Seminole Tribe shooting for the stars
June 23, 2008 | land casinos
Opening first legal card tables at Seminole Casino in Florida Max Osceola gestured toward the stars. “That vision of shooting for the stars is what we are doing,” he said. “We’re turning the page in our book of history.”
It was trully a historic event. All 71 tables, 55 initially designated for blackjack, six for Three Card poker, three for Pai Gow poker, three for Let It Ride, two for baccarat and two for mini-baccarat, were full with celebrity players. Carmen Electra and her fiancé, Rob Patterson of Korn, played one of the first blackjack hands at the table with tribal council members Mitchell Cypress and Richard Bowers. Among many other famous guests were actors Heather Graham, Lorraine Bracco and Frank Vincent.
“With the introduction of Blackjack and the other card games, Las Vegas-style casinos will now be at the doorstep of the residents of Florida. Floridians won’t have to go to Las Vegas or Atlantic City to play their favorite casino games.” said Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen, adding “This has been a long time coming, This takes us to the next level.”
Indeed, the once-destitute tribe which now generates an estimated $1.2 billion a year in revenues, can open the games at all seven of its casinos. The Hard Rock Hollywood is the first, likely followed by The Hard Rock near Tampa and the tribe’s Coconut Creek casino.
It is a great night for the tribe, which bought the Hard Rock chain last year for $965 million and was able to broaden its gambling empire with the addition of house-banked table games as part of a gambling agreement signed by Gov. Charlie Crist in last November.
But it’s also good news for players. “I’ve played in Atlantic City, Vegas, every place,” said Isabel Muse, a 59-year-old Naples resident who plays in blackjack tournaments, “But this is closest. I wanted to be here when it opened.”
New games, such as baccarat, also attract high-rollers and pai-gow poker brings Asian players and this mean more growth for the Seminole casinos.
