Tioga Downs Welcomes Back Gamers

After being one of the first businesses to close during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic this spring, Tioga Downs Casino and Resort in Nichols welcomes gamers back, on a limited scale, September 9.

The casino will open with 350 slot machines and reservations will be taken for the hotel that is due to reopen Friday.  

Table games are still on hold until barriers between players and other provisions approved by the gaming commission are in place.  There’s no word on when the approval for resuming table games will be coming. 

The facility has been able to host harness racing but the horses have been trotting and pacing in front of an empty grandstand.  The resort’s restaurant and remote betting have been operating with restrictions and on a limited basis. 

Casino operators, employees, customers and local governments that rely on revenues from the facilities have been pushing Albany for months to reopen businesses like Tioga Downs as similar casinos on sovereign Native American land have been up and running for weeks. Native American casinos are not regulated by New York State.