports betting. It is expected that Rhode Island regulators will be equally progressive when it comes to online casino gambling.
In New Hampshire, gambling is pretty much illegal. This state was the first one in the US to launch a state lottery, but keeps falling behind when it comes to all other forms of gambling. Charity organizations can offer poker, and casino games such as blackjack or roulette can only be made available during designated “casino nights” in eight gambling establishments that are allowed to host them.
It’s interesting to note that sports betting and daily fantasy sports are perfectly legal in New Hampshire. The state can offer licenses to up to 10 retail locations and five online sports betting operators. All the top Daily Fantasy Sports online brands are available too.
Gambling is illegal in Vermont, so there are no casinos here, and most people travel to Montreal, New York or Massachusetts when they want to gamble. Non-profits in Vermont can utilize bingo, raffles and break-open tickets to raise money, and that’s it as far as gambling in Vermont is concerned.
Yes – there are nine land-based casinos in New England, with three more planned. They are some of the largest casino resorts you’ll find in the US. We’ll list all nine NE casinos here with the most important info about each one, ranked from largest to smallest according to gambling space.
Connecticut is home to the two largest casinos in New England. Moneghan Sun and Foxwoods are huge resorts, and together with the Encore Boston Harbor (MA) they are the three notable casino resorts in the area that you’ll want to visit even if you’re not in New England.
In Massachusetts, there are three casinos, two of which are huge – Encore Boston Harbor and MGM Springfield – while Plainridge Park is mostly just a small racino.
Rhode Island has two decent-sized casinos operated by Bally, and in Maine there are two very small casinos that cater to the local audience.
This is a huge casino resort that offers anything your heart might desire – gambling, entertainment, golf, spa, dining, shopping and a lot more. The resort is located just between New York and Boston.
Address: 1 Moneghan Sun Blvd, Montville, CT 06382
Gambling space: 364,000 sqft
Games offered: 4,000 slots, table games, poker, racebook
Rooms: Two hotel towers with 1,563 rooms
Foxwoods is the oldest casino in New England, having opened in 1992. For several years, it was one of the country’s largest casinos because to its inception. In 1986, the Mashantucket Pequot tribe established a high-stakes bingo hall known as Mohegan Sun.
Foxwoods Resort Casino is absolutely huge – the entire resort covers an area of 9 million square feet. The casino’s location is great as players from Connecticut, Massachussets and Rhode Island are all equally likely to visit, especially as this is one of the most prominent casinos in the area.
Address: 350 Trolley Line Blvd, Ledyard, CT 06388
Gambling space: 344,000 sqft
Games offered: 5,500 slots, 250 table games
Rooms: 2,228
Encore Boston Harbor, previously known as Wynn Everett and Wynn Boston Harbor is a large luxurious resort and casino in Everett, Massachusetts, located on the Mystic River. It opened in 2019. It’s owned by Realty Income and operated by Wynn Resorts. It offers seveal notable restaurants, the harborwalk, indoor gardens, and wedding space among other things.
The 210,000-square-foot gaming area includes a poker room with 88 tables and various eateries run by Neptune chef John Ross and Frank DePasquale of Bricco to satisfy hungry gamblers.The hotel lobby’s $20 million Popeye sculpture by Jeff Koons stands out, as does a harborwalk sprinkled with viewing decks, bicycle paths, and boat docks.
Address: One Broadway, Everett, MA 02149
Gambling space: 210,000 sqft
Games offered: 2,700 slots, 185 table games
Rooms: 671
Twin River Casino Hotel in Lincoln is actually one of the larger casinos when it comes to gambling space, though as a whole it’s a small resort that largely caters to the Rhode Island players that come for a night out, and doesn’t attract as many players from outside the state. There are almost 100 table games, 23 poker tables, and a sportsbook.
Address: 100 Twin River Rd, Lincoln, RI 02865
Gambling space: 162,000 sqft
Games offered: 4,100 slots, 100 table games
Rooms: 136
MGM Springfield is a relatively small casino when it comes to gambling space, as it is located within the city, after all, but it offers top notch experience overall, as you’d expect from MGM.
A seven-screen movie theater, a suite with three high-tech golfing simulators, roof top pool and bowling are among the other activities; meanwhile, the resort’s six-story boutique hotel pays homage to Springfield history and characters, including Dr. Seuss, with clever design touches.
Address: 1 MGM Wy, Springfield, MA 01103
Gambling space: 125,000 sqft
Games offered: 2,550 slots, 120 table games
Rooms: 240
Tiverton Casino is the smaller of the two in Rhode Island, and is owned by the same company so the experience is largely the same. It opened in 2018 and it has 1,000 real money slots and over 30 table games that include craps, baccarat, blackjack and Pai Gow poker. There is a racebook that screens action from the country’s top tracks, and there’s also a sportsbook.
Address: 777 Tiverton Casino Blvd, Tiverton, RI 02878
Gambling space: 85,000 sqft
Games offered: 1,000 slots, 32 table games
Rooms: 84
The only casino and live harness-racing track in the state of Massachusetts is a small venue where you can only play slots, and place bets on live harness racing on its race course from April through November. There is no hotel here, so you’ll have to book your stay in one of the nearby Plainville hotels separately.
Address: 301 Washington St, Plainville, MA 02762
Gambling space: 44,000 sqft
Games offered: 1,250 slots, no table games
Rooms: n/a
Hollywood Casino Hotel & Raceway Bangor is a small casino and harness racing track in Bangor, Maine. It’s the first licenced casino in Maine, and the larger of the two available in the state.
Address: 500 Main St, Bangor, ME 04401
Gambling space: 30,000 sqft
Games offered: 750 slots, 12 table games
Rooms: 152
While Oxford Casino is the smaller of the two in Maine, it offers more slot machines and table games than its competitor in Bangor.
Address: 777 Casino Way, Oxford, ME 04270
Gambling space: 27,000 sqft
Games offered: 970 slots, 28 table games
Rooms: 107 rooms
Yes, except in Vermont. The exact situation depends on the state. You’ll be able to gamble in land-based casinos in all states except for New Hampshire and Vermont.
When it comes to online gambling, Connecticut is the only state that currently regulates it, with Maine and New Hampshire having regulated online sports betting. Massachussets will likely soon follow.
If we look at New England as a whole, the due to differing regulations in the six states, almost all types of gambling are available in NE, in at least one of its states. If, however, we want all forms of gambling to be available in all states, that’s likely not happening because of Vermont and its firm anti-gambling stance.
The other five states seem to operate on largely the same principles, with Massachusetts being the trailblazer in the region.
We can expect each of the five gambling-friendly states to retain some of their unique views on some aspects of gambling, as is the case with Indian high-stakes bingo in Maine, just to name one example. Or, New Hampshire and its lack of Indian tribes.
Perhaps you’ll be surprised to hear that there are currently very few options where you can legally gamble online at regulated online casinos in New England. This is because online gambling isn’t even legal in Massachusetts yet, let alone one of the less progressive states.
The only legal options belong to the state of Connecticut, where the two land-based casinos either have online presence or are currently building it. If you’re in CT, you can gamble at Moneghan Sun Casino online, with FanDuel Casino and DraftKings Casino coming up soon.
New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine don’t have any legal online casinos. Maine does have several social casinos though.
That means that, in almost all cases, you’re better off registering with one of the offshore online casinos. That’s at least until the big brands like BetMGM start showing up when the regulation allows them to do so.
Yes, you can gamble at offshore USA-friendly online casinos. Only the state of Connecticut has regulated online casinos, so you’ll go to Moneghan Sun Casino online if you’re in CT.
Yes, there are nine land based casinos across the six New England states. Three more are planned. New Hampshire and Vermont are the only two NE states without a casino.
Five of the six New England states, excluding Vermont, allow for at least some forms of gambling, with most of them being very progressive if we look at the US gambling scene as a whole. There are nine large casino resorts in NE, and online gambling is picking up as well, albeit slowly.
New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut allow sports betting, with Maine and Massachussets coming up. Vermont is the only NE state where gambling is illegal, which includes sports betting.
You can play poker in New England in the two large Massachusetts casino resorts, there are charitable poker rooms in New Hampshire, and the two Connecticut casinos have large poker venues.
Each of the six New England states offers state lottery, and this is even true for Vermont, where all forms of gambling are illegal but lottery is nevertheless allowed.