New York City Casino to Host Live Table Games Starting Next Tuesday

New York City residents and visitors will be able to play live-dealer table games as soon as next Tuesday.

The grand opening of Resorts World New York City, New York City’s first full casino, will take place in exactly one week. Queens native and rapper Nas, real name Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, will attend the ceremony and will complete the ceremonial first roll of the dice to officially launch the new era of New York City gambling.

Nas was a partner in the $5 billion project, which was eventually granted a downstate casino operator’s license for its property next to the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens.

Resorts World NYC offers live table games

Genting-owned Resorts World NYC – which previously operated a local racino and was approved to expand to a complete casino – will host more than 240 table games, including blackjack, craps, baccarat, and roulette, when it opens its doors early next week.

“New York City has never seen anything like what we're planning for April 28. Once the Gaming Commission's final testing is complete, live table games will be open and operating right here in Queens for the first time in the history of New York City,” said Robert DeSalvio, president of Genting Americas East. “Resorts World now employs over 2,200 team members and has already doubled our workforce and expects thousands more team members as the integrated resort is developed over the next three years.”

The newly-added table games will be found on the third floor of the gaming property. Customers will also be able to access slot machines, including ones with multi-million-dollar jackpot payouts.

Joining Nas on hand will be Genting Chairman KT Lim, elected officials, community leaders, and famous entertainers. 

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), who created three downstate casino licenses and approved the eventual recipients, said that Resorts World NYC will add billions of tax dollars that will be used to fund the Metropolitan Transit Authority and education initiatives, along with tens of thousands of jobs.

NYC’s growing gaming scene

According to the New York Post, Resorts World NYC expects to grow to a team of 2,700 by summer.

Even though the grand opening will occur next week, the property is still growing. The finished property is expected to house 6,000 slot machines, 800 live table games, 2,000 hotel rooms, a 7,000-seat concert hall, a day space, an innovation campus featuring the “Jet Center”, named after Queens two-time NBA champion and Inside the NBA star Kenny “The Jet” Smith, and more than 12 acres of public greenery.

“We are proud to be creating more than a thousand new jobs while taking a major step forward for this property,”  De Salvio said. “This is a transformational moment for Resorts World New York City, and we cannot wait to share it with our fellow New Yorkers.”

Resorts World NYC is the first of the three casino licensees to open its doors. The two other properties, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and Hard Rock’s Metropolitan Park and Bally’s Ferry Point property, aren’t expected to open until 2030.

New York already has the largest online sports betting market in America. Once its casino attractions are open in the heart of the state, it is expected to quickly rival other casino-rich states for a retail gaming market as well.