If you took a map of Pennsylvania and drew an “X” through it, right where the two lines cross is Happy Valley, the home of the Penn State University’s main campus.
And on Monday, it became home to the Happy Valley Casino, which, after six years of planning, opened its doors for play.
The casino is the 18th for Pennsylvania and part of the state’s most recent gambling expansion in 2017, which allowed mini-casinos to occupy former storefronts. It’s the fifth mini-casino to open after Penn State alumnus Ira Lubert secured a license for $10 million in 2010.
Happy Valley Casino sits in a former Macy’s at the Nittany Mall. The 94,000 square feet space houses about 600 slot machines and 30 table games. There is no poker room. About 50,000 students attend Penn State, and its college football team brings tens of thousands of fans to the area whenever there’s a home game.
Lubert, a property developer who also sits on Penn State’s Board of Trustees, originally partnered with Bally’s, but that agreement ended when Bally’s decided focus on a project in Chicago. Saratoga Casino Holdings took over the $100 million project, and is the company that will manage the casino.
It also runs the Saratoga Casino Hotel, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Saratoga Casino Black Hawk, Colo., and Magnolia Bluffs Casino Hotel in Natchez, Mississippi.
Happy Valley Casino actually opened its door on Saturday for a two-day stress test conducted by the state’s Gambling Control Board, which it passed.
Happy Valley Casino is open from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily.
