ILLINOIS
Shortly after buildings on the site were demolished at the site of
the state’s 10th and final gaming complex, construction work began
on the yet-to-be-named, 147,000-sq-ft floating casino. The first
phase of construction will include the casino, attached parking
garage and restaurants. Located at the northwest corner of Des
Plaines River Road and Devon Avenue in the Chicago suburb of Des
Plaines, the casino will house about 1,150 slot machines and 30
gaming tables. The casino is scheduled to open in late summer
2011.
Illinois lawmakers changed the language of the state’s Video
Gaming Act, allowing truck stops and VFW halls to operate slot
machines. The measure passed both legislative houses and it’s
anticipated the governor will sign the bill into law. As
originally written, the law passed last year authorized slot
machines only at liquor-licensed establishments, such as bars and
taverns. Local counties still are debating whether or not to opt
into the plan, which could give Illinois more than 30,000 slot
machines outside of the state’s riverboat casinos. The addition of
approximately 800 truck stops and VFW halls could add another
4,000 slot machines to the mix.
INDIANA
Horseshoe Southern Indiana casino gets set to welcome Southern
celebrity chef Paula Deen. The casino in Elizabeth is undergoing a
$3.4 million renovation to its buffet and the addition of a store
highlighting Deen inspired items. The 525-seat buffet will feature
her dishes at stations modeled after her restaurants. The motif
will be based on the architecture of Savannah, Georgia where she
lives. The Paula Deen store, designed after her Food Network
kitchen, will feature aprons, cookbooks, cookware and her new
furniture line. Deen is scheduled to attend opening ceremonies on
September 3.
IOWA
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission approved an application for
a casino license in Lyon County in northwest Iowa but rejected
requests from Fort Dodge, Ottumwa and Tama County. The new casino
will be built in the town of Larchwood, about eight miles from
Sioux Falls, South Dakota. When completed, the $120-million resort
will include a casino with 900 slots and a variety of table games,
a 100-room hotel, three restaurants, a 1,200-seat event center and
an 18-hole golf course. The casino is scheduled to open in July
2011.
On May 26, the board of directors of Prairie Meadows Racetrack and
Casino in Altoona voted unanimously to give the Kinseth
Hospitality Company of North Liberty up to 60 additional days to
obtain financing for a proposed $22-million hotel. Under the terms
of an agreement signed earlier this year, Kinseth will own 80% and
manage the 179-room Hilton Garden Inn. Prairie Meadows will own
the remaining 20% , with a future option to purchase. The hotel
was originally scheduled to open in July 2011.
DELAWARE
Delaware, the only state outside of Nevada to allow sports
wagering, now offers gamblers a full complement of table games at
its racinos. Within the past month, Harrington Raceway & Casino,
Dover Downs and Delaware Park all began offering Las Vegas-style
table games, including live poker. Table games are being viewed as
a boost for casinos competing with operations in bordering states,
including Pennsylvania where table games begin this summer and in
New Jersey’s Atlantic City.
MISSOURI
In November 2008 voters approved a casino-sponsored initiative to
limit the number of licenses available in the state. A license
will become available July 1 for the first time since that vote
when the President Casino in St. Louis closes because its
certification as a passenger vessel from the U.S. Coast Guard will
expire. Missouri Gaming Commission must now get another casino
operating as quickly as possible. “While that license is not being
used, there is no income coming into the education fund,” said
commission chairman Jim Mathewson. Several developers have
expressed an interest in the available license and the commission
wants to see an economic analysis from each by July 15. Each
aspect of a proposal will be considered in depth, whether it is
the size of the investment, the ability to begin operations
quickly or the potential for state revenue, among others,
Mathewson said. Commission members will visit each community in
contention for a public hearing on whether that community is ready
for and supportive of a casino operation. The winning application
is expected to be selected by the end of the year.
NEVADA
MGM Mirage opened a one-table, high-limit poker room named for
Phil Ivey at the Aria Resort & Casino at CityCenter. Ivey is
widely considered the best card player alive today, having won
millions in cash games and tournaments and seven World Series of
Poker bracelets. He finished seventh in last year’s WSOP main
event, winning $1.4 million. The new room is the company’s second
exclusive enclave for high rolling poker players. Bobby’s Room at
the Bellagio is named for MGM Mirage’s chief design and
construction officer, Bobby Baldwin. Nicknamed “The Owl,” Baldwin
won the 1978 main event and three other World Series of Poker
tournaments.
The Reno Gazette-Journal reports that Las Vegas city officials are
looking at new plans to remodel and reopen the long-shuttered
downtown Lady Luck hotel casino. The iconic casino closed in
February 2006 and was sold. Tentative plans include renovating a
pedestrian bridge linking hotel towers across Third Street,
building a deck and pool on the casino roof, replacing 50 rooms
with spa, fitness and meeting facilities and upgrading the
remaining 684 rooms. The property originally opened as a pinball
and slot machine parlor before the Lady Luck name was adopted in
1968.
OKLAHOMA
Construction continues on schedule for a fall opening of The Joint
at Cherokee Nation’s Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tulsa. The
$20-million, 45,000-sq-ft event center will focus on musical
performances, but will also host a wide variety of events such as
boxing, mixed martial arts tournaments, comedy shows, lecture
series and presentations, said Cherokee Nation Entertainment CEO
David Stewart. Although the finishing touches are still being put
on the center, much of the structural work is complete and the
tribe hopes to open it in October, Stewart said.
Missouri resident William Reece Lancaster was sentenced in Tulsa
to five years probation and ordered to pay $70,000 in restitution
to the Seneca Cayuga tribe after pleading guilty to stealing from
an Oklahoma casino by creating counterfeit chips. Lancaster
admitted he bleached legitimate 25-cent chips and then dyed them
to match the Seneca Cayuga Grand Lake Casino’s $500 chips. He then
took the counterfeit chips to the casino, near Grove, and used
them to wager at a blackjack table or exchanged them for cash,
according to his plea agreement. Casino security officials noticed
an increase in the number of $500 chips in circulation and used
surveillance cameras to identify Lancaster.
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