"We will start on Nov. 4. We'll be starting as soon as we recover from our hangover," Gilbert said Tuesday, laughing.

You would laugh, too, if you were Gilbert, because if Issue 3 passes, he will have the exclusive rights to build casinos in Cleveland and Cincinnati.

"If you look at all the options, you got 20,000 people coming to a game and they could pull out and go to a casino."

Dan Gilbert

Penn National Gaming, of Pennsylvania, Gilbert's partner in the deal, would have rights to construct casinos in Toledo and Columbus.

Despite his celebrity status in Northeast Ohio as the Cavaliers owner, Gilbert isn't known for grabbing the media spotlight. But he intends to be front and center on the casino issue as a visible and accessible spokesman for the casino campaign.

"We've got 49 days from today, so you're going to get sick of me," Gilbert said. You're going to see me a lot."

Gilbert sat down for his first extended interview about his involvement in Issue 3 and he pulled no punches, taking shots at Gov. Ted Strickland's plan to put slot machines at horse racing tracks and responding sharply to criticism from Cleveland developer Jeff Jacobs.

Gilbert, who has made a fortune in the mortgage lending business, said his potential venture into the gambling industry is mostly about helping downtown Cleveland revitalize and become a catalyst for economic recovery in the Midwest. The key, he said, is to tie all the entertainment options together - a casino near professional sports and surrounded by restaurants and bars.

"It's one of those big opportunities that could be a big bang approach almost," Gilbert said from his office. "If you look at all the options, you got 20,000 people coming to a game and they could pull out and go to a casino."

Gambling proceeds would be taxed at 33 percent with a sizeable portion of that cash coming back to the host cities. The proposal also promises jobs and an exciting new entertainment option, Gilbert said.

But Gilbert has been criticized for orchestrating a monopoly that in the end will only make him more wealthy than he already is and over-promises on job creation and economic relief for Cleveland. Gilbert said he can take the criticism and dish it out, too.

Jacobs has been his most prominent opponent. Jacobs, whose company owns a casino in West Virginia that depends on Ohio gamblers, is helping bankroll TruthPAC, the anti-Issue 3 group.

"When you have a competing casino in West Virginia with 70-something-percent of your business coming from Ohio citizens and you are spending millions to stop a casino from being built in Ohio, then you'll say anything," Gilbert said.

Last month, Jacobs floated his own downtown Cleveland casino proposal, which he likened to steak versus Gilbert's hamburger.

"For someone to make stuff up, just literally make up lies and then call themselves the TruthPAC and has a casino that competes and everyone knows it, they just don't have the moral high ground to criticize," Gilbert said.

TruthPAC spokeswoman Sandy Theis said Gilbert should be reminded that TruthPAC is more than one person.

"I don't understand why they want to act like TruthPAC is one guy," she said. "TruthPAC is a broad coalition of Republicans and Democrats who think that Issue 3 will hurt the state.

"And the only side sanctioned for lying in this campaign was their side," Theis said, referring to an order from a Mahoning County judge this summer telling the casino backers to be more truthful as they gathered signatures to get Issue 3 on the ballot.

Issue 3 has been criticized for proposing to alter the state's constitution to change rules against gambling and for serving up a 33 percent tax while allowing the casino operators to keep the rest.

Gilbert said Ohio's laws prohibiting gambling are so cumbersome that anyone willing to make a $1 billion commitment, as he says he is, would need constitutional protection for their investment.

Besides, the measure still requires a vote of the people, whereas Strickland's slot machine plan did not go before voters, Gilbert noted.

Gilbert said the tax rate would be the fourth-highest for states with commercial casinos. He promises to use revenues to re-invest in his casinos and keep them first-rate operations.

Theis again disagreed, saying that since Gilbert and Penn wrote the amendment, they could have been more generous with the tax rate and certainly could have proposed more than a $50 million one-time licensing fee.

As for Strickland's decision to place up to 17,500 slot machines at the state's seven horse racing tracks - assuming the proposal survives three court challenges - Gilbert said the tracks will be no competition for his casinos in Cleveland and Cincinnati.

"I don't think it is a great plan for Ohio if they are going to do it, but we don't think that is going to have a significant impact and it doesn't saturate this market," Gilbert said. "I don't consider it a threat to a full-blown Las Vegas-style gaming operation in the core of downtown."

Gilbert said he and Penn did some polling shortly after a casino issue failed on last November's ballot. The information showed that Ohioans would support the right casino plan - facilities in specific urban areas with proceeds coming back to the communities.

So, Gilbert doesn't want to hear that four casino proposals have failed over the past two decades, so why try again.

"It's like saying, 'Well you dated three women and you didn't like any of them, but now there is this beautiful woman and she's nice and kind,' and you're going to say, 'Nah, forget it.' Come on," he said. "It's got to be the right person, just like it has to be the right proposal."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: rfields@plaind.com, 1-800-228-8272