7 a.m.:

Adrenaline.

After a premiere party that raged until midnight and dragged on until 4 a.m., Hoosier Park casino employees ran on pure energy three hours later as they prepared final details for the public opening.

As the waiting line grew longer outside the casino entrance, the tireless slots machines pulsed with light and sound, as if challenging their human caretakers to keep pace.

The “drop team” did its best. This five-person unit, dressed in blue overalls with the Hoosier Park logo on the back, is charged with clearing all the money out of each machine every morning.

A five-person squad of security guards watched as the drop team moved quickly, dropping the cash boxes out of each machine and using hand-held scanners to take records.

The team must process all 2,000 machines, or at least the ones that have been in working order, each morning. The goal: Do it in four hours.

“At first, it took nine hours,” security guard supervisor Anthony Cowan said as he watched the drop team. “Now, they’re down to about five.”

As the drop team combed row after row of machines, out back of the building, near the connection to the Hoosier Park grandstand, a few men in white pants and T-shirts knelt next to the new casino’s exterior wall, touching up the tan paint job near the asphalt. One of the painters glistened with sweat. It was already a hot day just two hours after sunrise.

He opened the door to take a cart inside.

“You goin’ in to place a bet?” his buddy joked.

“If only I had any money,” the other responded wistfully.

Back up near the front of the casino, inside the doors, employees gathered for a pep talk from Jim Brown, the big boss. Mr. and Mrs. Virgil Cook were seated near the entrance in motorized chairs. They started all this by donating the land on which Hoosier Park was built.

The gleaming, flashing electronic gambling machines created a surreal backdrop for the Cooks as a Hoosier Park employee knelt to chat with them.

Taking in the scene, someone in the crowd asked, “Can you believe this is Anderson, Indiana?”