{"id":101825,"date":"2019-04-01T01:00:05","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T08:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=101825"},"modified":"2019-04-02T15:25:02","modified_gmt":"2019-04-02T22:25:02","slug":"arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Arkansas Casinos Commence Operations, Becomes 29th Commercial Gaming State"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two Arkansas casinos open for play today fewer than five months after state voters approved a constitutional amendment to legalize commercial gambling.<\/p>\n

\"Arkansas
Two Arkansas casinos are letting the good times roll, as commercial gambling gets underway at the Oaklawn and Southland venues. (Image: Hannah Grabenstein\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was only in November that Arkansans backed Issue 4, a ballot referendum that amended the state constitution to allow the Oaklawn and Southland racetrack “racinos” to transition into full-fledged commercial gambling venues equipped with slot machines and table games. Issue 4 also authorized two new casino facilities, one each in Pope and Jefferson counties.<\/p>\n

Southland, located in West Memphis, and Hot Springs’ Oaklawn, wasted no time in incorporating their newly afforded gaming options.<\/p>\n

Southland officially begins slot and table game play at 4:00 am CDT. The West Memphis greyhound racetrack has added around 2,000 traditional slot machines, and 40 live dealer table games. Oaklawn has added eight table games to its 1,300 electronic games, but is holding off on traditional slots for now. The table games open for play at noon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Issue 4 additionally allows the casinos to accept “wagers on sporting events.” The Arkansas Racing Commission is tasked with determining regulations, a process that could take several months.<\/p>\n

Casino Benefit<\/b><\/h2>\n

Southland and Oaklawn are both planning extensive expansions and renovations to accommodate what they hope will be a great increase in customer traffic.<\/p>\n

\n

Southland plans to break ground in the coming months on a $250 million expansion<\/a> that will alter the West Memphis skyline with a 20-story hotel featuring 300 guestrooms. The building will compete with the most prominent structure in nearby Memphis, Tennessee \u2013 the 32-story Bass Pro Shops Pyramid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The venue expansion will add another four restaurants, and create room for an additional 500 slot machines and 20 table games. Hot Springs’ Oaklawn has announced a $100 million expansion to construct a 200-room hotel, and 28,000 square feet of added gaming floor space.<\/p>\n

The casinos will be taxed at 13 percent on gross gambling revenues up to $150 million, and 20 percent thereafter.\u00a0<\/span>The Arkansas Racing Commission will receive 17.5 percent of the taxes stemming from commercial gaming operations.<\/p>\n

Driving Arkansas Forward (DAF), the lobbying group that successfully put Issue 4 before voters, projects that four casinos will generate $120 million in annual taxes upon market maturation \u2013 or $21 million for the racing industry.<\/p>\n

Other Casinos<\/b><\/h2>\n

Officials in Jefferson County are moving forward with a casino proposal from the Quapaw Indians of Oklahoma, one of the two Native American tribes that heavily funded the DAF campaign.<\/p>\n

Tribal leaders hope to break ground in Pine Bluff in June and open in early 2020. The proposed $350 million development is called Saracen Casino Resort.<\/p>\n

\n

John Berrey, chairman of the Downstream Development Authority, which is the tribe’s gaming unit, says the casino will be a cloned “twin” of its Downstream Casino Resort Quapaw, Oklahoma. That casino has 2,000 slot machines and 14 table games, as well five restaurants and 300-room hotel.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While the Jefferson casino is moving full steam ahead, progress has stalled in Pope<\/a> after 60 percent of local voters opposed Issue 4 last November.<\/p>\n

Issue 4 earmarked the four casinos for Oaklawn, Southland, and the two counties. But the new county casinos require formal support from their respective county judges. For a gaming venue to be authorized in Pope County, six out of 10 local voters must approve of the judge’s letter of support.<\/p>\n

A lengthy legal battle is expected, one that could delay casino gaming in Pope for years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two Arkansas casinos open for play today fewer than five months after state voters approved a constitutional amendment to legalize commercial gambling. It was only in November that Arkansans backed Issue 4, a ballot referendum that amended the state constitution to allow the Oaklawn and Southland racetrack “racinos” to transition into full-fledged commercial gambling venues […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":101829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nArkansas Casinos Begin Play, Becomes 29th Commercial Gaming State<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two Arkansas casinos open for play today after voters approved a constitutional amendment last November to legalize commercial gambling venues.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Arkansas Casinos Begin Play, Becomes 29th Commercial Gaming State\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two Arkansas casinos open for play today after voters approved a constitutional amendment last November to legalize commercial gambling venues.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-01T08:00:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-04-02T22:25:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/EP-190339992.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2354\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1591\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CasinoorgDevinO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/\",\"name\":\"Arkansas Casinos Begin Play, Becomes 29th Commercial Gaming State\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/EP-190339992.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-01T08:00:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-02T22:25:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\"},\"description\":\"Two Arkansas casinos open for play today after voters approved a constitutional amendment last November to legalize commercial gambling venues.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/EP-190339992.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/EP-190339992.jpg\",\"width\":2354,\"height\":1591,\"caption\":\"Two Arkansas casinos are letting the good times roll, as full commercial gambling gets underway at the Oaklawn and Southland properties. (Image: Hannah Grabenstein\/AP)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Commercial Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Arkansas Casinos Commence Operations, Becomes 29th Commercial Gaming State\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\",\"name\":\"Devin O'Connor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Devin O'Connor\"},\"description\":\"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Arkansas Casinos Begin Play, Becomes 29th Commercial Gaming State","description":"Two Arkansas casinos open for play today after voters approved a constitutional amendment last November to legalize commercial gambling venues.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Arkansas Casinos Begin Play, Becomes 29th Commercial Gaming State","og_description":"Two Arkansas casinos open for play today after voters approved a constitutional amendment last November to legalize commercial gambling venues.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2019-04-01T08:00:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-04-02T22:25:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2354,"height":1591,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/EP-190339992.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Devin O'Connor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CasinoorgDevinO","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Devin O'Connor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/","name":"Arkansas Casinos Begin Play, Becomes 29th Commercial Gaming State","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/EP-190339992.jpg","datePublished":"2019-04-01T08:00:05+00:00","dateModified":"2019-04-02T22:25:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf"},"description":"Two Arkansas casinos open for play today after voters approved a constitutional amendment last November to legalize commercial gambling venues.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/EP-190339992.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/EP-190339992.jpg","width":2354,"height":1591,"caption":"Two Arkansas casinos are letting the good times roll, as full commercial gambling gets underway at the Oaklawn and Southland properties. (Image: Hannah Grabenstein\/AP)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/arkansas-casinos-commence-operations-becomes-29th-gaming-state\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Commercial Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Arkansas Casinos Commence Operations, Becomes 29th Commercial Gaming State"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf","name":"Devin O'Connor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","caption":"Devin O'Connor"},"description":"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101825"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}