Over the weekend, the Wild Rose Casino and Resort of Jefferson, Iowa hosted a weekend-long grand opening celebration. Tens of thousands were expected to enter the casino doors and take part in gaming and the exciting festivities. Visitors began to line up at 10 a.m. on Friday to gain entry into the facility, with the first 200 to earn a complimentary commemorative silver coin.

Officials of the Wild Rose said the big draw for visitors to the grand opening celebrations were the two concerts of Kenny Rogers, known as ‘The Gambler’. Rogers performed on Friday and Saturday night, with both shows selling out quickly.

At 5 p.m. on Friday, the first roll of the dice took place on a craps table to get the ball rolling with the casino gaming. The casino hosted the special grand opening celebration to live up to their slogan of ‘Small town friendly, big city wild’. The casino began a soft launch on July 13th which was very successful, with hundreds of gamblers linking up to see the new facility for the very first time.