Ohio’s first full-service casino will open in Cleveland on May 14, after the state’s Casino Control Commission chose the site over a new Penn National property in Toledo for the opening-day honors. The Penn National property, however, will score its own winning ticket by getting to open on Memorial Day weekend.
“I’m not going to downplay it, this is historic. This will be the first casino in the state of Ohio," Marcus Glover, general manager of Cleveland’s new Horseshoe Casino, told the
Cleveland Plain Dealer. “The historic nature is significant, but we want to make sure that not only are we the first but we’re the best and we do it in the right way.”
Commission Executive Director Matt Schuler proposed May 14 and May 28 for the grand opening dates, meaning that while the Horseshoe gets to open first, the Toledo casino will get the coveted Memorial Day weekend opening spot.
A great deal of work must be completed before either casino opens, including background checks, finalizing rules and regulations, issuing casino workers’ licenses, and testing slot machines.
The group operating Horseshoe, known as Rock Caesar, has another casino under construction in Cincinnati, and Penn owns another site in Columbus. Those casinos will open in 2013.
© 2012 Newsmax. All rights reserved.