For fourteen years the largest gaming floor in Ohio had nowhere to sleep. Hollywood Casino Columbus opened on the west side in 2012 with roughly 160,000 square feet of floor, nearly 2,000 slot machines and more than 60 table games, and for every one of those years it was a day trip off I-270. On 12 June 2026 a 203-room tower opened beside it. The property now markets itself as Hollywood Casino and Hotel Columbus, and a floor that was built for an evening is being asked to hold a weekend.
What the hotel actually added
The tower carries 183 standard rooms and 20 suites, with conference space, a fitness centre, an outdoor terrace and a new restaurant, The Hill Eatery and Lounge. The practical change is not the beds, it is the arrival pattern. A day-trip floor fills in the evening and empties by two in the morning. A floor with rooms attached holds people through the overnight hours, and the room mix on a Sunday morning now looks nothing like it did in 2025. Penn Entertainment has said an expanded high-limit table area and a speakeasy-style bar are due later in 2026, subject to regulatory approval.
One consequence is worth knowing before you book. A great many directories, map listings and third-party booking pages still carry the property under its older name with no accommodation attached. We checked the listings in September 2026 and several were still wrong.
The floor, in the detail the record page leaves out
| Feature | Detail |
| Gaming floor | About 160,000 sq ft, the largest in Ohio |
| Slot machines | Nearly 2,000, denominations from a penny upward |
| Table games | 60 or more, including roulette, craps and blackjack |
| Speciality pit | Mini Baccarat, Face-Up Pai Gow Poker, Crazy 4 Poker |
| Poker room | 34 tables, the largest in the state, 10am to 4am daily |
| Hotel | 203 rooms since 12 June 2026 |
| Floor hours | 24 hours |
| Smoking | None anywhere, by statute |
| Minimum age | 21 |
The six-hour gap that shapes the poker room
The card room is the biggest in Ohio at 34 tables, and it closes between 4am and 10am. That window is the single most important operational fact about the property for a regular, because it determines when a game breaks rather than when a player leaves. Late sessions are pushed toward an artificial close, and the strongest games of the week tend to form in the early evening rather than overnight. Players who want a seat at five in the morning have one option in this state, and it is JACK Cleveland Casino about two hours north-east, which runs its room around the clock. Our Ohio chain overview sets out how the four Penn properties compare on cards.
Where it sits, and why that matters
The property is on the west side, directly off the I-270 outerbelt, which puts it roughly fifteen to twenty minutes from downtown Columbus and inside an easy drive of Dublin, Hilliard and Grove City. Parking is surface and structure rather than a long walk, and the building is one level, which is unusual for a floor this size and is the feature returning players mention first. The whole building is non-smoking because Ohio's voter-approved 2006 workplace law covers casino floors with no gaming exemption, which is not true in Michigan, Indiana or West Virginia.
Eating, and what to book
Dining runs from Final Cut Steak and Seafood at the top through o.h., the H Lounge, the Epic Buffet, Zen Noodle and Take 2 Grill, with The Hill added by the hotel in June 2026. Final Cut is the only room here that needs a reservation on a weekend. The buffet is the one that queues, and the queue is worst between six and eight in the evening on a Friday.
What to expect at the tables
Posted minimums move with the hour rather than the day of the week. The same blackjack seat that carries a $10 minimum on a Tuesday afternoon will commonly carry a $25 minimum after nine on a Saturday night, and none of it is published in advance. Walk the pit and read the signs before you buy in, and check the rule card on the felt rather than the minimum alone. Whether the dealer stands on soft seventeen and whether a natural pays three to two or six to five vary between tables inside this building, not just between casinos.
Is it worth the trip
We checked floor size, table counts, poker hours and hotel status in September 2026. For a table player or a poker player anywhere in central Ohio this is the best choice in the region and it is not close, because the alternative across town is a video lottery floor with no pit at all. For a machine player the argument is weaker: the racino on the south side has more terminals and a national rewards card behind it. Our Columbus comparison puts the two side by side.
Playing from a sofa instead
This state does not license real-money online casino play. Sweepstakes platforms run on a promotional, no-purchase-necessary model and are what most players use from home; our payout-time testing covers how quickly each one redeems. Minimum ages differ by operator and several require 21.
Frequently asked questions
Does Hollywood Casino Columbus have a hotel?
Yes. A 203-room tower opened on 12 June 2026, the first accommodation on site since the casino opened in 2012.
What are the poker room hours?
10am to 4am daily, across 34 tables, the largest card room in the state.
How big is the gaming floor?
About 160,000 square feet, the largest in Ohio, with nearly 2,000 slot machines and more than 60 tables.
Can you smoke at Hollywood Casino Columbus?
No. The entire building is non-smoking under the 2006 workplace law, which covers Ohio casino floors.
What is the minimum age?
21, at every casino and racino in the state, checked with photo identification.
