Casinogoers try their luck for first Christmas at Dover Downs

When Lisha Smith found out the Dover Downs Hotel and Casino would be open for gambling on Christmas Day for the first time this year, she brought a friend for a holiday getaway. 

Smith and her friend made the drive from Bowie, Maryland. They were among the people taking advantage of the open casino on Christmas afternoon. 

Decked out head to toe in red and sporting a Santa hat, Smith said she was curious to see how busy the casino got on the holiday and wanted to make sure she was there for any excitement herself. 

"I'm glad it's open on Christmas, I've been having some good luck," she said as she played a video slot machine.

As part of a casino tax relief bill passed June, it is now legal to gamble at Delaware's casinos on Christmas and Easter. Dover Downs was the only casino to open Tuesday. 

The announcement it would be open was met with mixed reactions.

Still, about two hundred people were gambling there Tuesday afternoon, scattered among the slot machines or playing at the table games, which were about half full.

For some local regulars, it was just another day at Dover Downs. 

Mark McGuire of Magnolia treated the occasion with no extra fanfare.

McGuire was down $40 at his regular machine, where he said he's won thousands over the years. He said he came "all the time" and Tuesday was no different.

For others, the casino was an extra activity on the holiday. Dover Downs was the closest open casino for Anna DiPisa and Mike Masiello of Easton, Maryland. 

"We said, 'let's go do something,'" DiPisa said. "It got us out of the house."

Masiello watched the images flash across his screen, stopping just short of a shot at the machine's $4,600 jackpot.

Debbie Young, who came from Milford with her son, was having better luck. 

"It's going good now," she said as she won a bonus. 

Was she hoping to win big or just have a fun Christmas with her son?

"Both."

Contact Jeanne Kuang at jkuang@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2476.

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