New York State Gaming Commission Approves Casino RegulationsRegulators Finalize Rules For Table Games |
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New York officials have cleared one of the final hurdles remaining before new Las Vegas-style casinos can open in the Empire State.
Gaming regulators on Tuesday approved the rules for table games at the commercial casinos. Four are in the pipeline, with the first one scheduled to open before the end of the year. The others could all open next year.
Tioga Downs, a Nichols, New York racino in the process of being converted into a full-scale casino, could open as soon as this month. The facility’s expansion comes at a price tag of more than $120 million. The racino received a casino license in August, but it still needs one more stamp of approval before being allowed to take bets.
Altogether, more than $1.4 billion has been invested into the New York casinos.
New York voters approved the casinos in 2013.
The brick-and-mortar casinos have implications for the state’s online poker plans. Last fall, James Featherstonhaugh, President of the New York Gaming Association, said at an online gaming hearing that the state should wait until the new casinos are open before authorizing online betting.
Below is a video of the New York Gaming Commission’s Tuesday hearing: