Penn names new GM for Austintown racino

By Kalea Hall | June 9, 2017 at 12:00a.m.

AUSTINTOWN

Anthony “Tony” M. Frabbiele, a third-generation member of the gaming industry, has been named the new general manager of Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course effective Wednesday.

Frabbiele had served as vice president and general manager for Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc.’s Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge, La. Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. is a real-estate investment trust that was spun off Penn National Gaming Inc., the operator of the Austintown racino.

“I am excited,” Frabbiele said. “I think anytime I go anywhere, it’s really about the people who are there.”

Frabbiele wants the racino to be a great place to work and make sure it continues to better the area and “just be the best business partner we can be.”

Frabbiele is taking over for Mike Galle, who was general manager from when the racino opened in September 2014 until May, when he was named general manager of Penn National’s Hollywood Casino Gulf Coast and Boomtown Biloxi in Mississippi.

Under Galle’s leadership, the racino expanded its number of video-lottery terminals or slot machines several times. Since opening with 850 slot machines in 2014, Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley has added nearly 200 additional gaming devices through a previous gaming-floor expansion in 2015, as well as a smoking-patio expansion in 2016, which added 73 slot machines. This year, the racino added 50 new slot machines, bringing the total number of games on the property to 1,030.

“Youngstown is a fantastic market,” Frabbiele said. “I am excited to be a part of that and build upon the success that’s established there.”

Frabbiele, a Las Vegas native, began his career in the gaming industry in 1997 with the Isle of Capri Casino in Lake Charles, La., as a valet attendant. From 2006-2015, he worked in a variety of roles in the Atlantic City, N.J., market. His mother, father and grandfather have all been involved in the gaming industry. He loves the excitement, the entertainment and the customer service involved in the industry.

“Once I got into it, it was a natural fit for me,” he said.