• The Akwesasne Mohawk Casino is located in New York’s North Country, at 873 State Route 37 in Hogansburg. The newly expanded and refurbished property offers visitors more than 1,800 slot machines, 30 gaming.
• The Upstate New York Gift Expo is a wholesale gift show conveniently located in the heart of New York State at the beautiful Turning Stone Resort & Casino. This event offers a unique, enjoyable, and convenient shopping and selling experience.

That means Upstate New York’s four full-service casinos — del Lago Resort & Casino near Waterloo, Resorts World Casino Catskills in Monticello, Tioga Downs in Nichols just west of Binghamton.

When Americans think about gambling hotspots, the first places that come to mind are Las Vegas or Atlantic City, NJ. Although the latter has served many a New York gambler throughout the years, residents of NY know that there are a wealth of casinos in New York that offer a wide selection of casino games. Here is a list of the 10 best land-based casinos in New York. Each excels in numerous different areas.

This page is designed to be your one stop shop for all the info you need about New York Casinos. It’ll break down the different land-based gambling establishments located throughout upstate NY and the rest of the Empire State. In addition, I’ll discuss the legal history of the state and gambling halls. At the end of the page, you can find a complete list of casinos in New York.

Commercial Casinos in New York State

Contents

• Commercial Casinos in New York State
• What Else Should One Look for Besides Gambling?

The traditional casino is a commercial enterprise. Until recently, however, the state of NY has not permitted commercial gaming. The state’s historic gambling laws have placed lots of restrictions on casino gambling. This all changed in 2013 when the state agreed to legalize Las Vegas-style casinos, which had up until this point been constrained to Native American lands. The decision was made to help boost the state’s economy which had been experiencing sluggish growth in the years leading up to the decision. Today, commercial casinos generate more revenue than NY’s tribal gambling locations and the average New Yorker spends about $130 per/year per adult at casinos.

Today, the state has four commercial casinos in upstate New York. The land-based commercial casinos are the del Lago Resort & Casino in Tyre, Seneca County, Jake’s 58 Hotel & Casino in Islandia, the Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady, Tioga Downs in Nichols, Tioga & the World Catskills. These gambling sites offer huge selections of slot games as well as a nice collection of table & card games. Although there are racinos, or racetrack casinos in numerous locations throughout the state, most of these places don’t have live table games, only electronic versions of the tables. NY’s four upstate casinos are the only approved locations for sports betting. However, betting won’t commence until they have been provided the appropriate licences.

Pari-mutuel Casinos: Racinos

Racinos are technically commercial casinos, but I decided to talk about them in a different section because these gambling locations are not what people traditionally think of when you say the world ‘casino.’ Of the 12 commercial New York casinos, eight of them are racinos. The term is used to describe horserace tracks that hold licenses to offer casino games. In 2001, the New York State Legislature passed a bill, which allowed racetracks to have video lottery terminals (VLTs). VLTs are like slots, but often contain multiple gambling options. VLTs can be found in Delaware, Rhode Island, Louisiana, NY, Ohio and West Virginia.

Although racinos are immensely popular as evident by the love New Yorkers have for places like Batavia Downs, in fact, 5,000 people attended it’s opening night, racinos are slightly more limited when it comes to casino games. Racinos don’t carry live table games. So although most of these places will claim to have hundreds of table and card titles, these are always electronic versions of the games. Nevertheless, racinos remain a staple of the New York gambling scene and offer a lot of the same amenities (entertainment & dining) that other NY casinos do.

Tribal Gaming in New York State

The most abundant gambling option in the US is by far the Native American/Tribal/Indian Casino and the same goes for NY. There are more Indian casinos in New York than any other type of gambling site. Up until the state’s 2013 decision to open new casinos in New York, Native American gaming was the only gambling option in the Empire State. The first tribal gaming location opened in 1993 after the passage of the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The first site was run by the Oneida Indian Nation, which is one of four tribes that operate NY’s federally approved casinos. The other tribes are the Seneca Nation, Cayuga Nation, and the St. Regis Mohawk tribe.

Tribal gambling remains the most popular form of casino play in New York because it offered the first Vegas-esque experience in the state. Residents near the state line always had the option to pop on over to Canada or New Jersey, but the approval of gambling licenses for Native American tribes finally gave New Yorkers options for in-state play. Places like Turning Stone are considered some of the top casinos in New York. The resort has been in operation for over two decades and has won Casino Player Magazine’s #1 Best Overall Gaming Resort in New York award multiple times.

What Else Should One Look for Besides Gambling?

Of course, there are more than a few factors that determine the quality of NY casinos. Of course, gambling is a huge draw when it comes to selecting one establishment over another, but many people prefer one site over another because of the amenities it offers alongside its gaming entertainment. Below you can find some of the things you should keep an eye out for when planning your next casino get away. All of these criteria were considered when selecting our top land-based casinos in New York, and many of the sites in our top casinos list have won numerous awards for their entertainment offerings.

Location

Residents of Upstate New York are spoilt when it comes to casino options because most of the commercial gambling locations are based in the northern part of the state. This is because the law which allowed the opening of commercial gambling establishments, did so with the assumption that casinos would boost the economy of an economically depressed region of the state. Residents of the Big Apple are limited to one option, which is the Resorts World New York City Racino in Queens. For traditional table games, players will have to travel out of the city. That’s why it is important to find a gambling establishment located in a place suitable to your needs.

Hotel

If you plan to make a trip out of your gambling outing, you’ll want to be sure to choose a resort that has a nice hotel suitable to the needs of you, and if you have one your family. Many of the tribal and commercial gambling resorts have put a lot of effort into their hotels that feature amenities such as golf courses, spas, pools, and lounges.

Entertainment and Dining

Similar to Las Vegas and Atlantic City, the best casinos in New York offer a wide-array of exciting entertainment options alongside their gambling options. At the most popular resorts, you can expect to find concerts, comedy shows, world-class dining, clubs and more. The Seneca Allegany Resort even features a large outdoor venue, which can accommodate famous musical acts. Travis Tritt, Toby Keith, Jackson Browne and Ringo star are only a few of the big names that have graced the resort’s outdoor stage. As you can see, there are many things that make for a great overall experience, and these things should be considered when looking for the ideal gaming location.

New York Casino Market Overview

The Empire State houses 12 land-based casinos and racinos which are overseen by the New York State Gaming Commission and 15 tribal casinos, which are not regulated by the state. The NY casinos market ranks in the top five of the United States. It generated a gross revenue of over two billion dollars in the year 2017 and generated a total tax revenue of 1.02 billion for the state (this figure doesn’t include other forms of gambling such as sports betting, lotteries, poker or horse racing).

These figures are especially impressive considering casino gaming is a relatively new and the state’s market faces some steep competition from its neighbors. New York is a big state, that could benefit from casino gaming, but a lot of the money spent goes to tribal gaming establishments as well as out-of-state casinos in places such as Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New Jersey. NJ benefits from its close proximity to NYC, which only has one casino in the five boroughs (Queens).

Casinos in New York are split into two types, Class II and Class III. Class III gambling establishments are the only sites allowed to carry your standard casino games like slots, roulette, blackjack, and more. Most ‘racinos’ and gambling locals fall into the class II category. These sites can only carry social-type games such as bingo. Below you can find a list of all the casinos in New York state.

All the Casinos Available in the State of New York

New Yorkers are surprisingly spoiled when it comes to land-based casino options. Not only are there heaps of casinos in Upstate New York, but you’ll also find racinos and tribal gaming centers spread throughout the other regions of the state. Below is a list of every casino that offers real money games in NY. The map below shows every legal casino in the state.

Blue: Tribal Gaming Red: Racinos Green: Commercial Casinos

Casinos In Upstate Ny

ALBANY - New York's 13 private casinos and racetracks can reopen their doors starting Wednesday, ending a COVID-19 shutdown that started in March.

The decision announced last week is welcomed news to the thousands of workers who have been unemployed since the virus shuttered all non-essential businesses.

New York's slow reopening had allowed most industries to resume, except for large gatherings like casinos and amusement parks.

But Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sept. 3 that casinos could start to reopen Wednesday with a variety of safety measures and limited capacity.

They also need to have enhanced air filtration systems.

Food and beverage service on the gaming floor will also be prohibited, as will live performances, which are largely banned statewide.

Not all the casinos and racinos are scheduled to reopen Wednesday.

Some are, such as Resorts World Catskills in Sullivan County, Tioga Downs in the Southern Tier, Vernon Downs in central New York and Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack in Ontario County.

Batavia Downs said it will open at 8 a.m. Wednesday. All guests will have to have a temperature check.

Casinos In Western New York

“We are so looking forward to welcoming back our guests,” Henry Wojtaszek, the track's president, said in a statement.

Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway is scheduled to open Sept. 21. Others haven't announced an opening date.

Del Lago in the Finger Lakes said it plans to open Wednesday, but had no immediate time. Rivers Casino in Schenectady said it would open Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Rivers 'has been working hand-in-hand with the state to make all the changes necessary to reopen and we will meet, or exceed, all requirements to provide a safe and healthy entertainment environment,” Justin Moore, its general manager, said in a statement.

Tioga Downs, which before closing has a contingent of 600 employees, is attempting to bring back as many people as they can, some in alternative roles, such as sanitary watchdogs, customer service representatives, among other duties.

“We’re trying to figure out how we can hire as many people back,” said Jeffrey Gural, owner of Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs.

When full operational, Tioga Down has 893 slot machines. On Wednesday, Gural estimates about 350 will be available for play, with more to be put into service as plastic barriers between machines are installed.

Players will be temperature checked upon entering the premises, he said.

“We’re operating in a much safer environment,” Gural said.

Here's what to expect when you go, according to state guidance:

How will occupancy be handled

The workforce and the number of customers need to be limited to no more than 25% of the maximum occupancy.

Also, any gatherings in event spaces need to be kept to fewer than 50 people, which is the statewide restriction.

Native American casinos in New York previously reopened because of their sovereign status.

What about social distancing?

Six feet of space needs to be maintained between patrons.

Casino In New York State

For sports wagering counters at the four upstate casinos, distances of at least six feet need to be marked. There also needs to be a barrier between bettors and cashiers.

Slot machines can only be activated if they are at least six feet apart, or if there are physical barriers between them.

Similar requirements will be necessary for table games, such as poker and blackjack.

What about table games?

Tables have to be six feet apart, and gamblers at the same table need to be separated by physical barriers approved for use by the Gaming Commission.

Physical barriers must also be installed between dealers and patrons, even if social distancing can be maintained.

The commission, which regulates gambling in New York, has to approve each casino's individual plan for table games before they can proceed.

'Wherever possible, games must be reconfigured to minimize the number of times that patrons must touch cards (e.g., by using “face-up” dealing in blackjack), and must never permit patrons to touch another patron’s cards,' the guidance says.

More: These were the first casinos to reopen in New York

Do you have to wear a mask?

Masks are required at all times, except for age verification upon entrance or if eating at a restaurant.

Indoor and outdoor restaurants can open, but they have to follow the same set of guidelines for all eateries in New York. For example, New York City does not allow indoor dining.

What about the air ventilation?

The state required the systems to be updated and inspected before any casino could reopen.

The HVAC systems needed to meet 'the highest rated filtration compatible with the currently installed filter rack and air handling systems, at a minimum MERV-13, or industry equivalent or greater,' the state guidance said.

More: 'Gut-wrenching.' NY bans ticketed music in bars, other venues in updated guidelines

More: The Turning Stone Resort Casino in central NY plans to reopen soon. Here's when

Joseph Spector is the New York state editor for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at JSPECTOR@Gannett.com or followed on Twitter: @GannettAlbany

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This article originally appeared on New York State Team: Casinos set to reopen in New York. What to know before you go