“Excited” was too subtle a word to describe their reaction. “This is the nicest one.” Others coming early were Mary “Chip” Cipollini with friends Rita Encoli, Marie Morlachetta and Willie Velyks, all of Gibbstown, N.J., about 10 miles in from the Commodore Barry Bridge. “I’ve been to all of them,” Hartenstein said, referring to Harrah’s in Chester and the other two racetrack operations, Philadelphia Park and Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in northeastern Pennsylvania.

No stranger to Harrah’s – a red and black cord from his belt ran to his frequent customer card in the slot – he has also sampled the state’s other new slots parlors. The 67-year-old Pottstown retiree was busy playing the nickel slots at Harrah’s Chester Casino & Racetrack for a few hours. Earlier in the day, Ronald Hartenstein sat in front of the “Wheel of Fortune” slot machine, its bright lights casting a varicolored reflection on his eyeglasses. or so, approximately 2,000 to 2,500 people had already checked out the new casino, with even more coming after evening TV media coverage aired, said Advertising and Public Relations Manager Jason Birney. Word must have quickly gotten around as the floor steadily filled up throughout the day. The “soft” opening Monday began with about 100 hopefuls waiting to enter, said Donlevie.

“We knew how well the weekend went and we were hopeful we would get authorization from the gaming board, and sure enough, we did,” said Vince Donlevie, senior vice president and general manager of Harrah’s Chester. “I think the real key areas were observed and the board thought the facility was ready to open up,” said Doug Harbach, spokesman for the gaming board, which monitored everything from floor plans to security to systems operations during the test days. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board gave the go-ahead about 11 a.m. Due to a successful two-day test run over the weekend, Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack took the county by surprise when it opened its 100,000-square-foot casino floor a day early.

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