What Hollywood Casino Charles Town is today
Hollywood Casino Charles Town is a classic West Virginia racino: a racetrack first, with a casino built around it after state law allowed video lottery at tracks. Charles Town Races opened in December 1933, and the grandstand still faces a busy dirt oval. The Hollywood Casino name arrived in July 2010, the same summer table games opened.
Ownership has changed several times. Penn National Gaming and Bryant Development bought the track for $16.5 million in 1997, and Penn bought out its partner three years later. Today the company trades as Penn Entertainment and runs the operation, while Gaming and Leisure Properties owns the land and buildings under a lease, a split common across the industry.
Charles Town races: the 2026 live calendar
Charles Town scheduled 165 live dates for 2026. Night racing is a long tradition here, so many cards start in the evening, after the working day ends for commuters from Maryland and Virginia. The Racing Commission approves the dates each year, and the track’s own calendar is the place to confirm post times before a visit.
The 2026 stakes program lists 21 races worth $3.8 million, plus the West Virginia Breeders’ Classics card on October 10, the state’s main night for West Virginia-bred horses. The stakes season opened on April 11 with the Original Gold for state-bred fillies and mares. The August Classic and Oaks card falls between those two dates.
The Classic and Oaks night
Since 2020 the track has put both graded stakes on one card. On Friday, August 28, 2026, the $1 million Charles Town Classic (Grade II) and the $750,000 Charles Town Oaks (Grade II) share a program with a 5 p.m. first post. That card has produced six of the seven largest single-card handles in the track’s history.
The Classic was first run in April 2009 over a mile and an eighth on dirt. Banishing won the 2025 edition for trainer David Jacobson. The Oaks is billed as the richest sprint in North America for three-year-old fillies, and undercard stakes include the Robert Hilton Memorial and the Misty Bennett Pink Ribbon.
Betting on the races
Wagering at Charles Town is pari-mutuel: bets go into a pool, the track takes its commission, and the rest is shared among winning tickets. Win, place and show sit alongside exactas, trifectas and multi-race bets. The pari-mutuel betting guide explains how the odds on the tote board move until the gates open.
Simulcast screens carry races from other tracks on days without a local card, so a visit outside the live schedule still offers horse betting. For dates across the region, the horse racing schedule groups the upcoming meets, including Mountaineer on the other side of the state and the Maryland tracks a short drive east.
The gaming floor at Hollywood Casino Charles Town
Hollywood Casino Charles Town lists more than 1,400 slot machines, 74 table games and a live poker room. Older tourism listings quoted up to 2,500 machines, so today’s floor is noticeably smaller. Slots here are video lottery terminals in legal terms, explained in the guide to video lottery terminals, though they play like casino machines.
The poker room has 17 tables and spreads Limit and No-Limit Texas Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha and Omaha Hi-Lo. Table games cover blackjack, craps and roulette. A sportsbook on the property has taken wagers since West Virginia legalized sports betting in 2018, and visitors who set a spending limit before arriving tend to enjoy a long race night more.
Restaurants, shows and the event center
Final Cut Steakhouse is the formal option at Hollywood Casino Charles Town, aimed at diners who want a steak before the late races. 9 Dragons covers Asian cooking, and the floor has casual counters for a quick plate between bets. The H Lounge and the Skybox sports bar keep screens tuned to racing and other sports through the evening.
The Hollywood Event Center seats about 1,200 and books national touring acts and comedy. Shows and the casino restaurants change their schedules often, so the property’s events calendar is the reliable reference. Concert nights fill the parking lots early, which matters for anyone arriving mainly for the races on the same evening.
Hotel and the surrounding area
The Inn at Charles Town opened in 2008 with 153 rooms, giving race fans a bed within walking distance of the grandstand. The town itself is small and walkable, and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park lies about fifteen minutes away. Shepherdstown, with its college-town restaurants, makes a quieter base for an overnight trip.
Getting there and nearby racinos
The casino sits on the edge of town at 750 Hollywood Drive, with parking on the property. From Washington or Baltimore the drive is about an hour from the beltways, depending on traffic through Frederick or Leesburg. MARC commuter trains run from Washington to Harpers Ferry and Martinsburg, though a short taxi ride is still needed.
Beyond Hollywood Casino Charles Town, West Virginia has three other racinos, all several hours west. Mountaineer races thoroughbreds in the Northern Panhandle, while Wheeling Island and Mardi Gras run greyhound cards. The West Virginia racino guide compares all four, and the online casino page for West Virginia covers the license this venue shares with DraftKings.
How Hollywood Casino Charles Town came to be
Jefferson County voters approved video lottery in the fall of 1996, and machines arrived after Penn bought the track the following year. A first table games referendum in 2007 failed, but a second vote in December 2009 passed. Racing history runs deeper: the West Virginia Breeders’ Classic began in 1987 and still closes the local calendar each October.