Something Old, Something New, Something Broken, Something Blue: Part 1

Something Old, Something New

Good News! Something New is the largest category. Bad News! There is a lot of Old, Broken and Blue News too!

Our notes and comments are based on our ongoing research including annual visits to each of the 74 casinos/racinos in the nine southeastern states.  Some of the revenue numbers are good, a few are very good.  Some of the revenue numbers are not so good, some are bad and very bad.  So, here goes:

Some Things Old – After visiting casinos and racinos for the past three years, first-hand views tell us a lot. Yogi Berra summed it up well: “You can observe a lot by just watching.”  What is becoming old at a number of facilities is the same old slot machines with worn gaming floor carpets, grumpy looking employees, being greeted with a grunt, table dealers with an empty table standing with their arms crossed…nothing cheerful. This gets old to patrons and it shows on their faces too. Then there’s the food: nothing has changed except the prices, and yes, the prices are up. We’ll get into a few good examples of food and drinks pricing and quality along with some sketchy rooms in the Broken and Blue sections of this note. Far too many of the casinos and racinos we visited last year gave the appearance of Some Things Old. 

Some Things New – We’re delighted to point out the New. Many of the older facilities had a cheerful staff, great crowds enjoying their visit to the gaming floors, restaurants and hotels. In a number of cases this was an upgrade. In addition to the operations displaying a good attitude toward the facility and patrons, the number and quality of new facilities and additions was a good surprise. New facilities and major expansions in 2015 include:

• Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino Hotel in Murphy, North Carolina which opened in September. The complex includes a 300-room hotel, five food areas, and a gaming floor with 1,000 slots and 100 table games. Murphy, North Carolina is in the western N.C. area near the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.
• The Scarlet Pearl in D’Iberville, Mississippi opened for business in December. This facility includes a 300-room hotel including suites and penthouse rooms, six food and bar areas, a gaming area with 1,300 slots and 45 table games and a poker room. It features a 36-hole miniature gold the grounds. The complex sits on the waterfront in the Biloxi Back Bay area.
• The Island View Casino Resort in Gulfport, Mississippi added an 18 story beach front tower hotel which opened in April. The new addition includes 405 rooms, a spa, gulf-front pool area and food areas including a beach grill and other casual dining.  
• The Silver Slipper Casino and Hotel at Bay St. Louis, Mississippi opened its new 90-room Gulf front hotel in May.
• Beau Rivage owners added to their complex in Biloxi, Mississippi with a 5,000 seat MGM baseball park in June. The new facility directly across the boulevard from Beau Rivage, is home to the Biloxi Shuckers, a AA Southern League team.
• Boomtown, New Orleans, Louisiana opened their new 120-room hotel in June adjacent to their riverboat casino facility.
• Arkansas – Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs and Southland Park each expanded its gaming facility to include new food areas along with table games and poker rooms in early 2015.
• The Seminole Tribe of Florida Immokalee facility opened its new 90-room hotel and expanded the food and gaming areas in mid-2015.

We also saw significant changes in several of the gaming floor make-up, including new slots and slot arrangements, more table games and reconfigurations of slots and tables on gaming floors.

Some things new had a very good year in Southeastern gaming!

“The Cherokee removal was the cruelest work I ever knew”

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians was federally recognized in 1924 by a proclamation of a joint session of the United States House of Representatives and Senate. This recognition is separate from the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. The history of this Tribe and the Cherokee Tribe of Oklahoma is among the most disturbing, dramatic and shameful acts of the United States Government.

At the time of President Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act in 1830, the Cherokee Tribe was considered by European Americans and other whites to be the most “civilized” tribe in America. Of all the native peoples residing in America the Cherokees had progressed the most toward organizing themselves in ways the United States Government, whites and European-Americans advocated. John Ridge, a prominent Cherokee orator declared: “You asked us to throw out the hunter and warrior state: We did so. You asked us to form a republican government: We did so – adopting your own as a model. You asked us to cultivate the earth and learn the mechanic arts: We did so. You asked us to learn to read and write: We did so. You asked us cast away our idols and worship your God: We did so.” 

In an attempt to avoid removal, the Cherokee went to the Supreme Court in 1832 with their claim of sovereignty, their right to defy restrictions placed on them by the states and have a government-to-government relationship with the United States, and won. The Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Marshall ruled in favor of the Cherokee repudiating Georgia’s authority over their territory. Cherokees were now of the belief that they were free from state coercion, but neither Georgia or the federal government would honor the ruling. President Jackson said: “John Marshall has made his decision, let him enforce it now if he can.”

However, in 1835 a U.S. treaty commissioner summoned the Cherokee to Georgia, stating that all who failed to attend would be regarded as approving the actions taken there. Only a few hundred attended, and approved a treaty saying that the Cherokee move west to the Indian Territory by 1838. This treaty gave Andrew Jackson the excuse and power to move ahead with the removal in spite of a petition against signing of the treaty by more than 15,000 Cherokees.

In May 1838, nearly 17,000 Cherokee clung to their homelands. President Van Buren dispatched 7,000 troops with authority to call up the state militiamen and round up the Cherokee and impound them. Over 26 days, soldiers scoured the area. Cherokee men were seized from behind their plows, women dragged from their homes. Entire families were plucked from their homes and sometimes separated. Most of the Cherokees who were herded to the stockades only had time to take their clothes on their backs. Their homes, furnishings, farms and livestock fell prey to whites who followed the roundup squads. They were reported as looting homes and graves, stripping the corpses of silver pendants and valuables. A Georgia volunteer who later served as a Colonel in the Confederate Army said years afterwards, “I fought through the Civil War and seen men shot to pieces and slaughtered by the thousands, the Cherokee removal was the cruelest work I ever knew.”

Over 4,000 Cherokees were killed or died during their capture or on the Trail of Tears to their new home west of the Mississippi. About 1,400 Cherokees remained behind. Many of the early white settlers were single white men who had married Cherokee women and were exempt from the forced relocation. They, along with a small group who had eluded the roundup retreated to the mountains of North Carolina. For those who stayed behind it would be 86 years before the United States government would recognize them as a sovereign nation. After 1835 the North Carolina Indians lived on small farms in poverty.  By 1855 citizenship was still an unresolved issue.  North Carolina Governor Thomas Bragg claimed that the Cherokee were not North Carolina citizens, as they did not “exercise the rights of ordinary citizens.” But they were allowed the “right” to pay taxes on the property they owned.

Cherokee Chief William Taylor bought land in Qualla Town and the surrounding area through 1860. Much of this land is now Qualla Boundary, the territory which is now the home of the federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee.

The U.S. government continued with their desires to either assimilate, relocate, or eliminate the Eastern Cherokees. Their final effort came in the name of the famous 1924 Baker Roll requiring land, money, and other property along with the names of all owners be transferred to the United States for final disposition. Termination of the Tribe as a government and political entity was the ultimate goal. This final roll of the Eastern Cherokee was prepared by United States Agent Fred A. Baker. The termination failed on the vote of the U.S. Congress. Instead, on June 24, 1924 by Act of Congress, the Eastern Band of Cherokee were granted full citizenship on all those included in the Baker Roll.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians was now a federally recognized Indian Tribe. Their land was and remains a unique territory in the United States. The Eastern Cherokee do not live on land that was given to them by the federal government; they live on the Qualla Boundary, their own land, land that they had bought piece by piece after the Trail of Tears and throughout the 1800s. It is not an Indian Reservation. The 82.60 square miles of land is owned by the Eastern Cherokee, held in trust by the federal government…by choice of the Eastern Cherokee people.

Today the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is a sovereign nation within the boundaries of the United States. As such they maintain a nation-to-nation relationship with the United States Government. There are more than 13,000 enrolled members of the Tribe and over 60% live on Qualla Boundary lands.

The Tribe pays for its own school, water, sewer, and emergency services. Funding for the Tribes services and benefits to the tribe is provided for from a number of business entities including the ”Unto These Hills” presentation, their Eastern Cherokee Museum, the Cherokee Bingo entity and a magnificent Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Resort. A second Casino and Hotel, The Cherokee Valley River Casino and Hotel, is scheduled to open in September 2015 in the Murphy, North Carolina area. Finally, the Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual which sells traditional arts and crafts made by its members is the country’s oldest and foremost Native American crafts cooperative. 

Sources:  The Eastern Band of Cherokees 1819 – 1900 by John R. Finger;  Access Genealogy web site; Tribes of the Southern Woodlands, Time-Life Books; The Southeastern Indians by Charles Hudson; Trail of Tears, The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee nation by John Ehle; and various web sites.

Top Ten Casinos and Racinos in the Southeast

We visited all 72 casinos and racinos in the Southeastern States during 2014, and some more than once. So we’ve put together our top ten favorites based on observations, the patrons, the food and beverage areas, mood and professional appearance and actions of the employees and operators. Just how did we feel about the place, the crowd factor, would I come back here factor, the entertainment factor, the excitement factor? And my own personal likes and dislikes -- I like thoroughbred horse racing; I dislike greyhound dog racing or being charged extra for wi-fi. So here they are:

1.   Beau Rivage, Biloxi, Mississippi – Beau Rivage has it all. The four star-rated hotel has 1,740 rooms owned and managed by MGM Resorts International. The casino area has 2,100 slots, an assortment of table games along with a 16 table poker room. There are 9 restaurants including one buffet area plus 3 bars adjacent to the gaming areas and one at their beautiful pool area. Their patrons include people of all ages including families with children. The facility has a gorgeous location directly on the Gulf of Mexico, a lobby that welcomes you with its “wow factor,” and a large upscale retail shopping area.  Their entertainment facilities are among the best in the U.S.

2.   L’Auberge Casino Resort, Lake Charles, Louisiana – L’Auberge at Lake Charles has a great wow factor with unique architecture and design that’s immediately inviting.  The facility is owned and operated by Pinnacle Entertainment. The hotel has 995 rooms, 1,600 slots, 83 table games and a large poker room. It has restaurants and eating areas including a large buffet plus a bar at their great pool area. Patrons include people of all ages including families with children. The property also includes an 18-hole championship golf course.  Entertainment areas include a 1,400 seat auditorium featuring top name stars and groups and a 165 seat indoor-outdoor casual dining area with live entertainment.  They too have a large upscale retail area.  Pinnacle has created a great facility that combines upper-end with comfort. 

3.   Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Tampa, Florida – This has the largest gaming area in the southeast with over 4,500 slots, several table game areas including their blackjack pit and Asian-inspired table game area, and a large poker room. Their 242 room hotel boasts its AAA four-diamond rating each year for the past 8 years.  Their 8 restaurants include the Seminole’s signature Council Oak and Hard Rock Café. In addition, the gaming areas have five lounges. Other amenities include a large spa and live entertainment at the Hard Rock Café Council Oaks and in the lounges. The facility is owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida and operated by Hard Rock, International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Seminole Tribe.

4.   Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, Cherokee, North Carolina – This beautiful facility located in a beautiful area and owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and operated by Harrah’s.  The hotel has 1,108 rooms, some with gorgeous mountain views. The gaming area houses 3,325 slots, over 100 table games including an Asian gaming area plus a 20 table poker room. Ten restaurants and eating areas include their buffet, Ruth Chris Steak House, Brio and a Noodle Bar restaurants. Other amenities include bar and lounge areas adjacent to the gaming floor, a full service SPA and a retail store area.  Their 3,000 seat event center hosts top name entertainment.

5.   Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood/Fort Lauderdale, Florida – This casino complex includes a 4.5 acre water park, 500 room AAA four-diamond hotel, a large SPA, 130,000 square foot gaming area and an entertainment district. The gaming area houses 2,200 slots, 130 tables and a 40 + table poker room.  Their 5,000 seat Hard Rock Live Arena is among the best in South Florida and hosts top entertainment. In addition, there is live entertainment in several restaurants and lounges.  Numerous restaurants and lounges within the complex include their signature Council Oak Steaks and Seafood (where we had their amazing 30-oz in-bone ribeye steak), Hard Rock Café, a food court, poolside Beach Club and Hooters. This, too, is owned by The Seminole Tribe of Florida and operated by Hard Rock, International.

6.   Harrah’s New Orleans Casino and Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana – Located just steps away from the famous New Orleans French Quarter, across the street from the New Orleans Convention Center in the heart of all the action.  Facilities include a 450 room hotel, 3800 slots, and 100 + table games.  The complex is surrounded with New Orleans entertainment plus they have entertainment in their numerous lounges and restaurants. The casino hotel complex has more than a dozen restaurants including Besh Steaks, Ruth Chris Steak House, Gordon Borsch, and their buffet.

7.   Margaritaville Resort Casino, Bossier City, Louisiana – I’m a huge fan of this resort casino, which I featured in an earlier post.  The hotel has 395 rooms, a large spa, and houses 1,300 slots and 46 table games. Their 7 food areas include the World Tour Buffet, Margaritaville Restaurant and Jimmy’s Seafood and Steak along with a large lounge and bar area and pool bar area overlooking the Red River. The facility also has a 900-seat performance Hall and has live entertainment in the lounge and pool bar areas. The casino and Hotel opened for business in June 2013. Their 2014 casino revenue market share was 17+ percent of the Shreveport-Bossier City 7-casino market.  The project is privately owned.

8.   Island View Casino Resort, Gulfport, Mississippi – Gulfport is a short drive west of Biloxi fronting the Gulf of Mexico. This privately owned facility has 565 rooms, a spa, and houses 2,000 slots and 45 table games.  Island View has 7 restaurant food areas including their award-winning Carter Green Steakhouse which features Steak and Gulf Coast Seafood, the Island View Buffet (which is magnificent – try the funnel cakes), and their Beach Boulevard Steamers restaurant directly across the street.  They offer live entertainment their 550 seat View Showroom and their Sunset Bar and Deck. They’re in the process of completing a high-rise across the street that will be on the beach and should open this year.

9.   L’Auberge at Baton Rouge, Louisiana – Owned and operated by Pinnacle Entertainment.  Its incredible architectural structure and river front location makes it another wow factor project.  The facility has 205 hotel rooms, a rooftop pool, 1,500 slots 50+ tables and a 1,500 square foot poker room. Their 5 restaurant and food areas include their signature 18 Steak, Stadium Sports Bar and Grill and a large buffet. They feature live entertainment in their music bar and at “Live,” their 1,400 seat entertainment center. L’Auberge at Baton Rouge opened for business in the second half of 2012 and grabbed 39+% of the Baton Rouge casino revenue market share in 2013 and 2014. While we were here, we particularly enjoyed a magnificent sunset from the rooftop pool, spa and exercise facility.

10.          Gulfstream Park Racetrack and Casino, Hallandale/Fort Lauderdale, Florida – If you want to visit a model racino, this is it. I featured this one in an earlier post, “Pegasus, paddocks and pies”.  The casino area is small in comparison, with 850 slots and no table games. But the thoroughbred racing facility is fabulous and it is woven into an exceptional upper end retail shopping area that offers dozens of world known retail names.  You also have access to 20+ great restaurants and bars including the facilities own bar area and clubhouse restaurant.  The location in the Fort Lauderdale, North Miami Beach area just makes it that much better. The combination makes this a great day of entertainment.   

2014 Summary and 2015 Predictions

Notes and Observations on Casinos and Racinos in the 9 Southeastern States - Part 1

Alabama – 3 casinos total: All are owned and operated by the Poarch Creek Band of Creek Indians and their subsidiaries. They provide Class II gaming at their Atmore facility plus upgraded facilities at Montgomery and Wetumpka. The Poarch Creek Tribe Casinos had a good year in 2014 and anticipate business to be about the same for 2015. Although their two upgraded facilities could be negatively affected by the new Cherokee facility in Murphy, North Carolina anticipated to open in 2015.  No new Alabama casinos or racinos are projected for 2015.

Arkansas – 2 racinos total: Oaklawn Jockey Club with hhoroughbred horse racing and Sunnyland Greyhound Park Racing.  Both are well-established. We will publish their 2014 revenues in Part 2 of this blog, but we anticipate business to be about the same in 2015. No new Arkansas casinos or racinos are projected for 2015.

Florida – 15 casinos and racinos total: Seven casinos owned by the Seminole Tribe and one owned by the Miccosukee Tribe, plus seven commercial, non-Indian racinos in Dade and Broward Counties. 2014 saw expansion of the Seminole Immokalee facility with a new hotel under construction and improvements in all others. Miccosukee Facilities remained steady.

Racinos were mixed with the four thoroughbred sites doing well and we witnessed strong attendance in our visits to each of the sites last year. Hialeah Park Racetrack and Casino officially opened in late 2013 and had a strong 2014. The two greyhound racinos claim to have struggled with their racing business during 2014, and we saw evidence of this in our 2014 visits there.

One Jai Alai racino opened and closed in 2014; the other Miami Casino Jai Alai also claims to have struggled during 2014. We observed this during our visit there and also heard evidence of this at the Florida Gaming Congress meeting in November. Revenues for the Florida racinos will be published in Part 2 of this blog. 

2015 should see the Seminole empire march on with improvements, facilities plans and upgrades at Hialeah and Pompano Park while all others remain about the same. No new casinos or racinos are projected for Florida in 2015.

One key item to watch in 2015 -- the Federal Recognition of the Muscogee nation of Florida located in the Florida Panhandle is scheduled for their preliminary findings March 31, 2015 by the Office of Federal Recognition, Bureau of Indian Affairs. If the finding is positive, there are remaining steps prior to the tribe pursuing gaming.  We will

Georgia – No casinos or racinos. However, Georgia legislators have had continued discussions regarding casinos in Georgia casino activities during 2014.  While there are no Federally Recognized Indian Tribes in Georgia, the Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokees has petitioned the Bureau of Indian Affairs and is under review with no proposed findings dates announced. I anticipate that Georgia Legislators will continue casino discussions throughout 2015 in light of the addition of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Murphy, North Carolina facility scheduled to open in 2015 two hours from downtown Atlanta and the prospects of Federal Recognition being granted to the Georgia Cherokee Tribe. No new casinos or racinos are projected to open in 2015.

Louisiana – 24 casinos and racinos total: Four Casinos owned by Louisiana Indian Tribes, sixteen commercial casinos owned privately or by Wall Street firms, and four racinos all Wall Street-owned at year-end 2014.

First, the four tribal casinos: Jena’s casino is a small casino favorite of mine.  Visits there saw good local crowds on the gaming floor and their restaurant buffet.  The Coushatta in Kinder, Louisiana near the Lake Charles area is continuing to expand with a large new hotel. Coushatta has a number of activities in addition to their large gaming platform. Next, the Paragon owned by the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe has reduced its slots by removing slots from one of the gaming floor areas during 2014. Most notable was the significant reduction in hours of operation and closing of half of the facilities at Cypress Bayou during 2014. Our stay there was disappointing following our outstanding 2013 visit to their restaurant area and casino activity.

On the commercial side, the Shreveport/BossierCity market saw a significant change with the introduction of Margaritaville Casino and Hotel in 2013. They have captured nearly 20 percent of the market since opening in 2013 leaving two others struggling for existence.  I predict that one casino in this market will close its business during 2015. I also predict that Harrah’s Louisiana Downs, part of the Caesars empire, will be acquired by Boyd Gaming or Churchill Downs. 

The Lake Charles market saw the opening of the new Golden Nugget in December 2014. No doubt this will bring a change to that market and perhaps the Baton Rouge market. We’ll update our notes following the publication of revenues in February.  The Baton Rouge market was steady; all of the facilities looked good during our 2014 visits. 

Finally, the New Orleans market had an expansion at Boomtown with the construction of a new hotel facility.  Harrah’s New Orleans continues to dominate the market asa great facility in the middle of all of the New Orleans action.  Churchill Downs Fairground Racetrack Casino had small but steady revenues and has great future potential. And the Treasure Chest Casino in Kenner at Lake Pontchatrain is another of my small casino favorites…neat, clean with very steady revenues.  We will report soon on 2014 revenues.  We’ll see what 2015 brings with the addition of the Golden Nugget and other expansions. I am projecting one closure during the 2015 and no new racinos or casinos during 2015. Stay tuned.

Mississippi – 30 casinos and racinos total: Three of the thirty are owned by the Choctaw Tribe of Mississippi and the remaining 27 are commercial casinos owned by Wall Street and private companies.  There are no racinos in Mississippi. Mississippi commercial casino revenue reports are divided into two groups, the “Gulf Coast Counties” (Biloxi area and three casinos west of Biloxi) and River Counties casinos include the Tunica area casinos south to Natchez 16 casinos in this group). Each area had one closure.  Tunica had the closing of Harrah’s casino complex and Margaritaville in Biloxi closed.  On the upside, the Golden Nugget had a $200 million expansion and upgrade and the Silver Slipper expanded its facility and has a new hotel under construction. Both are Gulf Coast County facilities.

On the Indian Casino side, the Choctaw Golden Moon facility is used for entertainment and hotel guests, but the gaming areas remain closed. The Silver Star across the street from the Golden Moon has the complete gaming area open for business.

Overall, 2014 commercial casino revenues through November show gaming revenues up slightly in the Gulf Coast area and down over 7 percent in the River Counties region.  We will provide full twelve month revenues when they are available later this month. Among the favorites: In Tunica, MGM’s Goldstrike and the next door Horseshoe Complex are outstanding. Another River County favorite, and one with great potential is the Riverwalk in Vicksburg.  MGM’s Beau Rivage and the Imperial Palace are outstanding facilities and operations in Biloxi along with one of my favorites, The Palace, a non-smoking boutique casino.  I predict that the revenues for all areas will remain close to the same in 2015 with another casino closing in the Tunica area and the possibility of a new casino facility beginning construction plus the expansion of the Island View in the Gulfport area.

North Carolina – 1 casino:Owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. This beautiful, large casino hotel complex is operated by Harrah’s. The entire town of Cherokee revolves around the casino/hotel, the EBCI headquarters, the Tribe’s Museum, a large Bingo facility and their famous outdoor amphitheater where their history is presented in “Unto These Hills.”  The Tribe has a second site in under construction in Murphy, North Carolina. This new facility will feature 60,000 square feet of gaming space with slots and traditional table games, a 300-room full service hotel and a variety of dining options.  The Murphy site is two hours from Knoxville, Chattanooga and Atlanta.  It is projected to open in the first half of 2015.

South Carolina – At year-end 2014, there were no casinos or racinos in South Carolina. There is one Federally Recognized tribe in South Carolina, The Catawba Indian Nation. During 2014 and 2014 they sought to have a compact with the State of South Carolina for casino gaming but their efforts failed.  It is likely they will continue their pursuit during 2015.  

Tennessee – No casinos or racinos in Tennessee at year-end 2014.  No change anticipated during 2015.  There are no Federally Recognized Indian Tribes in Tennessee. The new Cherokee facility in Murphy plus the Tunica facilities are and will be tough competition should the Tennessee Legislators promote commercial casino gaming in Tennessee.

Part  2 of this blog will include twelve month figures for commercial casinos and racinos and economic notes discussing the projections for revenues in 2015.