Ohio's fourth casino opens in Cincinnati

The last of four voter-approved Ohio casinos announced its opening with a bang on Monday, as fireworks exploded over downtown Cincinnati, club music boomed through the streets and thousands of die-hard gamblers and curious first-timers poured inside.

The crowd began lining up in frigid temperatures and drizzle more than two hours before the casino opened on what used to be a run-down parking lot. Now it's a two-story, brightly lit casino with a giant glass entrance, three outward facing restaurants and a grand plaza that will be the site of outdoor concerts and other events designed to draw people in. "Are you excited, Cincinnati!" shouted Mayor Mark Mallory just before the fireworks show and the casino opened.
Mallory said he had wanted Cincinnati's casino to be the first to open in the state. "But we saved the best for last!" he told the crowd. Many were clearly excited to be the casino's first guests, with some people dancing suggestively and cheering when cameras showed them on a giant screen set up in front of the casino. Others complained about the long wait, the cold, limited parking and other logistics.

Mallory has previously said that the casino will be a home run for the city, although projected revenues are far lower now than when Ohio voters approved casinos in 2009. "This casino will have the ability to draw people from all around the country," Mallory said.

Though no hotels are attached, and nothing quite compares to the energy or spectacle of the Vegas strip, Mallory said the Cincinnati casino is big time. The casino boasts a VIP players' lounge with limits as high as us$ 50,000, a World Series of Poker room. Its restaurants include Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville and a burger joint from celebrity chef Bobby Flay. Both Buffett and Flay also have outposts in Las Vegas.

Cincinnati's casino is projected to draw about us$ 227 million in gross revenue in its first year. That would bring in about us$ 75 million in taxes.

Casinos in Cleveland, Toledo and Columbus all opened over the past year and have brought in nearly us$ 404 million combined. From that, about us$ 133.2 million has gone to Ohio schools, counties and cities.

Ohio's casinos were originally forecast to bring in nearly us$ 2 billion annually. Now, their yearly revenues are expected to be just under us$ 1 billion. Industry experts say the lower revenues are a result of the economic climate and competition from storefront gambling-style operations in the state known as Internet cafes. Kentucky law does not allow for casino gambling, although that state's governor has been trying to get the issue passed since he took office in 2007.