Comment on Ohio’s last racino opens its doors in Austintown

AUSTINTOWN TWP.: Sandy and Betsy Whitt could have gone anywhere to celebrate their 26th wedding anniversary.The Akron couple decided to spend it at the grand opening Wednesday of the Hollywood Gaming Mahoning Valley Race Course, the seventh and last racino to open in Ohio.“It’s just exciting,” Sandy said as his wife played a Double 4X Wild Cherry machine.Sandy, 65, and Betsy, 62, were among the first gamblers to stream into the racino shortly after the doors opened.Within minutes, nearly every one of the 850 slots-like video lottery terminals was being played and more people were coming in.Penn National Gaming invested $250 million in the project, which includes a thoroughbred racetrack, sports bar, simulcast racing and food court.