It was tomorrow, the 1st of October that the brand-new Saracen Casino Annex was planned to open, and many local gamblers have had that date highlighted and pencilled in on their calendar for many months.
It was some 97 days ago when work first started on that new gambling venue, and having pulled out all of the stops to get the casino opened on time, casino executives made the decision to open it a few days earlier than they had planned, that being on Friday last, due to the venue having been finished ahead of time.
The soft launch went well, with many players flocking into the casino at 6pm on Friday evening, and many of them have been giving rave reviews of that casino based on their experiences over the last few days.
The casino measures some 15,000 square foot and offers visitors 300 slot machines along with a fully stocked bar, however it is part of a much larger project which will ultimately see the venue offering a huge 80,000 square foot gaming floor along with a 300 room hotel and plenty of eating and drinking venues too.
When the decision to open early on Friday night but for invited guests only, however that idea was soon shelved and the casino flung open its door to everybody, and there were certainly no shortage of people that did make the trek to the casino to try out their luck.
If the weekend is anything to go by, then the casino is going to be a very successful one, for there was a steady stream of gamblers visiting the venue over the weekend, and there will no doubt be many more visiting tomorrow when the grand opening ceremony takes place.