First Casino Licensed for Sports Betting in West Virginia

Hollywood Casino in Charles Town is the first casino licensed to offer sports betting in West Virginia.

The West Virginia Lottery Commission made the announcement Monday. Commission legal counsel Danielle Boyd told The Charleston Gazette-Mail the casino expects to start accepting bets Sept. 1, after installing software and training employees.

Boyd said two other casinos are planning to launch in early- to mid-September, and two more several weeks later.

She said the state should have a regional monopoly on sports betting for now despite a delay in the commission’s target launch of Sept. 1 at all five casinos. Boyd said she expects sports betting to bring people to West Virginia to place wagers, either at the casinos or other venues. She says it’ll also prompt people to wine, dine and stay the night.

Charles Town Race Track Opens: December 2, 1933

The Charles Town Race Track opened in Jefferson County on December 2, 1933.  It was the first track in West Virginia to open after the state legalized racing and parimutuel betting. The sprawling complex featured a 3,000-seat, steam-heated grandstand and a 200-seat restaurant.

Economically, though, it was bad timing—during the darkest days of the Great Depression. As a result, the track lost money during its first two years of operation. But, everything changed when Albert J. Boyle purchased the facilities and attracted a slew of big bettors from Baltimore and Washington. Over the next 20 years, Boyle would become the father of horse racing in West Virginia.

In 1964, the owners of Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course purchased the track and installed lights for night racing.

By the 1990s, the track had changed hands several times and appeared to be on its way out. However, in 1996, West Virginia voters approved placing video lottery machines at the state’s tracks. Today, the track—now known as Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races—brings in most of its revenue from video slots and table games.

Charles Town Track Sets Record for Wagering Volume Per Race

Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races has set an annual record for wagering volume per race.

Penn National Gaming, Inc. vice president Erich Zimny told The Journal that $111,664 was bet per race at the track in 2015. The previous annual record was $110,247 per race in 2012.

The track held 1,447 races during the 2015 live racing season, which ended Dec. 23.

While wagers have increased, horsemen say purses have declined. Charles Town Horsemen Benevolent Protection Agency president Randy Funkhouser says purses dropped from $35 million to $40 million in the early and mid-2000s to around $21 million in 2014.

Officials Mull Fewer Racing Days at W.Va. Tracks

  The state Racing Commission could request legislation to drop the number of days racetracks have to hold live races under law.

The Charleston Gazette reports that on Tuesday, the commission discussed reducing the required number of racing days to 185 at the state’s four racetracks.

Tracks face a 10 percent cut in state subsidies this budget year. Money from wagering is also on the decline. Racing Commissioner Bill Phillips said it’s clear that racing purses have dropped too much to maintain a full racing calendar.

The racetrack at Hollywood Casino in Charles Town and the state’s two greyhound tracks are required to have 220 racing days. Mountaineer Racetrack in Chester is required to have 210.

A vote on a resolution will likely come at the commission’s Oct. 14 meeting.

   

Ex-Homeland Security Official Accused of Fraud in W.Va.

A Virginia man who is a former director of a Homeland Security division has been indicted on charges he used his government-issued credit card to obtain more than $100,000 in cash advances at the Hollywood Casino in Charles Town.
 
U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld announced Monday that 55-year-old Gene Protogiannis of Lovettsville, Va., has been indicted on 45 counts of wire fraud. He says Protogiannis used the government credit card to obtain $115,000 in cash advances in 2013.
 
The government says Protogiannis was the acting director of the Tactical Operations Division for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a division of Homeland Security. He is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Martinsburg on Wednesday.
 
Protogiannis’ federal public defender did not immediately return a telephone message left by The Associated Press.

Charles Town Casino to Add 1,200-Seat Concert Hall

West Virginia’s largest casino has announced plans to add a 1,200-seat concert venue as it seeks to fend off increased competition from casinos in Maryland.

Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races said Monday that it will begin construction this month on the venue, which will be located on the casino floor and feature a box office and VIP area. Hollywood hopes to open the venue by the end of September. A name for the venue has not yet been selected.
 
Hollywood draws heavily from the D.C. market, but has faced tough competition the last few years from Maryland casinos, especially the Maryland Live! casino at Arundel Mills, which has a 500-seat concert venue on its casino floor.
 

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