Slots Hopes to Save Another Racetrack
Recently Calder Casino and Race Track in Miami Gardens Florida got its first delivery of brand new slots games. There were 242 shiny games delivered from WMS of Waukegan, Illinois. It took five trucks to haul the machines from the Midwest to Florida. They were situated in a 104,000 square foot casino facility and are hoped to bring much-needed revenue to the business. The all-new Calder Casino is scheduled for a grand opening in January 2010 and will feature 1,225 slot machines in all, as well as three new restaurants.
The casino will feature the most popular games in the industry from WMS and other manufacturers. Wagers will range anywhere from penny-slots to high dollar slots. They are shooting for diversity with their slots parlor so everyone can enjoy the fun and gamble freely. Senior Director of Slot Operations Beverly Price stated, “This is an exciting step for us on our journey to making the Calder Casino a reality. Our team has been working extremely hard on the casino project and to have the first round of machines arrive signifies another major milestone for us.” It was a good day for the casino and it is hoping that the new slots open up a new market for the casino. Many racetracks have suffered due to the recession and have looked for various ways to bring in added revenues. Calder will be the second pari-mutuel facility in Miami-Dade County to offer slot machines, and the only Thoroughbred racetrack in the county to feature these games. In addition, Calder opened its brand-new, 29-table Studz Poker Club on Oct. 23. The race track is looking to develop itself into a premiere “racino” for the state. Racino is a term that has been coined to signify a casino with slot machine parlor combination. It’s great news to legislators who are hoping to first, elevate the amount of jobs in the area, two, save race tracks from financial disaster and three, bring in huge tax revenues from the slot machines. It’s no secret that race track bidding is down. People just aren’t venturing to the race tracks these days. It is hoped that bringing slots will attract a new gambling public to the facilities and elevate revenues.
