Long Island casino drawing big crowds

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - If you placed your bet on Jake's 58, you're a winner. The hotel and casino in Islandia, which opened in February, is already New York State's best performing in terms of average revenue per machine. Last month, it was close to $800 a day.

"[Patrons] like the service, it's clean, they feel safe, and it's close to home," said Chuck Kilroy, president and general manager of Delaware North, which owns the hotel and operates the gaming venue.

Delaware North is putting the finishing touches on the final phase, including a full bar. Jake's debuted electronic table games, including craps and poker, earlier this month. On Monday, 273 more slots were delivered to cap the 1,000-machine allotment.

"If it were not for this, we would probably go out of business," said Phil Nolan, the president of Suffolk OTB, which was banking on Jake's to get it out of $15 million in debt.

The parking lot is packed. Long Islanders no longer have to travel to play.

"Folks were going to Aqueduct, they were going to New Jersey and Connecticut," Nolan said. "Those dollars -- and it's very, very significant revenue -- are now staying in Suffolk County."

Delaware North said $10 million has already gone to the State Public Education Fund. The company expects to see an increase in business this summer when people traveling to the East End hopefully stop to test their luck. 

"Instead of traveling down to the Bronx or Mohegan Sun, this is what I do," one gamer told Fox 5.

"Of course we don't go to Atlantic City anymore," another patron said. "We're just going to continue coming here. It's a stone's throw from where we live."

But not everyone is happy it is so close home.

"It's not the place that it belongs," one woman told us outside. "It's community. And that does not belong here."

"They shouldn't have it here," a local resident said. "It should be moved to another area."

The Village of Islandia plans to install parking meters to allow additional parking. In a statement, the village mayor said he hasn't received one complaint regarding quality-of-life issues.