Casino reports $27,000 jackpot

 

H ere it was 2 p.m. on a normal Tuesday on the reservation and Fire Rock Casino was still buzzing with customers.

More than 400 people were in the casino at that time, a high number for any Indian Country casino but Fire Rock Casino has blown expectations from the minute it opened.

"This was more people than I had ever seen at any (Indian casino) opening," said Mike Devaney, chief  operating officer, talking about the opening last Wednesday of the Navajo Nation's first casino.

People began lining up at 8 a.m., several hours before the 4 p.m. opening. By then, thousands had lined up in front of the entrance as President Joe Shirley Jr. gave opening remarks.

At 4 p.m., the line surged inside and within 45 minutes, the building's occupancy limit was reached and new customers only could be allowed in when someone left.

Several thousand people were still outside waiting to get in and most of them did just that, waiting in some cases for hours to be allowed in to look the place over or to gamble.

There was still a long line of people at midnight and the lines would be there, off and on, throughout the weekend.

And the money came in and went out in winnings.

Shirley, in his Thanksgiving message, said that $1.2 million came into the casino that first day.

And there were winners.

One couple went away with $27,000 and casino officials reported that several people won between $4,000 and $6,000.

On the first day of operation, said Devaney, there were 72 jackpots.

Some casinos have been known to loosen the slots on the first few days to create more jackpots since reports of winnings draws in new customers. But Devaney said this didn't happen at Fire Rock.

He thinks the large number of jackpots was caused by the fact that casino staff and regulation officials had been testing the machines in the days preceding the opening and this resulted in a lot of winners.

Persons who went to the casino did notice one thing that many commented on - the large percentage of Natives who were there for the opening. Even on Tuesday, only a handful of the people at the slot machines at 2 p.m. were non-Natives.

Bob Winter, head of the tribe's gaming enterprise, said that as the days go by, he expects the number of non-Natives to increase and Native decrease.

"Our goal is to have 51 percent of the customers to be non-Natives," he said.

He added that a lot of the Natives who came to the casino on opening day and the days following came there to be part of the opening and to look at the tribe's first casino. As the weeks progress, he expected to see more people come off the reservation and more truckers.

That may also be true of non-Native Gallupians. Talking to non-Natives at local restaurants on Sunday and Monday, many said they planned to visit the casino and do a little gambling but probably after Thanksgiving because of the reports of long lines.

The big action continued to be on the slot machines and since there are just over 400 slot machines and there have been 1,500 or so people in the building, people had to wait to get on the slots. It was not uncommon to see someone standing behind a slot machine player waiting for them to get through.

Devaney said the bingo hall has also been crowded every night although it has not been filled to capacity. There were also good crowds at the blackjack and poker tables.

The crowds also caused problems on the highway as cars were backed up on opening day for miles as they tried to get into the parking lot, which was filled to capacity by 4 p.m., resulting in some drivers parking along the old Route 66 and, in a few cases, on the shoulder of Interstate 40.

Casino officials have met with state police who say that cars will not be allowed to park on the road to the casino. Casino staff will monitor the situation and give warnings when they see the cars parking on the highway and if they continue to be a problem, they could face being towed away.

Officials at Rehoboth Christian School were also concerned about the Wednesday opening since by the time school let out and parents started coming to pick up their children, cars were piled up for a couple of miles making it difficult for parents to get to the schools and school buses to get out.

Those problems are expected to be a thing of the past. Although big crowds are expected on Thanksgiving and through the weekend, the parking problem is expected to be a lot less severe. And casino officials are expecting a slowdown as the Christmas holidays begin and Navajos have had the chance to look over their casino.

This will prove to be somewhat of a relief since the casino is still not fully staffed and is still hiring in almost every position. Between 20 and 40 positions still need to be filled in the next few weeks.

Staff training is still going on and employees are being given tests every 30 days to make sure that they know the casino's procedures and policies.

Devaney said he was proud of the work the staff has done so far because the crowds were so big that many staff members had to work without breaks and overtime.

"The staff did a great job," he said.

He also praised the work Navajo Transit workers during the opening days, shuttling people and truckers from six motels and two truck stops. Those shuttles, which run on the hour, will be continuing in the future.

Except for a minor problem with a couple of drunks being arrested in the parking lot during the opening days, the casino has had no law enforcement problems, Devaney said.

In a few cases, people have tried to bring in their children but were told that no children are allowed in the casino at any time and that includes the restaurants and non-gaming portions because of smoking being allowed in those areas.

To prevent a situation in which parents come into the casino and leave their children in their cars outside, the casino's security staff are making regular patrols of the parking lots to make sure this is not happening. Parents who are caught doing this could face charges of child abandonment.

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