Rivers Casino Portsmouth hires new general manager

Antonio Perez Jr. has been named general manager of Rivers Casino Portsmouth, the casino’s owner, Rush Street Gaming, has announced.

Perez brings to Portsmouth more than two decades of casino gaming and operations experience at six properties in five states. Most recently, he was general manager of California’s Rolling Hills Casino Resort, which features two hotel towers with 110 rooms, restaurants, entertainment venues and gaming facilities. He joined Rolling Hills as director of gaming in 2020.

“We’re excited to welcome Antonio to our growing family of destination casinos,” Tim Drehkoff, CEO of Rush Street Gaming and Rivers Casino Portsmouth, said in a news release dated Sept. 22. “His extensive background in team development, guest experience and operations — including management of two hotels — makes him an excellent choice to lead our Virginia property.”

Earlier in his career, Perez worked with Penn National Gaming, which changed its name to Penn Entertainment in 2022. The company operates 43 casinos and racetracks across 20 states, an online gaming and sports betting presence and sports media. He began his casino career working as a table games dealer and slots attendant in West Virginia. Perez has an MBA from West Virginia’s Shepherd University.

Perez replaces Roy Corby, who left the position earlier this summer to become president of Koi Development, a California-based gaming partnership between Global Gaming Solutions and the Koi Nation.

At his new job, Perez has been reminded that the gaming industry is a small world. “There are barely a dozen plus team members here that I’ve worked with at other casinos all throughout the country,” he said in a recent Casino Update interview.

In May, Rush Street, a Chicago-based casino developer, and Rivers Casino Portsmouth announced plans to build a $65 million hotel adjacent to the casino. To be called the Landing Hotel, the eight-story property will have 106 guest rooms, including 32 suites. S.B. Ballard Construction was announced as the hotel’s general contractor in July.

Construction began over the summer on the hotel, according to a spokesperson. A ceremonial groundbreaking will be held this month, she said.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated.