Red Hawk Casino Opens Tomorrow

The Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, after years of litigation, is finally opening their casino tomorrow. The Red Hawk Casino off Highway 50 about 30 miles west of Sacramento is being seen as a welcome addition to this relatively quiet part of El Dorado County and county officials who once fought to keep it out are embracing it in hopes of stimulating the faltering local economy.

Although gambling revenue is way down in the state the locals believe that the new casino will draw customers away from Tahoe and Reno who normally use Hwy 50 to get to those locations. Save on gas money.

You would think that from what we have been told by anti-gambling groups about how the casinos are mostly patronized by gambling addicts that the industry would not be suffering as it is. I guess the huge majority of casino patrons are just your everyday normal people who use gambling and the casino experience as entertainment and that when times get tough they do what we all do… curtail and prioritize our discretionary spending.

The cost of the new casino came to about $530 million. The Miwoks paid for construction of new highway exit ramps. There will be six restaurants and 88,000 square feet of casino space.

The facility will open with 2,000 slots, but the tribe's compact with the state will allow it to install up to 5,000 machines. In return, the tribe will pay the state 20 percent to 25 percent of slot revenue, more than any other gambling tribe in the state.