Monday, December 19, 2016

Tioga Downs Ringing in 2017 with the biggest New Year’s Eve Celebration in the Southern Tier


Event offers live music, many chances to win cash and an action-packed evening of ‘firsts’ to celebrate the New Year

Nichols, N.Y. – December 19, 2016 – Tioga Downs Casino is excited to invite the community to the region’s largest and most popular New Year’s Eve Celebration on Saturday December 31, 2016 with a party kicking off at 9 p.m. and continuing until 1 a.m.  This year features a New Year’s celebration of firsts for Tioga Downs as this is the first year that table games are available in the casino, the first year that Virgil’s Real BBQ is open and the first time that Tioga Downs has featured three bands for its New Year’s Eve festivities.

This very special New Year’s Eve party has free admission and an abundance of entertainment, including complimentary live music for everyone to enjoy.  Local favorite Virgil Cain will provide live entertainment on the main indoor stage, from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m. During these same hours, country artist Devon Franks will perform on stage in Virgil’s Real BBQ and alternative rock sensation Travis Rocco will entertain guests in the sideshow lounge (guests must be 21 or over). 

Tioga Downs will feature numerous gaming promotions, which includes one lucky guest earning a cash prize every 30 minutes.  The first promotion Tioga is highlighting is its $250 ‘Cash Hot Seat’ where one winner will be randomly drawn every 30 minutes between 9 and 11:30 pm to receive $250 in cash.  The big promotion of the evening is the ‘$2017 Cash Hot Seat’ where one winner will be randomly selected at 12:30 am to receive $2,017 in cash to ring in 2017.

“Last year’s New Year’s Eve celebration was one of our biggest to date and with the addition of so many amenities at the property this year we are expecting a record crowd to ring in 2017.  Tioga Downs has a lot to celebrate in 2016 and we look forward to an even bigger 2017, we are pleased so many enjoy spending the biggest night of the year with us,” commented Jeff Gural, Chairman of American Racing and Entertainment, LLC.

Tioga Downs will be hosting a New Year’s Eve Buffet on December 31 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.  The buffet will offer a variety of entrĂ©e selections, side dishes, cold selections as well as a carving station.  All guests 21 years old and above will be treated to a champagne toast at midnight as well as given complimentary 2017 party favors.  The infamous Times Square ball drop will be televised on all televisions throughout the property.  Virgil’s Real BBQ will be closed from 4 – 9 pm but will be open from 9 pm – 2 am to help celebrate the New Year.  Coasters Sports Bar will also be open all day and evening where guests can enjoy the numerous college football playoff games scheduled.  The casino will open at 9 am on December 31 and will close at 3 am on January 1.  Parking is free and the parking garage will be open.

In addition to the recent opening of the new gaming areas of the casino featuring new slot machines, table games and a poker room, this year marks the tenth anniversary celebration for Tioga Downs. The entertainment complex offers live harness racing, casino gaming and live entertainment.  Jeff Gural owns Tioga Downs in Nichols, NY as well as Vernon Downs in Vernon, NY. With a commercial gaming license officially granted and the new casino open, Tioga Downs will continue to push forward on the buildout of the additional amenities for its world-class gaming and entertainment complex.  These include a hotel, spa, additional restaurant, events/convention center and more. Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs have created more than 1,000 family-sustaining jobs and donated millions to nonprofit organizations. For more information on Tioga Downs, please visit www.tiogadowns.com.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Tioga Downs Will Officially Open New Casino on December 2


Slot Machines and Tables Games Usher in New Chapter for Tioga Downs Casino

Nichols, N.Y. – December 1, 2016 – After a gaming license pursuit that has spanned more than three years, Tioga Downs has announced it will officially open the new casino to the public on Friday December 2 at 3 pm.  

The new gaming floor features 33 long-awaited table games, including Blackjack, Craps and Roulette, as well as popular casino games like Pai Gow Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em, Let It Ride, 3-Card and 4-Card Poker and the Big 6 Wheel. 

Guests who have previously spent time in the Winner’s Circle Lounge, won’t recognize it today.  The room was gutted down to the studs and rebuilt to house the casino’s new Poker Room.  With 12 tables, seating up to 10 players at each table, the room can accommodate up to 120 players and plans are already being made to host multiple tournament events in 2017.

New tables aren’t the only new games players will find in the casino.  The facility also needed to replace all of the 798 video lottery terminals with new slot machines.  When the casino is complete, guests will find 944 games, including recently released titles like Game of Thrones, new 3D models like Plants vs Zombies, as well as plenty of bells, bars and cherries.  Many of the new machines have a sleeker design and more modern profiles than the older VLTs.

“The trend in slot manufacturing the past few years has been to make games that are bigger and more comfortable for players.  The dynamic themes and interactive bonuses give the guests a better overall gaming experience,” Tioga Downs President and General Manager Scott Freeman said.

The casino has even installed USB charging stations in many of the machine bases so guests can charge their phones without having to worry about leaving them unattended somewhere or running down their batteries.

Staff at Tioga Downs will open the doors to the new gaming floor at 3 pm on Friday following an opening presentation and official ribbon-cutting ceremony an hour earlier.

The opening of the new gaming area comes just over three years from the passage of New York’s Proposal 1, which authorized the issuing of a limited number of commercial gaming licenses throughout New York State. After an unsuccessful first bid for the Southern Tier license in 2014, Tioga Downs as well as community leaders, led a campaign to re-open the bidding process to allow for the award of one additional license to the true Southern Tier.  The request was granted and after a successful second bid process, Tioga Downs was formally granted its full gaming license on Tuesday, August 30.  Since that time, construction crews and the entire Tioga Downs team have been feverishly working on first phase additions to the property to get the casino open.  As originally promised by the track’s owner, Jeff Gural, Tioga Downs will be the first property awarded a gaming license under Proposal 1 to open its casino doors despite having to go through a second bid process.

“This has been a long journey, but one that I have stated from the beginning is an important one for the people of the Southern Tier.  We have created a lot of additional jobs, revenue and opportunity for the region as well as benefitting local businesses and nonprofit organizations,” American Racing and Entertainment Chairman Jeffrey Gural said.  “I am so appreciative of our local and state officials, as well as Southern Tier community for the overwhelming support of the project that helped it come to fruition.  It would not have been possible without their help.”

In addition to the opening of the casino, this year marks the tenth anniversary celebration for Tioga Downs. The entertainment complex offers live harness racing, casino gaming and live entertainment.  Jeff Gural owns Tioga Downs in Nichols, NY as well as Vernon Downs in Vernon, NY. With a commercial gaming license now officially granted and the casino open, Tioga Downs will continue to push forward on the buildout of the additional amenities for its world-class gaming and entertainment complex.  These include a hotel, spa, additional restaurant, events/convention center and more. Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs have created more than 1,000 family-sustaining jobs and donated millions to nonprofit organizations. For more information on Tioga Downs, please visit www.tiogadowns.com.