- Cedar Crossing opens to the public in mid-November, six weeks early, with a grand-opening celebration Dec. 4-5.
- The $275 million Cedar Rapids floor will hold 700 slot machines against 22 live table games.
- Iowa’s 19 state-licensed casinos paid back 89.3% to 90.7% on slots in the quarter ending June.
- Peninsula Pacific Entertainment and the Linn County Gaming Association pledged 8% of net adjusted gross revenue to nonprofits.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Iowa’s largest casino investment, the Cedar Crossing Casino & Entertainment Center, will open to the public in mid-November, about six weeks ahead of the New Year’s Eve debut its developer had promised, and its gaming floor will hold 700 slot machines against 22 live table games.
Ahead Of Schedule, With 13 Acts Booked Through 2027
Developer Peninsula Pacific Entertainment moved the opening ahead of schedule and set a two-day grand-opening celebration for Dec. 4-5, with the first entertainment booking landing before it.
“A strong plan, good architecture, strategic procurement, local labor and favorable weather have helped keep work ahead of schedule,” Peninsula Pacific chief development officer Stefan Huba said.
The Pork Tornadoes open the 1,500-capacity event center Nov. 25. Old Dominion follows Dec. 5 and Steve-O Dec. 12, with 13 acts booked through Carrot Top on May 15, 2027. The developers are aiming for more than 100 shows a year, roughly two a week, and the building will also house Jocko’s Comedy Club, an arts and cultural center and a STEM lab.
Iowa Slots Paid Back 89.3% To 90.7% Last Quarter
Seven hundred machines against 22 tables works out to roughly 32 slot machines for every table game, and the two halves of that room price a wagered dollar nothing alike.
Slot payback across Iowa’s 19 state-licensed casinos ranged from 89.3% at Lakeside Casino, the lowest in the state, to 90.7% at Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino, the highest, in the quarter ending June 2026, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission reported. Every property sat inside that 1.4-point band.
A 90% payback means the machine hands back 90 cents of every dollar cycled through it and keeps a dime. That is the number per wager, not per visit, and because winnings get fed straight back into the machine, a bankroll erodes a great deal faster than 10%.
The pit runs on much thinner margins. A craps pass line carries a house edge around 1.41%, roughly a seventh of what a 90% machine takes on the same dollar. The free odds bet placed behind it is craps’ only zero-edge wager because it pays at the true odds of the point repeating.
House edge is only ever that gap, between how often a result actually lands and what the game pays when it does. The same pass-line math holds at a Cedar Rapids table and at legal online craps.
Peninsula Pacific has not said which 22 games it will spread, so whether a dice table joins the map for legal craps in Iowa is still open.
An 8% Nonprofit Cut, 350 Jobs And $80.2 Million
Peninsula Pacific and the Linn County Gaming Association committed 8% of net adjusted gross revenue to local nonprofits, against the 3% minimum Iowa requires of licensees. They put the pledge at more than $6.3 million a year.
The developer projects the casino will generate $80.2 million annually in new gaming revenue for the state, and more than $115 million to Cedar Rapids, Linn County and Iowa across its first five years.
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission cleared the license on a 4-1 vote in February 2025 after commissioning its own market study. Peninsula Pacific and its subsidiary Cedar Rapids Development Group are building the casino on the former Cooper’s Mill site on the west side of the Cedar River.
Hiring for about 350 permanent positions begins in September. The Linn County Gaming Association opens its first grant application cycle in early 2027, with awards expected that July.
Tags: Cedar Crossing Casino & Entertainment Center, Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, Cedar Rapids Development Group, Linn County Gaming Association, Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, Stefan Huba, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino, Lakeside Casino, Jocko’s Comedy Club, Old Dominion, Steve-O, The Pork Tornadoes, craps