More than 1,000 visitors are expected at the grand opening of Rosie’s Gaming Emporium, located at Colonial Downs in New Kent County, Virginia, at 11 a.m., Tuesday, April 23. The state’s first casino-style gambling parlor, the new 2-story venue will feature 600 historical horseracing machines, as well as simulcast racing plus a restaurant and bar. Bets at Rosie’s can range from 20 cents per spin to $15 per spin. Payouts will depend on the size of the betting pools.
The property had been shuttered since 2014. Last year the Virginia legislature approved historical racing, which was a condition of Chicago-based Revolutionary Racing purchasing Colonial Downs last year. Company officials said they plan to invest more than $300 million to revamp the property and also build several off-track gambling parlors around the state.
Colonial Downs spokesman Mark Hubbard said future Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums will open in Vinton in May and in South Richmond in June; two others will open later in the year in Chesapeake and Hampton. Altogether the five Rosie’s facilities will offer a total of 3,000 historical racing machines. Rosie’s will generate $25 million in state taxes and create 800 jobs statewide. The New Kent location will employ 220 people, Hubbard said.
Opponents of historical racing machines claim they are slot machines, which are illegal in Virginia. However, Colonial Downs officials and other proponents say the machines are legal since players wager against each other, not the house.
The first day of live racing at Colonial Downs will be August 8, with live horseraces running for 15 days, Thursdays through Saturdays.
Aaron Gomes, chief operating officer of Colonial Downs Group, said, “All of this was done to bring horse racing back to the commonwealth, and it would not have happened without historical horseracing. There are very few states where horseracing is self-sustaining anymore, and those where it is self-sustaining, they have hopes that eventually gaming in some form will be legalized to subsidize the horseraces, because long-term, horseracing anymore just isn’t self-sustaining.”
