Former Argosy reopens as Hollywood Casino - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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Penn National spent $336 million on the Hollywood which canaccommodate 9,000 more than double the capacityh of the Argosy Casino it The Indiana Gaming Commission gave Penn National permission to conduct a “sofgt opening,” starting at 2 p.m. Thursday. “Within 15 there were 800 people throughythe turnstiles,” said Tony Rodio, Hollywoodf general manager. “Shock and awe is the best way todescribe peoples’ reaction when they see it for the first I couldn’t be Rodio said the casino used an automated phones system to notify 100,000 customerzs of the soft opening at 9 a.m. today. News of the earlty opening “spread like wildfire.
” The casino’ grand opening celebration is plannedfor Monday. In Columbusd meantime, the Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee submittedr petitionswith 850,000 signaturexs for a constitutional amendment that would legalize casinos at four Ohio including Broadway Commons near downtown Cincinnati. Backerd of the plan include Penn Nationalo andDan Gilbert, majority owner of the NBA’ds Cleveland Cavaliers and founder of Quickenb Loans. The number of signaturexs is about double the amount required to get the measurd onthe ballot. The filint comes as Ohio lawmakers discuss new legislatiob to enable slot parlors at Ohiohorser tracks. Ohio Gov.
Ted Strickland endorsed the idea as a way of closinyga $3.2 billion budget gap. Strickland has estimateed thatallowing video-lottery terminals at seveb Ohio race tracks would generate $933 millionj in new revenue for the state in 2010 and 2011. But statr lawmakers are split on whether new legislation is requiresd for the slots proposalk or whether the governor can use his executive authorithy to allow the Ohio Lottery Commissionh to roll out slots the way it rolled out Keno gamelast year. A spokesman for the Ohio Jobs and Growthh Committee said the group will recalculate its revenud estimates after details of the slot proposalare finalized.
Its current estimates are that the new casinows wouldgenerate $651 million in annual casino-tax revenue for the statre for the first full year of casino operationx (2013). Tax revenue estimates rise to $771 milliojn by the fifth yearof operation. How those numbers would change if seveb slots parlors opened in Ohio would dependc on a varietyof factors. “Nobody’s quite sure what the proposalk is,” said Bob Tenenbaum, a senior counselor with the Milenthal “Without knowing the details, there’s just no way to do that