By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published Feb 29, 2024 at 3:56 PM

Ever since it opened last spring, the Potawatomi Sportsbook has been a big deal – and it's about to get even bigger, as Potawatomi Casino Hotel announced today the opening date for both the new permanent Sportsbook space as well as its new poker room. 

Both new Potawatomi spaces – the final phase of the venue's $190 million renovation project – will debut to guests and customers on Friday, May 3. The two new hotspots will be found on the first floor of the casino, in the former Northern Lights Theater area

"We are excited to bring the next level of an entertaining sports betting atmosphere to our guests," said Potawatomi Casino Hotel CEO Dominic Ortiz, in a release. “We appreciate the patience our guests have given us while we build out these two extraordinary projects. I can assure them, it will be well worth the wait."

The Sportsbook may have debuted last March, but the new permanent Potawatomi locale will be a whole new, major league-sized experience. When it opens in May, the Vegas-style Sportsbook will be 6,5000 square feet spread across two floors complete with seating for more than 200 patrons and more than 20 screens for all fans and bettors' casual and hardcore sports-watching needs – headlined by an eye-catching 2,000-square-foot LED screen centerpiece. 

For those who need to subsist on something beyond sports upon sports, the Potawatomi Sportsbook will also serve food and drink – including 48 beers on tap – to go along with the big games. 

“There is not a retail betting space outside of Las Vegas that can compete with the high-end venue we’re unveiling on May 3,” said Sean Cullen, director of Sportsbook, in the release. "With the 75 kiosks we currently have, we are number two in the country for gross gaming revenue of publicly reporting sportsbooks. We believe our new retail sports betting venue will make us a top travel destination in the Midwest.”

In case that wasn't enough to hit the over on excitement coming soon to Potawatomi Casino Hotel, the venue will also introduce The Poker Room on May 3. The new first-floor card game space will feature 14 tables of poker, ranging from 1-3 No Limit, 2-5 No Limit, Pot Limit Omaha and more – plus special promos such as Hourly High Hand Jackpots and Bad Beat Jackpot. And if in between all those full hands you realize your stomach's empty, The Poker Room will serve the same food and beverage options as the Potawatomi Sportsbook. 

The May openings will close out the casino's multi-year, $190 dollar renovation project first announced in May 2022. Not even including the new Sportsbook and poker room, the two-year facelift has resulted in the new first floor Potawatomi Marketplace food hall and an almost entirely reimagined second floor with Rock & Brews, Cream City Coffee Co., The 1833 Club for VIPs, the ElevenHundred Bar & Lounge surrounded by a sea of gaming, the Atrium gaming space, Street Eatz and a collection of Sportsbook kiosks for quick sports bets on the go.

For more information about the grand openings and about the casino's many new elements, visit Potawatomi Casino Hotel's website – and stay tuned to OnMilwaukee for a first look at the new Sportsbook and poker room coming soon!

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.

When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.