How Arkansas racinos came about
Arkansas built its track gaming in steps. The legislature approved Instant Racing in 1999, a machine game based on replays of past horse races, and the first 50 terminals each went into Oaklawn and Southland in January 2000. Both tracks were already old: Oaklawn dates from 1904, and Southland opened for greyhounds in 1956.
A 2005 referendum then allowed electronic games of skill at the two tracks, which brought video poker and machine blackjack, craps and roulette. For more than a decade those were the only Arkansas racinos and the only gambling floors in the state. Oaklawn added a $3 million gaming wing in 2008, then the largest gambling floor in Arkansas.
Amendment 100 and the casinos it created
In November 2018, Arkansas voters approved Amendment 100. It turned both racetrack properties into full casinos and created four licenses in total: Oaklawn in Garland County, Southland in Crittenden County, plus one each for Jefferson County and Pope County. Oaklawn and Southland started full casino gaming on April 1, 2019, with slots, live tables and sports wagering.
The Jefferson County license went to the Quapaw Nation, whose Saracen Casino Resort opened in Pine Bluff in 2019 and 2020. The Pope County license never produced a casino; after years of court fights over who should receive it, voters approved Issue 2 in November 2024, repealing that license and requiring local approval for any new one.
Arkansas racinos and casinos at a glance
| Venue | City | Racing | Gaming |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oaklawn | Hot Springs | Thoroughbred, late November to spring | Slots, live table games, sportsbook |
| Southland Casino Hotel | West Memphis | Greyhounds ended December 31, 2022; simulcast only | Slots, table games, sportsbook |
| Saracen Casino Resort | Pine Bluff | None | Slots, table games, poker, sportsbook |
Only Oaklawn still fits the racino label, with a live race meet next to the casino floor. The table includes the other two casinos because visitors often compare all three. The what is a racino guide explains why a former track like Southland now counts as a casino rather than a racino.
Oaklawn, Hot Springs
Oaklawn has raced thoroughbreds on Central Avenue since 1904, and the Cella family has owned it since the 1910s. Its one-mile dirt oval uses two finish lines, and its winter meet feeds the Kentucky Derby trail through the Rebel Stakes and the Arkansas Derby. American Pharoah won both in 2015 before his Triple Crown.
The 2026-27 meet opens on November 27, 2026, the earliest start in the track’s history, and the Arkansas Derby returns to three weeks before the Kentucky Derby, on April 10, 2027. A $100 million expansion finished in 2021 added a hotel, the Forbes four-star Astral Spa and an 18,000-square-foot event center.
Southland, West Memphis: a greyhound racino no more
Southland sits on North Ingram Boulevard in West Memphis, across the Mississippi River from Memphis. Delaware North of Buffalo, New York, has owned it since the early 1970s, and for decades it was one of the Arkansas racinos. In 2019 the company announced that greyhound racing would be phased out, and the last race ran on December 31, 2022.
The property now operates as Southland Casino Hotel, with a 300-room high-rise hotel, slots, table games and a sportsbook. Simulcast horse racing is still offered there, but no live racing. With Southland and Iowa’s Dubuque track gone, US greyhound racing shrank to two tracks, both West Virginia racinos; the history of racinos covers that decline.
Arkansas casinos and the age requirement
The age requirement at Arkansas casinos is 21, and it covers slots, table games and sports wagering. Southland’s site states it outright, and the same rule applies at Oaklawn and Saracen. Carry a government-issued photo ID, since staff may check it at the entrance or the cage before paying out a jackpot.
The rule is stricter than in Oklahoma, where both racetrack casinos admit players from 18. Visitors driving from Tulsa or Oklahoma City to Hot Springs should plan for the difference. Arkansas casinos also differ from Oklahoma’s racinos in offering live dealers and sportsbooks, which the Oklahoma tracks do not list.
Racing calendar and where to watch
Live racing in Arkansas means the Oaklawn meet, which now opens in late November and runs into spring. The busiest stretch is March and April, when the Rebel Stakes, the Fantasy Stakes, the Arkansas Derby, the Apple Blossom and the Oaklawn Handicap fill the weekends. Outside the meet, simulcast signals keep race wagering going at Oaklawn and Southland.
Between May and November there is no live racing at Arkansas racinos, so local racing fans travel to neighboring states. Remington Park in Oklahoma City runs thoroughbreds from late August to December, and the Louisiana tracks fill the summer. The horse racing schedule lists live dates by state across the year.
Taxes, regulation and where the money goes
The Arkansas Racing Commission, inside the Department of Finance and Administration, regulates both racing and casino gaming through a dedicated casino gaming section. Its rules set the license terms, game approvals and the 21 age requirement for players. Casinos pay 13% on the first $150 million of net gaming receipts each fiscal year and 20% on anything above that amount.
The department publishes monthly casino tax files with statewide totals rather than per-casino figures, which makes it harder to compare Oaklawn with Southland or Saracen directly, or to track each property’s growth year by year. For how racetrack gaming money supports purses in other states, see the guide to racino revenue, which compares the systems state by state.
Neighboring racino states
Arkansas sits between several racing states with very different rules for track gaming. To the west, the Oklahoma racinos at Remington Park and Will Rogers Downs run machine floors with an 18+ limit. To the south, Louisiana has four racetrack casinos with slot machines at tracks such as Louisiana Downs near Shreveport.
To the northeast, Kentucky built its track gaming on historical horse racing, the descendant of the Instant Racing machines Arkansas tested first in 2000. Texas, to the southwest, has horse tracks but no racinos. That makes Oaklawn the main destination in the region for thoroughbred racing paired with a full casino.