Fairmount Park Adds Live Tables After $3M CasinoUpgrade
Fairmount Park Casino & Racing has added live table games to its Collinsville property after a nearly $3 million casino floor investment. The expansion adds blackjack, roulette, mini baccarat, Ultimate Texas Hold ’Em and I Luv Suits to Illinois’ only racino.
The property previously offered slot machines and electronic table games after its 2025 remodel. Fairmount Park said the new live tables give the site a fuller casino and racing offer for customers from Metro East, the greater St. Louis area and across the Midwest.
General Manager Vince Gabbert said the move was a core target for the track after its casino launch.
“We’re the only place for many people within a 5-6 hour radius to come watch horse races and play games in a casino,” Gabbert said. “Now that we’ve added live games like blackjack and poker tables, it’ll truly feel like a premium casino experience.”
The live table games launch created 35 new jobs. Fairmount Park is currently in its racing season, with races held every Tuesday and Saturday at 1:30 p.m. through October 27, 2026. The casino operates daily from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m.
The site links its casino expansion directly to racing economics. Gabbert said casino revenue supports larger race purses, which can attract bigger fields and more trainers to Fairmount Park.
That matters for the racino model. Slots and electronic tables helped Fairmount Park reopen as a casino property, but live dealer games give it a stronger evening and non-race-day product. For horse racing operators, that cross-subsidy is the point: casino revenue can keep racing viable when race-day attendance alone is not enough.
Fairmount Park has operated since 1925 and now combines thoroughbred racing, casino gaming, live entertainment and dining at the Collinsville site.
TGJ Take
Fairmount Park has added live tables to solve a racino problem: how to keep customers on-site when racing is not the main draw. The $3 million spend is modest by casino development standards, but the 35 hires and live dealer pit give the property a clearer casino identity. For regional operators, the lesson is practical. If gaming revenue must support racing purses, the casino floor cannot stay a slot annex.
