Gaming News

Iowa Casino Has Good First Month

IOWA – As reported by the Iowa Press-Citizen: "It's been about a month since the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort opened to the public -- but what a month.

"The facility opened Aug. 31, and during its first weekend, the resort saw more than 50,000 guests. Since then, 'we got the kind of crowds we anticipated we would,' General Manager Joe Massa said Friday.

"The $140 million project opened two years to the day after 52.2 percent of Washington County voters approved the gambling referendum, the closest margin of any of the 15 county gambling referendum votes that took place in 2003 and 2004.

"Along with 58,000 square feet of gaming space, the resort features a 201-room hotel, four restaurants, an event center, spa and an 18-hole golf course designed by Rees Jones that is set to open in June 2007.

"…Ed Raber, executive director of the Washington County Economic Development Group, which holds the gambling license for the casino, said he knows of a number of vendors in the county that have picked up the casino as a client. He said he also has noticed, when driving around the casino's parking lot, that there are a lot of out-of-county license plates…"

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