Amish country satellite casino
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has had a busy week, approving one operator for sports betting and another for satellite casino gaming. The Hollywood Casino Morgantown’s Category 4 license was approved, paving the way for a satellite casino to be created near Amish country. The Mount Airy Casino Resort also earned approval by the board, for their sports betting plans.
Penn National Gaming Inc. owns the Hollywood Casino Morgantown. The group will soon be able to begin construction of a satellite casino in the Caernarvon Township. The project will be located on 36 acres of land in Berks County.
The site of the satellite casino, a smaller than standard venue, will bring in customers from Reading and the suburbs of Philadelphia. The estimated cost of the project $111m (£87,594,359.28), including $10m (£7,891,383.72) for licensing of slots and table games.
The timeline for completion is about 18 months. The facility contains about 80,000 square feet and will include 30 table games and 750 slot machines. A sports and racebook will also be located on the site.
Although it will create about 250 full-time jobs, there was some opposition from residents of the conservative Amish country.
Some residents are concerned that the satellite casino will result in crime and gambling addiction in the community. The board tried to calm these fears by pointing to a study by the state’s Gaming Commission that found no significant increase in crime or in attendance at Gamble Anonymous meetings in areas near casinos.
The township’s officials were on board because the area is expected to gain $1.6m (£1,262,395.22) in new tax revenues from the casino.
Mount Airy sports betting
The board also approved the Mount Airy Casino Resort’s sports betting plans. The casino submitted a petition to be able to use the former Gypsies Night Club to create a sportsbook and poker room.
The goal is to bring in sports betting and to renew the casino’s poker offering. Chief operating officer and general manager of the casino, Todd Greenberg, said that the poker room is located on the third floor, which seems to have depressed business. The new location should increase poker gaming and complement the sportsbook.
According to Greenberg, the sportsbook will have self-serve kiosks as well as live tellers for betting. The casino hopes to have the sportsbook ready when the NFL season opens in September.