Flagler Dog Racing Track Receives First Set of Slot Machines

They are not yet operational and the casino floor that will host them is still not yet complete-but Las Vegas-style slot machines officially arrived in Miami-Dade County on September 2nd, 2009. The first black and silver Triple Butterfly slot machine loaded off the truck at the Flagler Dog Racing Track.

Flagler plans to debut its $54 million Magic City Casino in October 2009, making it the 1st of Miami-Dade county's brand new "racinos"-pari-mutuel establishments that also feature slot machines. Florida state voters in 2004 approve a state constitutional change that created the way for slot machines at horse racing tracks, dog racing tracks and jai-alai frontons in Broward County and Miami-Dade County.

Three racinos are already up and running in Broward County. Flagler President and Chief Executive Officer Barbara Hecht Havenick, whose family has managed Flagler Dog Track for generations, shed some tears just before the first group of slot machines was unloaded at the track. Havenick's late husband Fred, was one of the main supporters of the plan to bring slot machines to South Florida pari-mutuels. He died in 2006.

Havenick said that her husband started the slots initiative in 1978 and she would have loved for him to see the fruits of his hard work. Flagler will have a total of 700 slot machines by the time it opens in October 2009. State gaming regulators checked the serial numbers on each machine before giving the go signal for the slot machines' installation.

The casino gaming floor, which is about eighty percent complete, is a display of yellow and orange walls with a nearby blue bar that features wave-like design. Flagler Vice President Isadore Havenick said that Miami is a vibrant area so they picked vibrant colors to remind their players that they are in Miami.

Thursday, 24 September 2009
Alex Van Der Butz