Ohio Racinos Compared: All Seven Tracks, Their VLT Floors and the Racing Calendar That Runs Year-Round [2026]

Ohio has seven racinos. Each is a licensed racetrack that added a floor of video lottery terminals after the state allowed it in 2012, and each is barred from running a single live table. What none of the seven can do on its own, all seven do together: between Scioto Downs racing through the summer, Mahoning Valley racing through the winter and Northfield Park racing more than 200 nights a year, there is a live card somewhere in Ohio in every month. We checked all seven in September 2026 on machines, racing, ownership and food, and say which one we would pick for what.

The seven, side by side

Every floor is open 24 hours with free parking, none has a hotel, and players must be 21 at all seven.

What a racino may and may not run

The distinction is regulatory, not commercial. Ohio's four full casinos hold licences from the Casino Control Commission that permit slot machines, live tables and poker. The racinos answer to the Ohio Lottery Commission for their gaming floors and to the State Racing Commission for the track, and the lottery licence permits video lottery terminals only. A VLT looks like a slot, sounds like a slot and pays like a slot, but there is no blackjack, craps, roulette or poker room at any racino in the state, and Scioto Downs has more machines than several full casinos and still has no pit. Our Cleveland guide shows the split in one city.

The calendar is the point

Read the seven as a racing schedule rather than seven machine floors. Scioto Downs, which became the state's first racino on 1 June 2012 and has run harness racing since 1959, holds its live meet from May to September and adds an outdoor concert series in the same months. Mahoning Valley, opened 17 September 2014 outside Youngstown, runs thoroughbreds on a one-mile oval from October to April, a winter meet that picks up horses and horsemen idle everywhere else in the north. Between them the two cover the year. Northfield Park's half-mile harness oval runs more than 200 dates, one of the busiest schedules in North America, and Miami Valley's indoor grandstand makes a February card watchable. Thistledown supplies the marquee day: the Ohio Derby and the Best of Ohio series. Belterra Park, on a track that opened in 1925 as Coney Island Race Track and later raced as River Downs, supplies the setting, on the Ohio River flats east of Cincinnati.

The floors by size

Scioto Downs is the largest VLT floor in Ohio at 117,000 square feet and more than 2,200 terminals. Northfield Park is close behind on machines across a much larger 200,000-square-foot gaming area. Miami Valley and Thistledown occupy the middle. The two Penn properties are the smallest: Dayton Raceway opened on 28 August 2014 as a $250 million development with exactly 1,000 terminals, and Mahoning Valley reached about 1,250 after a 250-machine expansion in 2015. Denominations run from pennies to $100 machines at Dayton and up to $500 machines at Thistledown.

Who owns what

Four national operators and two landlords account for the whole list. Penn Entertainment runs Dayton and Mahoning Valley on land owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties, which also owns Belterra Park under Boyd's operation. VICI Properties owns Thistledown, operated by JACK, and holds the lease at Northfield Park, which Clairvest bought from MGM in a transaction valued at around $546 million; the MGM name came off. Caesars owns and operates Scioto Downs outright, which puts it inside a national rewards network that the others cannot match. Miami Valley is a joint venture involving Churchill Downs and has announced a $100 million expansion with a hotel, a parking garage and a larger floor.

Food, and why racinos try harder at it

Because the licence caps what a racino can offer on the floor, the better ones compete on everything else. Miami Valley runs six dining rooms, from Cin City Sea & Steak down to a coffee bar. Scioto Downs has four, and The Clubhouse over the harness track is the seat to take on a race night. Thistledown's Silks Bar and Restaurant opens on live race days only. Dayton and Mahoning are leaner, a sports bar and a lounge each, although Mahoning's SB Restaurant sits inside the sportsbook.

Which racino for what

We rate Miami Valley Gaming the best choice for a full evening: indoor racing, the deepest food line-up and a floor that pulls from two metros. For machines alone, Scioto Downs is better than the rest on count, hours and the Caesars card. Belterra Park is the pick for the setting and the best rating of the seven. Northfield Park is where to go if racing volume matters more than anything else, and Mahoning Valley only makes sense between October and April. If you want a table or a poker seat, none of the seven will do; go to one of the four casinos instead.

Playing from home instead

Ohio does not license real-money online casinos. Sweepstakes casinos operate on a no-purchase-necessary promotional model, and our best sweepstakes casinos in Ohio guide ranks them from reviewer tests. Note that the minimum age differs by operator, with several requiring 21.

Frequently asked questions

How many racinos are in Ohio?

Seven: Scioto Downs, Northfield Park, Miami Valley Gaming, JACK Thistledown, Mahoning Valley, Belterra Park and Dayton Raceway.

Do Ohio racinos have table games?

No. Their lottery licences permit video lottery terminals only. Live tables and poker are limited to the four full casinos.

Which Ohio racino is the biggest?

Eldorado Gaming Scioto Downs, with more than 2,200 VLTs across 117,000 square feet.

Which Ohio racino has a hotel?

None as of September 2026. Miami Valley Gaming has announced one as part of a $100 million expansion.

What is the age limit at Ohio racinos?

21, at every racino and casino in the state.