Love Casinos? There’s A New Place To Get Your Thrills In Western OK.
It's no secret that Texans will often make trips to Oklahoma to visit a casino. In western Oklahoma, in a little bitty town, you're about to have another option.
Hello, Hobart, OK
Hobart, OK really isn't much to write home about. There isn't much there. It's your usual small rural town. Everybody goes to church. Everybody knows everybody. They're still celebrating the last time they won state in football.
One thing that's about to set them apart though is the Kiowa Casino that broke ground late in 2021.
The Kiowa Casino In Hobart
The Facebook page for Kiowa Casino Hobart dries up in content at the end of last year They did post this video of the ground breaking ceremony.
Looking at the photos of what the casino will look like, it appears that there will be a restaurant. It doesn't look big enough to have a hotel, and I know people that enjoy table games are keeping their fingers crossed that there's a table or two squeezed in there somewhere between the slot machines.
Because you know, there will be a lot of slot machines.
Is The Casino Good Or Bad For The Community?
In all honesty, for Hobart, it's probably pretty good. Seeing as how I grew up there, I've got a little insight when it comes to the topic.
There isn't much going on other than high school sports and the occasional play at the Shortgrass Playhouse, which is honestly worth the trip. It was built in the early 1900s, and there's a lot of the original architecture still in place.
Judging from reactions online, a lot of people in the community actually welcome the casino. It's bringing jobs and money into a town that could use a little bit of both.
What's not to love?
The Grand Opening Is Supposedly This Year
They've already had a ground breaking, so construction should already be going. The last report I saw about the casino is that it should open sometime this year.
Interestingly enough, this is the first Kiowa Casino in Kiowa County, of which Hobart is the county seat.
The only major drawback is that it isn't just off of I-40. You'll have to go a little off the beaten path to get there.