The second casino in the First State to implement a smoking gaming area is Wilmington's Delaware Park Casino.

Cigarettes and cigars are allowed in Delaware Park's outdoor gambling section, which opened on Tuesday.  The Delaware Park outdoor slots patio is 10K square feet larger than the outdoor slots terrace at Bally's Dover Casino Resort, which opened in October 2024.

Thanks to overhead heating and cooling systems in the wall-less outside enclosure, Delaware Park's outdoor gaming zone, which has more than 250 slot machines and more than 1,900 seats, will run year-round.

"We’re always looking for exciting ways to provide our guests with new experiences,” said Terry Glebocki, Delaware Park’s president and general manager. “We’re thrilled to officially open the doors to the new slot patio, where our players can enjoy the outdoors while playing their favorite games.”

Smoking is not allowed anywhere else in the Delaware Park Casino, although it is allowed on the outdoor slots patio.  For both smokers and nonsmokers, the outdoor option offers "the best of both worlds," according to casino representatives.  The majority of workplaces and public areas are prohibited from using tobacco indoors by Delaware's smoking statute.

The Du Pont Connection

The outdoor slots terrace at Delaware Park offers an outdoor setting under a roof thanks to six-foot-high apertures that span the length and width of the patio on all four sides.

Glebocki claims that the facility's around fifty heaters will "make it comfortable even in the dead of winter," while fans and cross-breezes would make the sweltering summer days agreeable.  Like Delaware Park, the slots patio will be open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

The Wilmington casino's most recent investment since the land was sold in 2021 is the $5 million smoking area near Delaware Park.  The casino had a $10 million renovation in 2023.

In November 2021, Delaware Park was purchased for $90 million by the Canadian company Clairvest Equity Partners, a division of Rubico Gaming, LLC, under the direction of seasoned gaming investor Thomas Benninger. The seller was the estate of William Rickman, who purchased the track in the early 1980s.

Delaware Park was created and inaugurated in the 1930s by William du Pont Jr., a member of the well-known Delaware du Pont family.  In January 1996, Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz was murdered by his son, John du Pont, at Foxcatcher Farm, which William du Pont founded.

Sustaining a Competitive Advantage

In 1937, Delaware Park opened as a racecourse.  When Delaware approved slot-like video lottery terminals (VLTs) at the state's three horse racetracks in the mid-1990s, the establishment became into a racino.  In 2010, table games were added.

Of the three racinos in the state, Delaware Park leads the market.  Delaware Park's 1,869 slot machines brought in $169.6 million in gross gaming revenue (GGR) during the 2025 fiscal year (July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025).  For a total GGR of about $195.8 million, the casino's 55 table games brought in $26.2 million.

With 2,154 slots that won $144.7 million and 29 tables that held $15.1 million in player wagers, Bally's Dover came in second at $159.8 million.

With $102.4 million from its 1,312 slots and $9.4 million from its 26 tables, Harrington Raceway & Casino posted GGR of $117.9 million.