Casino opening postponed to Monday

MATAMOROS -- The Viva Las Vegas casino, originally scheduled to open Wednesday, has postponed its grand opening to Monday due to electrical problems, the owner said.

"We hope Monday," James Vann said, referring to the opening date of the casino.

Vann, along with several business partners on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, will open his second casino in Matamoros. The first casino, also called Viva Las Vegas, in Nuevo Progreso, opened in August. Vann hopes to eventually operate six casinos across the border from the Rio Grande Valley.

Viva Las Vegas in Matamoros will have 100 slot machines and sports betting in U.S. dollars, Vann said. The casino is a few blocks from Bennigan's and the Best Western Hotel, west of the Cavazos Lerma highway to Ciudad Victoria.