A look into the progress of the renovation of Aqueduct Race Track into NYC’s first casino to be called Resorts World. The casino is scheduled to be opened in October 2011. (James Messerschmidt)
THE REAL DEAL: A mechanical dealer will flip real playing cards in the Baccarat game that will be featured at the Aqueduct racino. (James Messerschmidt)
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Get ready for Baccarat on the Belt.
Aqueduct’s new, $830 million gambling complex will offer local bettors their own virtual Vegas — complete with big-bucks gaming tables and thousands of video slot machines — when it opens next month.
“It’s the first casino in New York City. And it’s our showcase,” said Mike Speller, chief executive officer of Genting New York, operator of the “racino” at Aqueduct off the Belt Parkway in Ozone Park, Queens, during a press tour yesterday.
The site’s first section, called Times Square Casino, opens to the public at the end of October with 2,280 video lottery terminals for games such at Hot Rocks, Wheel of Fortune and Triple 777, not to mention plenty of ATMs.
The casino also will feature more than 200 electronic table games, including roulette, craps and Asian dice game Sic Bo.
At its electronic Baccarat tables, mechanical dealers will even flip real cards under a large, plastic bubble, and diners can hang out at joints such as Wolfgang Puck Express and the Second Avenue Deli.
“Electronic gaming has come a long way,” Speller said during a tour of the racino, which is next to Aqueduct’s run-down race track that hopes to benefit from the influx of casino visitors.
When fully operational in December, Aqueduct’s racino will have a total of 4,525 video lottery terminals and 475 electronic table games.
A second-floor area, dubbed the Fifth Avenue Casino, will offer high-stakes games for high-rollers issued a special access card, as well as a spacious private lounge.
If the state legalizes the more typical Las Vegas-style casinos, Speller said Aqueduct’s racino is designed to be reconfigured into a live-gaming facility.
Genting would not reveal how much it expects bettors to wager each year, but last year, a state official estimated $10 billion would be bet annually there, which would top the $7 billion “handle” at the Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway.