The start of slot machine gambling in Maine drew a crowd Friday with thousands of people betting pennies, quarters and dollars at the opening day of Hollywood Slots.

Slot devotees and local residents curious about the new attraction formed a line around the Main Street building before the doors opened at 10 a.m. Once inside, people pulled slot handles, pushed flashing buttons or just checked out the parlor and its new form of gambling for the state.

"I want to go find the 2 cent machines," said Andrea Dickinson, dice earrings dangling from her earlobes. "I like watching and seeing the excitement."

Machines lit up and buzzed, creating a kinetic atmosphere in the windowless building. Cocktail waitresses in black shorts took drink orders. Players moved from "Double Dolphin" to "Sizzling 7" to "Flame of Olympus" in search of the right machine.

Machines lit up and buzzed, creating a kinetic atmosphere in the windowless building. Cocktail waitresses in black shorts took drink orders. Players moved from "Double Dolphin" to "Sizzling 7" to "Flame of Olympus" in search of the right machine.

"Press the button. Hope for the best. That's the only strategy," said Kirk Kurowski of Greenbush, who described himself as an avid slot player.

Hollywood Slots opened after years of debate in Maine over casino-style gambling.

In 2003, state voters approved slot machines at the commercial harness-racing track in Bangor in local and statewide referenda. It took time, however, for state officials to establish regulations and for an operator to find and renovate a location.

Penn National Gaming, which owns the parlor, spent $17 million to convert the former Miller's Restaurant into a temporary parlor with 475 slots.

The gaming giant plans to spend another $71 million to raze two hotels a few blocks away and build a new building for 1,500 slot machines. That parlor should open in 2007.

The inside of Hollywood Slots impressed Harold DeGrasse, a retired paper mill electrician from Brewer. The extensive transformation from buffet restaurant to glitz gambling hall surprised him. But he said his luck on the slots was the same as when he has played in other states.

"I lost just like I always do," said DeGrasse, who left after the $20 he brought ran out.

Coins don't rain out of machines when a player wins. The machines pay out paper tickets the parlor redeems for money.

Penn National estimated 700 people came into the parlor in its first hour of operation. Company officials expect a busy weekend for its newest attraction, which operates 7 days a week until 2 a.m.

Since this is a first in Maine, Eric Schippers, Penn National's vice president of public affairs and government relations, said the company is still figuring out where customers will hail from.

Casino customers come from an hour to 90 minutes away in most states, but Maine is likely to be a different market. The city of Bangor tends to draw people from a wider radius, and other options to play slots are quite a distance away.

The main complaint from people coming out of the parlor was that it wasn't enough. Some wanted to see a larger variety of slot machines like casinos in Connecticut. Others said the parlor needs table games like blackjack and roulette. They are currently illegal in Maine.

"I think it is about time Maine crawled out of the 18th century and got with the rest of the world," said Mel Blaisdell of Cornville, who stopped at Hollywood Slots on his lunch break.

The opening of the Hollywood Slots doesn't mean the debate over gambling in Maine is over. Casinos No!, an anti-slots group, sent out a press release shortly after the opening. The organization says the fact the parlor is not at Bangor Raceway, but a few blocks away, violates what voters approved in 2003.

Voters were led to believe they approved a "racino" that put the slots right at the raceway to help the harness racing industry, said Dennis Bailey, executive director of the anti-slots group. Horsemen and women "will get a subsidy from the slots, but it will do nothing to generate interest in the sport and bring people to the stands," he said.

But Ron Scammon, a longtime horse breeder and farmer from Wales, downplayed the fact that the slot parlor isn't at the raceway. He focused instead on how revenue from the machines will increase the purses winning horses receive, subsidize agricultural fairs and serve as an overall boost to harness racing.