CARTERVILLE – Governor JB Pritzker joined dozens of local leaders to cut the ribbon on the state’s newest casino Friday southern Illinois.

Capitol News Illinois reports Walker’s Bluff Casino and Resort is the fourth casino to open as a part of Illinois’ gambling expansion package approved in 2019. Much of the tax revenue from that gambling expansion is earmarked to help pay for the Rebuild Illinois capital construction program.

The new casino along the Williamson-Jackson County line includes 650 slot machines, 14 gaming tables, a hotel, and a 12-hundred seat event center, and employs 300 full-time workers.

Pritzker and others say they expect Walker’s Bluff to be another attraction for the hospitality and tourism industry in southern Illinois – in addition to the region’s parks and recreation areas.