Casino City’s Friday Five: Openings, sports betting and poker edition

By the end of 2024, Virginia will have a new casino in Danville and that process took a step in the right direction earlier this week when ground was broken on the property. This week, we also have a golf range opening as part of an iconic Las Vegas casino resort and an arcade coming to the Las Strip this fall. In addition, casinos in Wisconsin are gearing up to offer sports betting and the World Series of Poker Online begins Sunday with two additional markets opening up in the U.S.

Let’s begin with some arcade games:

5. ARCADE at Horseshoe Las Vegas to open this fall
Bally's - Las Vegas, which just hosted the World Series of Poker for the first time this summer, continues to welcome new developments and will debut the ARCADE in the fall as part of its rebrand to Horseshoe Las Vegas.

The ARCADE will occupy the former Caesars Sportsbook space and offer more than 80 games, from classic arcade favorites to the latest releases, in a 7,000-square-foot space.

The property transformation will also include a renovated exterior, casino floor and public areas. Bettors can still place sports wagers via the Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill app and at the new Caesars Sportsbook ticket counter coming to Horseshoe Las Vegas.

4. Atomic Range breaks ground next to The STRAT in Las Vegas
On Tuesday, Flite Golf & Entertainment's Atomic Range, a golf experience along the Las Vegas Strip next to The STRAT Hotel, Casino and SkyPod, hosted a groundbreaking ceremony.

Atomic Range is a 99,000-square-foot golf complex that will house four stories with 103 separate hitting bays, six bars, 10 putting bays, meeting space and a multi-use Astrocade that will feature large scale screens for sports and entertainment viewing.

The hope is for construction to be completed in the final quarter of 2023.

"We could not be more excited to enter the Vegas market next to the iconic STRAT. We are fortunate to have an outstanding partnership with Golden Entertainment and cannot wait to create a best in class golf entertainment experience for the people of Las Vegas and visitors," said John Vollbrecht, Founder & CEO of Flite Golf & Entertainment.

.@AtomicRangeLV broke ground this week @stratvegas! ??

The 92,000-square-foot golf entertainment destination will feature:
- more than 100 hitting bays ???
- six bars ??
- a multi-use Astrocade ??

It's scheduled to open late next year. pic.twitter.com/bOSRS31LqY

— City of Las Vegas (@CityOfLasVegas) August 10, 2022

Of course, on the other far end of the Strip behind MGM Grand Las Vegas, the flagship venue for Topgolf has been a popular attraction since opening in 2016.

3. Wisconsin casinos to offer sports betting
Earlier this week, Gov. Tony Evers and Chairman Louis Taylor of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians announced they signed a historic compact amendment allowing casinos and affiliate locations in Wisconsin operated by the Tribe to offer event wagering on sports and non-sports events.

The amendment permits the Tribe to offer sports betting and other forms of event wagering at its existing Sevenwinds Casino, Lodge & Conference Center in Hayward and to offer mobile wagering on other land within its reservation.

Given the 45-day review, the timeline should allow the Tribe to begin offering sports betting during the upcoming football season.

2. World Series of Poker Online returns Sunday
Following the record-breaking success of the 53rd annual WSOP on the Las Vegas Strip, which awarded a whopping $347.9 million in prize money to a staggering 197,626 entrants, WSOP Online 2022 will feature official gold bracelet tournaments and wall-to-wall side action on both GGPoker (14 August -27 September) and WSOP.com (10 September – 18 October).

Each bracelet winner from WSOP Online 2022, both international and domestic, will earn a seat at the Tournament of Champions during the 2023 WSOP in Las Vegas.

For the third time, GGPoker will play host to the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em World Championship, known better to poker players and fans as the WSOP Online Main Event. That event, which still holds the Guinness Book of World Records mark for prize pool in an online poker tournament, will again feature a staggering $20,000,000 prize pool guarantee.

This year’s tournament will also welcome Pennsylvania and Michigan players for the first time as the WSOP Online has expanded to both of these states within the last year.

JUST ANNOUNCED ?? WSOP Online 2022 returns to @WSOPcom Sept.10-Oct.18 and @GGPoker Aug.14-Sept. 27. For more info including the comprehensive Online Gold Bracelet Event schedule and live streaming schedule, visit https://t.co/y66FCcpKJp. pic.twitter.com/SCIWpNueki

— WSOP (@WSOP) August 5, 2022

1. Caesars breaks ground on new property in Danville
Scheduled to open in late 2024, Caesars Virginia in Danville broke ground yesterday.

The $650 million resort will include a 500-room hotel and a casino gaming floor with over 1,300 slots, 85 live table games, 24 electronic table games, a WSOP poker room and a Caesars Sportsbook. The Caesars Sportsbook app is already live and available for download and registration throughout Virginia.

In addition, Caesars Virginia will feature a full-service spa, pool, bars and restaurants, a 2,500-seat live entertainment theater, and 40,000 square feet of meeting and convention space.

"We are excited to build a world-class Caesars resort in Danville with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, a valued partner of Caesars Entertainment for more than 20 years," said Anthony Carano, President and Chief Operating Officer for Caesars Entertainment.

Today's groundbreaking is yet another exciting step forward in the completion of @CaesarsVirginia.

The full-service entertainment facility, scheduled to open in late 2024, will create thousands of construction and operational jobs: https://t.co/47aInu7Hgo pic.twitter.com/BmutByUkZL

— Caesars Entertainment (@CaesarsEnt) August 11, 2022