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From FW Star-Telegram

BY BILL HANNA
billhanna@star-telegram.com

Every month, Carolee Neuman hops aboard a chartered bus with friends for a daylong trip to an Oklahoma casino.

On Thursday, the Mansfield resident was still raving about her trip two weeks ago to the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla.

"We go up and they give us a free breakfast with barbecue, eggs, bacon, cinnamon rolls -- you name it," Neuman said. "Then they give us free $10 gaming cards. I'm not a big-time gambler. I just play the slots, so that goes a long way."

She isn't alone.

Dozens of buses make regularly scheduled trips from North Texas and beyond each week, often carrying senior citizens and retirees.

An untold number of independent charters also make the trek across the Red River.

The latter was the case with the Cardinal Coach Line bus that crashed Thursday morning in Irving on its way to the Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Okla.

The bus trip -- tickets were $10 each -- was organized by a woman who went by "Casino Sue," according to a flier found at the crash site.

Sue Taylor of Hurst was one of two people killed, according to the Dallas County medical examiner's office. The other was Paula Hahn, 69, of Fort Worth.

Casino representatives said Thursday that the bus wasn't an official Choctaw charter.

"Our deepest condolences go out to the victims of the crash and their families during this difficult time," said Janie Dillard, executive director of gaming at Choctaw Casinos.

Choctaw's Durant casino, north of Denison, regularly serves six cities with buses. WinStar, north of Gainesville, provides service to 62 Texas cities, including 12 in Tarrant County, according to the WinStar website.

A Choctaw spokeswoman said the number of independently chartered buses that make the trip to Durant varies from week to week.

The Oklahoma casinos rely heavily on Texans for their income, according to a study by TXP, an Austin-based economic policy firm.

The study, cited by proponents of legalizing casinos in Texas, found that Texans accounted for 43 percent of "total estimated gaming activity" -- more than $1.6 billion -- in Oklahoma in 2012.

There was no independent information on how many of those Texans rode buses there.

Read more here: Oklahoma casinos are popular destination for Texans | Local News | News from Fort Worth,... (http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/04/11/4769427/oklahoma-casinos-are-popular-destination.html#storylink=cpy)

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Wow, I just can't believe Thackerville is getting that many visitors. Incredible.

I wouldn't mind if Riverwind in Norman got a little hotel TLC.

Problem is Riverwind is locals. Winstar is out-of-towners.

Problem is Riverwind is locals. Winstar is out-of-towners.

Of course, and I don't think it's likely to happen. I just thought it would be cool.

Another cool photo here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kdaq/8446027643/

Little Vegas on the Prairie.

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There is also more dirt being pushed around just to the northwest of these new hotels.

A mega development like Winstar in the Stillwater area would be nice to have to draw customers from Oklahoma City and Tulsa, perhaps Wichita, too, while providing 1000s of jobs. The small ones in the area like Cimarron Casino in Perkins don't quite cut it.

Video news story on the new on / off ramp being built north of the casino.


ODOT awards contract for second phase of I-35 interchange (http://www.kxii.com/home/headlines/ODOT-awards-contract-for-second-phase-of-I-35-interchange-210514971.html)

Video update:

New hotel tower opens at Winstar World Casino and Resort (http://www.kxii.com/home/headlines/New-hotel-tower-opens-at-Winstar-World-Casino-and-Resort-230929091.html)

New hotel / pool area.
http://media.graytvinc.com/images/winstar+hotel.jpg

The third 18 story tower will be complete in April.


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Funny, Texans come here for the gambling and we go there for the beer.

Does anyone know what the road construction's end result is supposed to look like in this area? I've searched for plans but can't locate any for the project going on just north of the casino.

Funny, Texans come here for the gambling and we go there for the beer.I've always found it funny how there is a casino on the Oklahoma border and a porn shop on the Texas side

Does anyone know what the road construction's end result is supposed to look like in this area? I've searched for plans but can't locate any for the project going on just north of the casino.would be nice to see as well

would be nice to see as well

Working on getting an update.

The total number of jobs at Winstar is at 3,500 with more coming after new 18 story tower is complete in the spring.

Winstar Casino Continues To Expand - KTEN.com - No One Gets You Closer (http://www.kten.com/story/23899326/winstar-casino-continues-to-expand)

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Also, a 252 unit apartment complex is under construction at the corner of I-35 and Rogers Road which will be complete in the spring.

The north Dallas suburbs must be benefiting well as places to live for those 3,500 plus workers.

The north Dallas suburbs must be benefiting well as places to live for those 3,500 plus workers.Don't know what you're getting at. I'm sure as the community improves over time, we will see more people start to live there.

The north Dallas suburbs must be benefiting well as places to live for those 3,500 plus workers.

I would think a lot of the workers live in Ardmore or Gainesville (which isn't a DFW suburb). Denton or Sherman maybe but those are 50 min away.

I would think a lot of the workers live in Ardmore or Gainesville (which isn't a DFW suburb). Denton or Sherman maybe but those are 50 min away.

Yes, plus with the transportation infrastructure (being able to get to Dallas by train) there's no need for them to live any further south than Denton if they even wanted to live that far away!

According to this new commercial, they are now the largest casino in the world.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdoFjHa0uFo&feature=youtu.be

According to this new commercial, they are now the largest casino in the world.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdoFjHa0uFo&feature=youtu.be

Eat your heart out Vegas and Atlantic City! You ain't got nothing on Thackerville, OK.

Eat your heart out Vegas and Atlantic City! You ain't got nothing on Thackerville, OK.

Las Vegas was nothing but desert 70 years ago.

Think how far it's come in 10 years. From open prairie to this:

Rome wasn't built....

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