On Friday Morning, August 15th, Players in Vancouver will have the chance to play in a new casino that will be stocked full with brand new slot machines. Six hundred slot machines to be exact. The new casino will be opening at Hasting Racecourse and will house the new slot machines along with a show lounge.

The new building was erected where the benches and concrete of the lower grandstand was located. The new casino came with a $40 million price tag and also houses a bar with live entertainment along with food service.

Last November, a temporary set-up was created, that had 150 slot machines. This set-up will close now that the new six hundred machines have been put in place. The temporary building saw strong numbers in revenue and the new facility is sure to see even more now with the large amount of slot machines available.

Great Canadian owns the facility and has been working for many years to see it completed. The slot machines were approved by the city of Vancouver in 2004. The approval happened after other cities near Vancouver began allowing slot machines. The neighboring cities slot machines had brought a loss of revenue to the city of Vancouver.

The temporary facility of slot machines had brought $2.4 million since April and the new facility is projected to earn $21 million between opening day the end of March. The new facility will also consist of video feed horse racing along with live feeds. The races can be seen on new big screen televisions that have been added to the new facility. However, the casino will not have any table games.

The owner, Great Canadian, has also made an agreement with the city that they will pay $100,000 a year to a city-run legacy fund and $500,000 will be allotted for the restoration work for Hastings Park. Part of that money will also go to a hiring program for the northeast neighborhoods of the city.



- 2008-08-14