Arizona's Indian Gaming Phenomenon

[OTABILL]

It's kind of interesting that Arizona's tribal casinos are thriving given the proximity to Vegas and Laughlin while those in Atlantic City and elsewhere are having saturation and other issues.

Arizona’s Indian Gaming Phenomenon

[theartist]

thlove the hill of river

[notes1]

the original post on this thread was specifically about AZ casinos, but might be an interesting conversation about indian vs private casinos. i do not pretend to know about casino operations or profitabilty. the consensus opinion i have always read was that indian casinos had little regulation and were to be avoided over regulated private casinos. avoiding the arguement about whether regulation is real or not, i think many would agree that even operating within the law, gives plenty of room for regulated casinos to reduce payouts on all games.  it seems that many indian casinos operate in an area, where they have an agreement within the state, that gives them 'protected' areas to operate, without competition. places like AC, tunica, biloxi have lots of competition and are struggling. having a protected area would seem to lend itself to greater profitability. i also think the indian casinos have avoided the some of the expenses that some private casinos have fallen into, including charter airlines and giving hosts authorization to provide extra comps.   i try to avoid generalizations, but one thing i can say from my own experience is that the employees who work at indian casinos are among the friendliest casinos workers i have ever dealt with. they treat you like a welcome guest, unlike some of the AC workers, who act like they are doing me a favor. no comparison.  my best overall casino experiences have occured where casinos are doing well financially. those casinos have the resources to provide a safe, clean place to play and less of a need to cut payouts. and, their employees tend to be happier. 

[Webman]

I'm going to get letters about this.

[notes1]

webman, do not understand??????
 please explain

[OTABILL]

the original post on this thread was specifically about AZ casinos, but might be an interesting conversation about indian vs private casinos. i do not pretend to know about casino operations or profitabilty. the consensus opinion i have always read was that indian casinos had little regulation and were to be avoided over regulated private casinos. avoiding the arguement about whether regulation is real or not, i think many would agree that even operating within the law, gives plenty of room for regulated casinos to reduce payouts on all games.  it seems that many indian casinos operate in an area, where they have an agreement within the state, that gives them 'protected' areas to operate, without competition. places like AC, tunica, biloxi have lots of competition and are struggling. having a protected area would seem to lend itself to greater profitability. i also think the indian casinos have avoided the some of the expenses that some private casinos have fallen into, including charter airlines and giving hosts authorization to provide extra comps.   i try to avoid generalizations, but one thing i can say from my own experience is that the employees who work at indian casinos are among the friendliest casinos workers i have ever dealt with. they treat you like a welcome guest, unlike some of the AC workers, who act like they are doing me a favor. no comparison.  my best overall casino experiences have occured where casinos are doing well financially. those casinos have the resources to provide a safe, clean place to play and less of a need to cut payouts. and, their employees tend to be happier. 

I agree completely that employees at Native American casinos here in Arizona, with one exception, are usually friendly and helpful. The exception, Harrah's Ak Chin where where, too often, we have encountered the same attitude, etc., as you have in AC. Maybe it's because it's managed by CET and not by the tribe.

Regarding competition, there is plenty in Arizona, perhaps because numerous communities have casinos in close proximity. The legal wrangling over the proposed tohono o'odham casino in Glendale is a case in point. BTW, several casinos here collect local sales tax on restaurant tabs.

[olds442jetaway]

All I can add is that the employees at Mohegan Sun are the nicest and most helpful of virtually any business I have done business with. I think part of it is their training, but whatever it is, it keeps me going back time and time again. Just a note to add that both Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods had slot revenue increases of between 3 and 5 percent last month. I attribute that to falling gas and oil prices and people especially the locals are just blowing it instead of doing something better with the savings. Funny, after I posted this, I read an article where the ceo of Mohegan pretty much says the same thing. I guess the point is the Arizona Native American casinos and the Ct. Native Amerian Casinos are both doing a little better lately.

[DaBurglar]

This thread touches on what I have been saying about AC for years....the so-called "gaming saturation" issue is NOT the reason AC is disappearing from the map!!!!You previous posters nailed it!   Native casinos have much better service and friendlier people working there, and at least some native casinos still allow the players to actually WIN something once in a while.....AC has the worst employees with the worst attitudes, and the casinos have the most stingy games whereby people win at a much LOWER rate, and win lower jackpots, than almost any other casino market or destination.......THAT is why people abandon AC in droves and never return!Olds, I totally agree with your assessment of Mohegan employees....

[edog743]

Tribal casinos are more regulated than non-tribal casinos besides the state the tribes are subject to federal scrutiny audits,suprise visits etc.

[Casino Knight]

[QUOTE=notes1]   The legal wrangling over the proposed tohono o'odham casino in Glendale is a case in point. BTW, several casinos here collect local sales tax on restaurant tabs.

I pass by the new casino site daily. They continue to move lots of dirt, lawsuit or not. The T.O.'s could have made a huge chunk of money by providing parking and shuttle from the site to the University of Phoenix Stadium for the Super Bowl this Sunday. Local parking is going from $100-$200 per car.

As for the sales tax, it's a Tribal Tax. It's also deleted when dining on a comp.

Gila & Salt River Tribes continue to fight the T.O.'s casino, which I think is a big waste of money. They should be developing more casino loyalty by offering better VP/Slot paytables and incentives to players. As I see it, the other tribes will lose the entire West Valley when the new casino opens.

Presently, both Gila & Salt River as well as Harrah's Casinos operate buses two or more of times a day, to and from the west valley. (Fort McDowell and Camp Verde to a lesser extent).

The Peoria, Glendale, and the Sun Cities', alone will pay for the casino, and with public transportation available on the half hour, it a no brainer.

Located a mile north of the "Westgate Mall", on Northern Avenue,just east of the 101 Freeway, it's in the heart of the West Valley's Entertainment District. Two stadiums, an outlet mall, as well as upscale shopping, dozens of food venues, within a mile or two. It's gonna be a gold mine.

Here's my Ace kicker. Should the "legal wrangling" delay the opening of the T.O.'s Class 3 gaming, they could open as a Class 2 facility. NO STATE COMPACT REQUIRED! While most of us here know the difference in Class 2 and Class 3 machines, the majority of "ploppers" do not. Imagine an Arizona Casino with thousands of machines, and a giant bingo hall that the State would gain no revenue from. I don't think it would last a month before the State would be begging for a Class 3 Compact.

just my two and half cents.