BANGOR, Maine—The Hollywood Slots Hotel and Raceway's July 1 grand opening drew about 9,000 customers who bet a total of $5.6 million at its 1,000 slots, well over the company's best days in an interim facility that had half the number of machines, according to a Maine Gambling Control Board auditor's report.
Auditor Scott Woods said wagers at the interim facility in the former Miller's restaurant building typically ran in the $2 million range on high volume days and fell on Fridays, Saturdays and occasionally on Sundays.
The last day of gambling at the temporary facility was June 29. Hollywood Slots' parent company is
Since the opening of the new $132 million permanent complex, which has an attached parking garage and soon-to-open hotel, revenue and total wager levels seem to be meeting expectations, Robert Welch, the gambling board's executive director, told board members Thursday.
Welch said that before the new complex opened, he asked General Manager Jon Johnson for some predictions about revenues. Welch said Johnson told him that despite having double the number of slots at the new facility, revenues likely would be only 50 percent higher.
Now, a little more than a week after the grand opening, Johnson's projections appear to be "right on the money," Welch said and Woods later confirmed in his monthly financial update for gambling board members.
In his report to the board, Welch said that Hollywood Slots' move into the new facility went smoothly despite a few lingering computer glitches, some caused by a lightning strike that knocked power out on Main Street in Bangor two days before the move.
Welch also reported that the state has renewed a contract for services for problem gamblers.
"We still have not had anybody take advantage of this program," Welch said.
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Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com
