Casinos in Arkansas Map
Arkansas has just three casinos, and this casinos in Arkansas map plots all three by city: Southland at West Memphis on the Tennessee line in the east, Saracen at Pine Bluff south of Little Rock, and Oaklawn up at Hot Springs in the west. All three run as full resorts under a 2018 constitutional amendment, and the minimum age to gamble is 21 at every one.
- Casinos
- 3all full resorts
- Minimum age
- 21casinos & sports betting · 18 for racing
- Sports betting
- Legalretail & online, 21+, since 2022
- Regulator
- ARCArkansas Racing Commission
Illustration An illustrated overview, not to scale. See the interactive map below for exact locations.
How casinos are spread across Arkansas
Arkansas keeps its three casinos far apart, one each in the east, the south, and the west, with nothing in the middle. In the east, Southland sits at West Memphis on the Mississippi River directly across from Memphis, Tennessee. It is the closest casino to the Memphis metro and draws a steady out of state crowd, which is why it grew into the largest hotel of the three. The property started as a greyhound track and now runs a full floor alongside the racing.
To the south, Saracen anchors Pine Bluff, about 45 minutes below Little Rock. It is the newest of the three, the only one built from the ground up as a casino, and it holds the largest gaming floor in the state. The Quapaw Nation owns and operates it. Out west, Oaklawn at Hot Springs is the oldest name in Arkansas gaming, a Thoroughbred racetrack dating to 1904 that added a full casino and a hotel in the spa city.
What stands out is what is missing. There is no casino in Little Rock, the capital, and none in fast growing northwest Arkansas around Fayetteville and Bentonville, where players cross into Oklahoma for the nearest floors such as the WinStar World Casino over the line. A fourth license was authorized for Pope County in the center of the state, but voters revoked it in 2024, so the map stays at three spread across the corners.
The Arkansas casinos map
Verified Verified locations. Arkansas's three casinos sit far apart, one each in the east, south, and west.
Three casinos statewide, two former racetracks and one purpose-built resort. Counts and size figures drift with construction and license changes; dated May 2026.
§ Casinos by region
The hub’s routing job. With three casinos far apart, Arkansas breaks cleanly into three single casino regions, each the only gaming option for its part of the state.
West Memphis and the east Mississippi River · across from Memphis
Southland Casino Hotel sits at West Memphis in the far east, on the Mississippi River within minutes of downtown Memphis, Tennessee. It is the closest casino to the Memphis metro and pulls heavily from across the state line, which is why it carries the largest hotel and the most slot machines in Arkansas. The site still runs live greyhound racing alongside the casino floor.
Pine Bluff and the south south of Little Rock
Saracen Casino Resort anchors Pine Bluff, roughly 45 minutes south of Little Rock and the natural casino for central and southern Arkansas. It is the largest gaming floor in the state and the only one built new as a casino rather than added to a racetrack. The Quapaw Nation owns it, and a hotel and event center opened in 2026 to round out the resort.
Hot Springs and the west spa city · Ouachita Mountains
Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort sits in Hot Springs to the west, the resort town known for its bathhouses and the Ouachita Mountains. Oaklawn has run Thoroughbred racing since 1904 and remains the home of the Arkansas Derby each spring, with a full casino and a hotel added since 2019. It is the main gaming option for western and central Arkansas.
Casino laws and minimum age in Arkansas
Full casino gambling in Arkansas is recent. Voters passed Amendment 100 in 2018, which legalized casino gaming and authorized four casinos: expanded floors at the existing Oaklawn and Southland racetracks, a new casino in Jefferson County that became Saracen at Pine Bluff, and a fourth in Pope County that has since fallen through. The casinos are regulated by the Arkansas Racing Commission under the state Department of Finance and Administration. Before 2018 the two racetracks offered only electronic games of skill, not the full table games and slots they run now.
The minimum age to gamble is 21 at all three Arkansas casinos and 21 for sports betting. Pari-mutuel betting on the horse and greyhound racing and the state lottery are open at 18, but the casino floor is 21 and over. Retail and online sports betting are legal statewide for bettors 21 and up. Hours vary by property and many areas run around the clock, so check the official site before planning around them, and confirm the current age and rules at the specific venue, since policies can change.
Dated fact Minimum age 21 at all three Arkansas casinos and for sports betting, with 18 for racing and the lottery, per the Arkansas Racing Commission. Verified May 2026. This is the kind of figure to recheck before relying on it.
Two racetracks that became casinos
Two of Arkansas’s three casinos were racetracks long before they were casinos. Oaklawn in Hot Springs has run Thoroughbred horse racing since 1904 and is still the home of the Arkansas Derby, while Southland in West Memphis began as a greyhound track. For years both offered only electronic games of skill under earlier law. Amendment 100 in 2018 let them convert to full casinos with live table games and traditional slot machines, and both then built out hotels and larger floors. Racing did not stop. Oaklawn still holds its winter and spring Thoroughbred meet, and Southland still runs live greyhound racing, so each property pairs a casino with the track that started it. Saracen at Pine Bluff is the exception, the one Arkansas casino with no racing history.
The biggest casino in Arkansas
Saracen Casino Resort at Pine Bluff has the largest gaming floor in the state at roughly 80,000 square feet, with around 1,700 slot machines, table games, a poker room, and a sportsbook. It is owned and operated by the Quapaw Nation of Oklahoma and named for Saracen, a Quapaw leader, but it is worth being clear that it runs under a state commercial casino license from the 2018 amendment, not as a tribal casino on trust land. A hotel and event center opened in 2026 to complete the resort. Southland at West Memphis is the close rival, with more slot machines and the tallest hotel tower after its own expansion, so the two trade the title depending on whether you count floor space or rooms and machines. Size figures move with each build, so they are dated here rather than treated as fixed.
The Pope County casino that never came
Arkansas’s 2018 amendment set the number of casinos at four, and the fourth was meant for Pope County around Russellville in the Arkansas River Valley, the one part of the state without a nearby casino. The license was contested for years. The Cherokee Nation was awarded it in 2024 for a resort it planned to call Legends, but opposition organized a statewide ballot measure, and in November 2024 voters approved it, revoking the Pope County license and requiring local voter approval for any future casino. The Cherokee Nation challenged the result in federal court and lost in 2025. The practical result is that central Arkansas between Little Rock and the northwest still has no casino, and adding one would now take a new local vote.
Sports betting in Arkansas
Sports betting is legal in Arkansas, both as retail sportsbooks inside the casinos and as online mobile betting. Retail books opened with the casinos in 2019, and mobile betting launched in 2022. State rules tie the mobile apps to the three casinos, requiring each online operator to partner with one of the retail properties, and the minimum age is 21, the same as the casino floor, regulated by the Arkansas Racing Commission. For a visitor that means you can place a bet at a casino sportsbook or on your phone once you are within the state.
Arkansas casino questions
Q. How many casinos are in Arkansas?
Three as of 2026: Southland Casino Hotel at West Memphis, Saracen Casino Resort at Pine Bluff, and Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort at Hot Springs. A fourth license for Pope County was awarded in 2024 and then revoked by a statewide vote that November, so the count stays at three.
Q. What is the minimum gambling age in Arkansas?
It is 21 at all three Arkansas casinos and 21 for sports betting. Pari-mutuel horse and greyhound racing and the state lottery are open at 18. Confirm at the venue, since policies can change.
Q. Where are Arkansas's casinos?
They sit far apart in three corners of the state. Southland is in the east at West Memphis on the Mississippi River across from Memphis, Saracen is in the south at Pine Bluff about 45 minutes below Little Rock, and Oaklawn is in the west at Hot Springs. There is no casino in Little Rock itself or in northwest Arkansas.
Q. What is the largest casino in Arkansas?
Saracen at Pine Bluff has the largest gaming floor at about 80,000 square feet. Southland at West Memphis has the most slot machines and the largest hotel after its expansion. Size figures shift with construction, so they are dated here and on the individual casino pages rather than fixed.
Q. Is sports betting legal in Arkansas?
Yes. Retail sportsbooks have run at the casinos since 2019 and online mobile betting launched in 2022. State rules require each mobile app to partner with one of the three retail casinos, and the minimum age is 21, regulated by the Arkansas Racing Commission.
Q. What happened to the Pope County casino in Russellville?
Arkansas's 2018 amendment authorized a fourth casino in Pope County, and the Cherokee Nation was awarded that license in 2024 for a resort called Legends. In November 2024 voters passed a measure revoking the license and requiring local voter approval for any new casino. The Cherokee Nation lost its court challenge in 2025, so the Pope County casino is not moving forward.
Q. Is there a casino in Little Rock or northwest Arkansas?
No. The nearest casinos to Little Rock are Saracen at Pine Bluff to the south and Oaklawn at Hot Springs to the west, each under an hour away. Northwest Arkansas around Fayetteville and Bentonville has no casino, and players there often cross into Oklahoma.
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Editorial note
Reviewed by the CasinosMap editorial desk. The three operating casinos and their cities and operators, the two racetrack casinos against the purpose-built Saracen, the Quapaw Nation's ownership of Saracen under a state commercial license rather than as Indian gaming, the revoked Pope County license, the 21 and over minimum age, and the sports betting status were checked against current authoritative sources, not prior knowledge. The Pope County status reflects the November 2024 statewide vote and the 2025 federal court ruling, and counts and size figures are dated and treated as a snapshot.
Sources
- Arkansas Racing Commission casino licenses, minimum age, sports wagering rules, regulated under the Department of Finance and Administration
- Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort Hot Springs gaming floor, Thoroughbred racing, hotel
- Southland Casino Hotel West Memphis gaming floor, hotel, greyhound racing
- Saracen Casino Resort Pine Bluff gaming floor, Quapaw Nation ownership, 2026 hotel opening
- American Gaming Association Arkansas state gaming overview and minimum age
- Arkansas news coverage Pope County license award, the 2024 Issue 2 vote, and the 2025 court ruling