Parimutuel betting on horse and dog racing is legal in Kansas although none of its racetracks are still in operation.
Kansas also is home to four licensed casinos and six tribal casinos and has a state-run lottery.
A bill to legalize sports betting was introduced in the state Legislature in 2021 but died before a final vote. Similar legislation is expected to resurface in 2022.
While racing is dormant for now, many advance deposit wagering (ADW) providers offer online wagering on dog and horse racing to residents of the Sunflower State, including major services TwinSpires.com and Xpressbet.com and smaller providers like 123Bet.com, AmWager.com, and DRFBets.com.
You must be 18 or older to place online horse bets in Kansas.
Kansas Horse Race Betting Sites & Offers
| Racebooks | Welcome Offer for Kansas | Other Promos |
| TwinSpires | $200 sign-up offer | Free play daily & weekly options |
| Xpressbet | $100 sign-up bonus | XB Rewards loyalty program |
| 123bet | $1230 new member bonus | Refer-a-Friend bonus: get $50 |
| AmWager | $300 deposit match | Daily cash rewards |
| DRF | Get a $200 bonus on the first deposit | Earn up to $50 every week |
| 1/ST Bet | $100 sign-up bonus | Rewards points every Tuesday and other weekly offers |
How to claim a horse racing bet promo in Kansas?
Horse racing betting features for Kansas
- Twinspires Kansas Features:
- First Race Freeplay: get $100 in Free Bets
- 15% boost on a winning Trifecta bet every Tuesday
- Exacta insurance: get a bet back of up to $10
- Live races and highlights of previous races, both on the website and the app
- Bet Back offers (receive a refund for your bet if the horse you bet on to win the race finishes in second or third)
- Daily Double bets
- Xpressbet Kansas Features:
- Horse racing’s leading loyalty program (receive two XB Rewards Points for every dollar you wager)
- Cash prizes in regular handicapping contests
- Deposit by mail
- Bet the horse races over the phone
- DRF Kansas Features:
- Unlimited DRF Classic and Formulator Past Performances
- Free Beyer Speed Figures
- Free DRF expert picks
- 1st/bet Kansas Features:
- Up-to-date news about upcoming races
- Unlimited access to the BETMIX products: Toteboarding, Free Daily Race Analysis and “Race of the Day” Past Performance
- 123bet Kansas Features:
- No fees Friday (deposit $10 or more on Fridays via credit card or Paynearme)
- Loyalty Reward Points
- Handicapping products from Equibase (available only on the web)
- AmWager Kansas Features:
- Current and historical horse race results from a single screen
- Advanced wagering structuring tools. Dutching, ABC method, Rank betting.
- Fair Value Exacta Grid (allows you to quickly see exacta bets that have been over bet or under bet based on the win pool)
Horse bet types available online
In Kansas, you can place different types of horse wagers. The most popular online bets are
- Win (the horse you bet on must come first)
- Place (the horse must finish first or second)
- Show (the horse must come either first, second, or third)
- Win Place (places a win and a place bet in one bet)
- Win Show (places a win and a show bet in one bet)
- Win Place Show (aka “across the board”; combines Win, Place, and Show into one bet)
- Exacta (you bet on horses to come first and second in that order)
- Quinella (the same as exacta, but horses can finish in any order for you to win the bet)
- Trifecta (three horses should finish first, second and third in that order)
- Superfecta (the same as trifecta but here you bet on four horses)
- Super High 5 (you have to choose the winner of five races in a row)
- Grand Slam (pick a horse to finish in the top three in three straight races, capped by the winner of the fourth race in the sequence)
- Parlays (combine multiple selections on the same ticket, even if the races aren’t in sequential order).
Banking
- Credit and Debit Cards
- ACH Bank Transfer / eCheck
- Wire Transfer
- Green Dot
- PayNearMe
- Check or Money Order
- MoneyGram
- PayPal
- By mail: Xpressbet
- Bitcoin: AmWager via BitPay
Kansas Horse Betting Overview
The Sunflower State has a decades-long history of horse and dog racing and was particularly known for its greyhound racing program for many years.
The best-known track in recent times was the Woodlands in Kansas City, which ran dog racing and later hosted harness racing for horses. Through a mechanism created when the state approved simulcast wagering in 1987, the state’s bigger tracks like Woodlands and the Wichita Greyhound Park subsidized the smaller historic tracks in the state, such as Anthony Downs and Eureka Downs.
But when Wichita Greyhound Park closed in 2007 followed by the Woodlands the following year, the small tracks also were forced to close.
Since then, the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission has occupied itself regulating the Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Dodge City, the Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, and the Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel in Pittsburg.
There have been periodic reports that racing interests were considering reviving live horse racing in the state, though none of those plans have come to fruition.
Fun fact about horse racing in Kansas
Kansas is home to the Greyhound Hall of Fame in Abilene, a facility that celebrates the state’s long history of greyhound racing as well as the breed itself.
Popular horse racing events to bet on in Kansas
- The Kentucky Derby
- Belmont Stakes
- Preakness Stakes
- Breeders’ Cup
- Travers Stakes
- Pacific Classic Stakes
- Haskell Invitational
- Dubai World Cup
- Melbourne Cup
- Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
- Grand National
Horse Race Tracks in Kansas
- Anthony Downs (closed in 2009)
- Eureka Downs (closed in 2011)
- The Woodlands (closed in 2008)
There are no current operating racetracks in Kansas.
FAQs
Yes, it is legal to bet on horse racing online and via mobile apps in Kansas.
Yes, you can. 18 years is the minimum gambling age in Kansas for online betting.
There have been no official horse races in Kansas since 2009.