Ohio gaming regulators establish initial rules for casinos

Gaming regulators in the state released the first version of the rules the casinos will have to abide by, and there are 340 pages worth of regulations.

The commission was ordered by the governor to draft the regulations. Now that the initial rules have been crafted, they will go to a legislative committee for approval. The committee has the right to veto any, and all, of the regulations, if they see fit. The rules spanned many different areas, from the gaming floor to the chips themselves.

As is the case in all states, chips are grouped by color to determine their value. us$ 1 chips are different from us$ 5 chips, and the denominations change as the colors change. In Ohio, us$ 1 chips will be white, us$ 5 red, us$ 20 yellow, us$ 25 green, us$ 100 black, us$ 1,000 orange, us$ 5,000 grey, and us$ 10,000 burgundy. There will also be a us$ 2.50 chip in pink, and a us$ 25,000 chip in blue.

The colors are the same as used in other casinos around the US. The color scheme is important for dealers and attendants that do not have the time to search for denominations printed on the chips. The size of the chips is also dictated by the new rules. Anything less than a us$ 500 chip is one size, with the more valuable chips being just slightly larger.

Ohio residents have been excited about the prospects of having casinos in their backyard. Voters approved four casinos a couple of years ago, and Rock Gaming and Penn National Gaming have been chosen to run the four casinos. Rock will operate the casinos in Cleveland and Cincinnati, while Penn Nation will run the Toledo and Columbus gaming facilities.

"We think the commission has done a terrific job, given the fact that it's really only been in existence for less than a year," said Bob Tenenbaum, a spokesman for Penn National.

The casinos seemed in doubt last year when new Governor John Kasich took office and played hardball with the two gaming companies. Kasich believed the public was getting a raw deal with the casino tax rates. After months of negotiations, the gaming groups and the governor finally found common ground, leading to construction to re-start on the Cleveland and Cincinnati casinos.

It is expected that opening dates will be released for the casinos in the next couple of months.