How West Virginia racinos work
The legal foundation is the Racetrack Video Lottery Act of 1994. It allowed video lottery terminals at the state’s licensed racetracks once voters in each track’s county approved them. The machines are part of a lottery game in law: they connect to a central system run by the West Virginia Lottery Commission, which also tests and approves every model.
Gaming and racing have separate regulators. The Lottery Commission oversees the machines, table games, sports wagering and online casinos, while the West Virginia Racing Commission licenses the tracks, approves race dates and supervises the horse and dog cards. Casino privileges are tied to racing: the 2007 law limits table games to tracks with live horse or dog racing.
West Virginia casinos: table games, sports betting and online play
In 2007 the Legislature passed House Bill 2718, which authorized table games only at tracks that run horse or dog racing, again subject to a local vote. Wheeling Island and Mountaineer opened tables in late 2007. The Greenbrier later received the state’s only casino license without a racetrack, and its casino is limited to hotel guests and members.
Sports betting followed the West Virginia Sports Lottery Wagering Act of March 2018. The Lottery Interactive Wagering Act, of March 2019, gave each of the five casino licensees one online license with up to three brands. DraftKings, under the Charles Town license, became the first online casino in July 2020. The West Virginia online guide lists current brands.
All West Virginia racino locations
| Venue | City | Racing | Gaming |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races | Charles Town | Thoroughbred, most of the year | Slots, table games, poker, sportsbook |
| Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort | New Cumberland | Thoroughbred, spring to autumn | Slots, table games, poker |
| Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack | Wheeling | Greyhound, Wednesday to Sunday | Slots, table games, poker, sportsbook |
| Mardi Gras Casino & Resort | Cross Lanes (Nitro) | Greyhound, Tuesday to Saturday | Slots, table games, poker, sports betting |
The four locations are spread to the corners of the state. Charles Town sits in the Eastern Panhandle near Maryland and Virginia, Mountaineer and Wheeling Island share the Northern Panhandle along the Ohio River, and Mardi Gras lies in the Kanawha Valley west of Charleston. Distances between them are long, so most visitors pick the one nearest home.
Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races
Charles Town has raced thoroughbreds since December 1933 and is the busiest of the West Virginia racinos, with 165 live dates scheduled for 2026. Penn Entertainment operates it. The floor lists more than 1,400 slots, 74 table games and a 17-table poker room, and the August card with the Charles Town Classic and Oaks is the year’s biggest night.
Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort
Mountaineer, near New Cumberland, is where lottery machines first appeared at a US track, in the 1990 pilot. Century Casinos operates it on real estate owned by VICI Properties. The site combines a one-mile dirt oval and turf course with about 1,300 slots, 36 tables, a hotel, a spa and golf. The Grade III West Virginia Derby runs each August.
Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack
Wheeling Island opened in 1937 as Wheeling Downs, a thoroughbred track, and has raced greyhounds since 1976. Delaware North has owned it since 1988. Dogs race Wednesday to Sunday at 1 p.m., and the island property adds more than 1,000 slots, a poker room, a 151-room hotel, a buffet and a showroom for concerts and comedy.
Mardi Gras Casino & Resort
Mardi Gras opened in 1985 as the Tri-State Racetrack and Gaming Center and took its New Orleans theme in 2010. Delaware North bought it in 2018. Greyhounds race on weekday and Saturday evenings at 6 p.m., and the property near Charleston adds close to a thousand slots, a poker room, a 150-room hotel and The French Quarter steakhouse.
Minimum age and visiting rules
The minimum age at West Virginia racinos is 21 for anything on the casino floor: slots, table games, poker and sports betting. The two Delaware North properties also apply a 21 limit to hotel guests and to shows. Expect identification checks at entrances, and note that smart glasses are banned from table game areas at Wheeling Island and Mardi Gras.
Racing fans under 21 should check each track’s policy before traveling, because grandstand access and pari-mutuel wagering follow racing rules rather than casino rules. Online accounts for casino games, sports betting and race wagering all carry the same minimum age of 21. All four racino locations post admission rules online, worth checking before a long drive.
The racing calendar
State law requires Charles Town to apply for 220 race dates and Mountaineer for 210 each year, figures neither track has met for some time. Both return to the Racing Commission to trim their schedules, and for 2026 Charles Town scheduled 165 live dates, while Mountaineer’s season runs from April through November.
Mountaineer races from spring into autumn and holds the West Virginia Derby in August. The greyhound tracks race all year: Wheeling Island in the afternoon and Mardi Gras in the evening. The horse racing schedule lists upcoming meets across the region, and the pari-mutuel betting guide explains how the tote pools work.
Greyhound racing and the 2026 federal ban
West Virginia has the only live greyhound racing left in the United States. In 2026 the Greyhound Protection Act was added to the Farm Bill, H.R. 7567, which passed the US House 224 to 200 after an amendment to exempt the state’s tracks failed. The bill now sits with the Senate, where its fate will decide the two tracks’ future.
The debate inside the state is divided. Wheeling officials and police and fire unions point to jobs and pension funding, while eight state legislators wrote to Senators Capito and Justice in June 2026 backing the ban. Opponents argue the racing survives on subsidies, since state law requires the tracks to keep racing to hold their casino licenses.
Where West Virginia racinos fit in the region
Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland all built casinos after West Virginia, and the competition shows. Century Casinos has said that Mountaineer competes for about 85 percent of its players with casinos in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania racinos, Ohio racinos and Maryland racinos pages cover the nearest alternatives across the borders.
Charles Town draws heavily from the Washington and Baltimore areas. The track sits in the Eastern Panhandle, close to the Maryland and Virginia lines. West Virginia lawmakers restored racing purse funds cut by the 2014 Haircut Bill, and purses at Charles Town have risen since. The history of racinos puts the West Virginia story in national context.