Colorado Casinos and Gamers Celebrates the Changes in the State Gaming Law
Casino officials in the state of Colorado threw parties to celebrate the implementation of the Amendment 50 state gaming law on July 2nd, 2009. Casino customers and officials alike were excited over the changes to Colorado's gaming laws that take effect at exactly at 12:01 a.m. including changing the maximum wager from $5 to $100. Casino facilities can now also offer craps and roulette and stay 24/7 instead of being compelled to close at exactly 2:00 a.m.
Steve Roark, the president of Jacobs Entertainment, which operates the Lodge and Gilpin casinos in Black Hawk said that he is feeling the same kind of excitement and energy when they had opened the Lodge and Gilpin facility in June 1998. Officials representing the main beneficiaries of Colorado's gaming tax revenue-the historical society and state colleges-joined Steve Roark for a ribbon cutting and dice ceremony to welcome the changes allowed under the new gaming law.
Embroiled in a historic slump that started in January 2008, the Colorado gambling industry went all out in welcoming the changes that is expected to help casino operators in Colorado to cope up with financial crisis. The first official craps wager at the Lodge and Gilpin Casino was made by Nancy McCallin, the president of the Colorado Community College System and Ed Nichols, the president of the Colorado Historical Society.
The facility pledged to donate to their respective groups $1,000 multiplied by the number they get during the dice toss. Both rolled 6's, earning six thousand . But that figure pales in comparison from the $7 million to $10 million that McCallin estimates that community colleges will get from gaming tax revenue from the 1st year of the gaming changes.
2009-07-20
Peter McCarthy
