Tribe readies for grand opening of casino

CHURCH ROCK, N.M., Nov. 13, 2008

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Just four days before the first of two scheduled openings, more than 100 workers were still busy putting the finishing touches on the Navajo Nation's first casino.

The public opening is set for Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 4 p.m., but officials at the casino were rushing to get the Fire Rock Casino ready for its debut before a by-invitation-only VIP audience Sunday, Nov. 16, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

With the floors still filled with construction debris and many of the slot machines open, their innards exposed for final inspection, things looked chaotic early this week.

But Mike Devaney, chief operations officer for the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise, looked over the scene and said the casino would be ready for its "soft" opening though there would still be work to do before the grand opening three days later.

"We'll be 99-percent completed by then," he said.

While construction is almost complete and the contractors' crews can leave by 5 p.m., casino workers are putting in 16- and 17-hour days to get the casino and restaurants ready for the openings.

On Tuesday, casino officials were still waiting for some of the tables and other furniture, which were scheduled to be in by Wednesday. Devaney said when the doors do finally open, the Navajo people will be proud of what has been accomplished.

"This will look like no other Indian casino in the country," Devaney said.

The dealers, surveillance crews and other casino employees are going through their final preparations for the big day.

It was obvious from talking to the pair of employees who were on hand that there is a sense of nervousness about the first few days of operation. Devaney indicated that this is normal whenever a new casino opens and many of the employees are new to the business.

Professional gamblers are aware of this and it's well known in the casino business that some card players make a point to attend openings in hopes of gaining an edge on the nervous, inexperienced dealers.

It's for that reason card-game limits are kept relatively low during those first few days. For example, casino officials are planning to keep betting at the blackjack table to a $300 to $500 maximum until the dealers get more experience.

And the poker tables will offer only one game, Texas Hold 'Em, due to a lack of dealers. When more dealers are hired and trained, the casino also plans to have Omaha High games. The games would be held Thursday through Sunday and only in the evening and early morning hours, Devaney said.

He was asked if Fire Rock would follow the custom at other casinos in the area and provide chips and starter cash to truckers who stop to gamble. Devaney said Fire Rock doesn't plan to discriminate: Anyone who visits the casino and signs up for a player's card will be given anywhere from $5 to $100.

Forum questions impact

In preparation for the Fire Rock opening, a political science class at the University of New Mexico-Gallup held a forum attended by more than 100 students and community members, many of whom had questions about the casino and how the Navajo Nation planned to use the money generated through gaming.

Vice President Ben Shelly said several times during the forum that any profits from the casino would be put in a special account and would be used for projects that meet federal gaming laws. These laws allow the profits to be used for a wide range of projects to improve the quality of life for tribal members and create jobs and economic development.

A couple of audience members asked why the tribe couldn't earmark a portion of the profits for youth centers and other projects that would benefit the youth on the reservation.

Ray Etsitty, general counsel for the gaming enterprise, stressed that the profits would be used by the tribe in accordance with the law and it would not be fair to single out any single group on the reservation because all groups - seniors, veterans, etc. - are also in need.

"We have so many mouths to feed," he said, adding that the tribal population continues to grow, as do the needs.

While special interest groups may think their needs are more important, he pointed out that many Navajo families still live without basic services, such as water, sewer and electricity. The tribal council has to weigh all of the requests and come up with a fair and appropriate way to disburse the profits.

A couple of people also revisited the basic question of how the Navajo Nation Council could approve gaming despite the fact that the Navajo people voted down gaming twice in referendums.

Etsitty sidestepped the question, saying the two voter referendums took place before the tribe had established laws to govern ballot referendums. Therefore, he said, the gaming referendums were viewed by tribal leaders more as opinion polls than as mandates from the people.

The forum did provide some details on how much money is being spent on Fire Rock Casino and how much it will have to make in order to start returning profits to the Navajo Nation.

The annual operating budget will be about $10 million but this does not include the cost of paying the tribe back for the $25 million it loaned the enterprise to build the casino.

Shelly said the loan provided a payback of three years at 11 percent interest. Six months has already elapsed so the gaming enterprise has two and a half years to repay the loan. With interest, that comes to about $32 to $33 million in loan repayment costs.

If you add another $25 million in operating costs during the same period, the casino would have to net almost $60 million in order to cover costs.

Net profits during this period likely will be low, but should pick up quickly once the loan is paid off, according to enterprise officials.

Also speaking at the forum was Steve Peretti, an addictions counselor at Zuni Pueblo, who expressed concern about the effects of gaming on the local population.

He said studies have shown that 5-10 percent of casino patrons are compulsive gamblers who will keep betting and losing until they are shut off by the casino and that won't occur until they have no more money to spend. These compulsive gamblers are important to the casino's bottom line since between 50 and 60 percent of the profit is derived from them, he said.

Gaming officials for the tribe have said that procedures have been set up to identify the compulsive gamblers and to provide them with counseling. But Peretti said in other Indian casinos this usually means posting a number for Gambler's Anonymous and relying on the addict to make use of it, nothing more.

Peretti closed his remarks with a caution: Every tribe, including the Navajo, Zuni and Hopi, has stories about the Gambler, and all of these stories have one thing in common.

"In every one of them, people lose," he said.

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