New York City just got its first casino with full live tables. Resorts World is owned by Malaysian gambling giant Genting. The site opened blackjack, roulette, craps, and baccarat tables on Tuesday in Queens.
It is the only city casino with a full license. And it will probably keep that status for years.
That last part is what makes the deal worth watching.
The state's gambling board picked three downstate winners in 2025. Genting beat Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, Caesars Entertainment, and MGM Resorts for one of them.
The whole process took years. Voters first backed the gambling rollout in a 2013 vote.
Genting also got there first because it was already running. Resorts World was running a slots site next to the Aqueduct Racetrack, a few miles from JFK. Adding live tables turned that site into the city's only full casino.
"We got the license Dec. 15, and here we are, April 28 welcoming our guests to the new casino floor," Robert DeSalvio, president of Genting Americas East, said in an interview.
State taxes here are heavy: 63% of slots money and 30% of table game money. That is well above the rates most casino markets charge.
Here is the smart part. Genting wrote a clause into its bid. The clause drops its tax rate to whatever its rivals pay - once those rivals open.
The rivals are not close. Bally's is still building on a Bronx golf course it bought from The Trump Organization.
Hard Rock has not broken ground on its Citi Field site. The deal there is with Mets owner Steve Cohen.
That gap is Genting's tax edge.
The state expects all three casinos to bring in $7 billion in gaming tax money over a 10-year window. Real estate firm CBRE thinks the three sites could pull in up to $5.6 billion a year. That is the bull case at peak.
The opening has already added more than 1,200 new jobs. Another 500 are due by summer.
A sportsbook is on the way too, and it will be the city's first.
Some Queens locals have raised worries about traffic and crime. Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. is not one of them.
"We have hit the jackpot, Queens!" he said at the opening. Queens-raised rapper Nas, a partner in the project, also performed at the event.
The casino has been recruiting some dealers from out of state. It is also running its own dealer school to train locals to handle live table action.
Lim Kok Thay, the head of Genting, took the first dice roll at the opening. Nas and Richards stood next to him for the toss.
The next big step is the sportsbook launch. After that, the question is how long Genting's tax edge lasts before Bally's and Hard Rock break ground.
Whoever builds second will pay the full tax rate. Genting will be on a discount.
For investors in the gaming space, that gap is the whole story. Tax edges of this size can change who wins a market for years.
It is the kind of edge that does not show up in the press. But it shows up in the bottom line.
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