Omaha’s Warhorse Casino opens its doors

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – After nearly a decade, finally casino gaming is on the entertainment menu for Nebraska’s largest city.

Visitors can play slot machines, table games, and lay down sports bets right here in Omaha.

The ribbon was cut, and Warhorse Casino opened its doors on Tuesday, bringing casino gambling and property tax relief to the state of Nebraska.

Thomas Morris from Council Bluffs usually spends his gambling dollars in Iowa.

“I bounce from Carter Lake to Ameristar, and if I do good here, I’ll be bouncing over here,” he said.

That’s what Warhorse Casino officials want to hear. Nebraska is no longer being shut out of area casino gambling.

State officials gave Warhorse Casino its operating license, but this isn’t the first time the people of Nebraska told lawmakers that it’s okay to place a bet.

“In 1934, the voters in Nebraska approved pari-mutuel wagering mostly at Aksarben and Fonner Park and here… 86 years later, they have approved casino wagering,” said Denny Lee, chairman of the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission.

For years, Aksarben drew huge crowds to watch and place bets on the “sport of kings.”

Casinos opening across the river in Council Bluffs helped, but they put an end to Omaha’s horse racing era.

Now, the Nebraska Horsemen’s Association plans to use the same casino games here in Nebraska to bring horse racing back.

“We own this building, we also own Lincoln; and what we’re doing is we our share of the revenue is we’re building barns in Lincoln,” said Lynn McNally, CEO of Nebraska Horseman’s Association. “we’re increasing purses, and we’re increasing live days.”

Gerald Wollsesen, president of the Nebraska Horsemen’s Association, got the honor of making the first bet, spinning a slot machine. He’s hoping the casino will rebuild horse racing in the state.

“Currently, we have 460 members. That used to be about 1,200 during the Aksarben days, so we’ve got to rebuild that — or purse structure will grow,” he said. “Horsemen will be raising more Nebraska-breds, agriculture-wise. We’re going be buying hay; we’re going to buy feed. This is gonna be huge.”

Warhorse Omaha is ready. 800 slot machines, table games, sports betting, and simulcasting. Some of the money bet here will go to reduce property taxes in the state.

“We’re doing our part to try to reduce property taxes. Other people need to do their part — that’s a different story,” said Lance Morgan, CEO of Warhorse Casino.

He said this casino will also help the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska in its fight against poverty.

“The Winnebago people were minding their own business in 1825 and got kicked around by the government. Showed up in Nebraska 50 years later, and we’ve been here struggling with poverty ever since. And this is one of the big steps out of it,” Morgan said.

Not everyone is excited about the casino gambling in Nebraska. The anti-gambling group, Gambling with the Good Life, has been fighting against expanding gambling in the state for close to 30 years. Leaders of the group say casino gambling won’t bring the people of Nebraska true property tax relief.

“Because for every $1 a state gains in gaming revenue, it costs them $3 in social cost. So, sometimes its not obvious, but that’s what has happened to every other state that brought it in,” Pat Loontjer, of Gambling with the Good Life, said.

Officials and supporters of Gambling with the Good Life held a news conference Tuesday and are still in the legislature fighting against mobile sports betting. They believe when the state begins to see the negative results of gambling they will make a run at repealing gambling in the state. But officials with the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission tell 6 News they will consider opening more race track casinos in the state by the first of the year.

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