Tight competitive quarters for Oklahoma casino

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The tribal casino that has formidable Penn National Gaming nervous about funding a proposed commercial casino in Cherokee County, Kansas, is on schedule to open July 5. Cherokee County officials who have sued to block the 0 million casino-hotel were impressed with it when the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma took them on a tour last month.

Quapaw?s Downstream Casino Resort complex stands literally on a state border, with the casino and 12-story hotel in Oklahoma and the parking lot in Kansas. Five small tribal casinos are in the area, several miles from Joplin just over the Missouri state line, with Interstate 44 as the main highway. Penn National?s proposed site for a state-owned casino is just across I-44.

Downstream is built beside two 18-hole golf courses. Some of 226 hotel rooms overlook them, as does the VIP club atop the tower. Amenities include four restaurants, a spa and an outdoor pool. A circular bar is centered on the casino floor, where 2,000 slot machines will be controlled by $8 million worth of servers.

Cherokee County commissioners on the tour saw the first slots being installed. Federal regulators overseeing the process kept press photographers away, however.