Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course remains on schedule for a Feb. 12 opening.
The integrated gaming and racing facility, which replaced the circa-1972 Penn National Race Course in Grantville, Pa., has scheduled “test nights” for Feb. 8 and Feb. 10, the track said in a Feb. 1 release. Test nights are regularly held at casinos to ensure that all equipment is operating properly.
Penn National will have about 2,000 slot machines when it opens. The slots fall under the regulation of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
Net gaming revenue from the test nights will benefit four local charities: the Grantville Food Pantry, Harrisburg University, the Grantville Volunteer Fire Co., and Jump Street. If the slots casino gets final PGCB approval, it will open to the public Feb. 12, also the night live Thoroughbred racing is set to return.
Penn National ended its 2007 live meet Dec. 21, and later suspended on-track simulcasts pending opening of the new facility. When live racing resumes, average nightly purses will start at an all-time high of about $110,000, a figure expected to increase through the year.
First post time for live racing is 6:45 p.m. EST. The track will race on a Tuesday-through-Saturday or Wednesday-through-Saturday schedule depending on the time of the year.
