Gaming goes on high-tech roll

The Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort is betting gamblers facing off against virtual dealers will pay off. Soaring Eagle has introduced a virtual casino, complete with wide-screen, high-definition video monitors and electronic images of dealers that change every 15 minutes.

"It's kind of like a future world," said Bill Masterson, marketing director. "We're hoping to bridge the gap between an Xbox and a slot machine."

The virtual casino opened in what was once unused space. Players face virtual dealers while playing roulette or at least two kinds of poker. Soaring Eagle slot director Chris Bailey said virtual gaming will make gambling more user-friendly, especially for novice players who don't fully understand game rules. "A lot of people are intimidated by a live dealer," Bailey said.

It's the first full-scale installation of the virtual table games in Michigan, said Mike Hegyi, service supervisor for game manufacturer Shufflemaster of Las Vegas. He said the equipment came into use about two years ago.

Joe Sowmick, a spokesman for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, which owns Soaring Eagle, said managers are testing the virtual casino for possible use at the tribe's planned Saganing casino. It will offer about 700 slot machines and 40 electronic table games.
The Saginaw News, May 27th, 2007

Casino will change face of Standish, Northeast Michigan, residents say

Ron Krzyzaniak has farmed the quiet lands bordering the Saganing Indian Reservation all his life. Today the sugar beet grower braces himself for change. In a few weeks, the land surrounding Krzyzaniak's farmhouse will heave under heavy equipment. The yield? Michigan's newest gambling house.

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe is breaking ground soon on a 32,000-sq-ft casino. The project may even herald the start of larger development surrounding the casino and nearby freeway interchanges.

Whatever is in store, the casino promises to transform Arenac County. But will it help or harm the rural community, home to 17,000 people? Some, like Krzyzaniak, aren't worried about the growth to come. "I've seen too much change in my lifetime to worry either way," says the 66-year-old farmer. "You can't stop progress. Progress has just been a little slower coming here."

Kyzyzaniak and his neighbors will soon see a torrent of new traffic. Hundreds, even thousands, of gamblers are expected to stream by daily.

When the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe announced plans, it marked the tribe's first casino expansion since opening its stunning Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mount Pleasant in 1993. Today, 14 years later, tribal leaders say they're ready to take on a new gaming operation. The Saganing casino will rise on tribal trust lands 30 miles north of Bay City, near the Bay City County line.

Tribal planners are fast-tracking construction, aiming to open as soon as September and no later than year's end. It will employ about 300 people.

For many business owners in this overlooked, mid-Michigan corner, Chippewa plans are stoking breathless anticipation. "I think this will benefit the whole Sunrise Side of the state," said Floyd Bender, a White's Beach resident and Standish Area Chamber of Commerce board member. "I think it'll affect small town businesses from Pinconning to Tawas. How could it not?"
(continued on page 4)

The tribal casinos are regulated by the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) and the government of the tribe. Since Native American tribes are sovereign nations they are not required to pay state taxes.

The state does oversee the tribal compact, an agreement between a sovereign nation and state. According to most compacts, tribe's are required to pay 8 percent of the net win derived from electronic games of chance and 2 percent to local municipalities.

The Associated Press reported "Indian gambling pulled in $25 billion in 2006, 11 percent more than previous year, outpacing Las Vegas revenue of $12.6 billion." Indian casinos brought in $12.8 billion from gambling in 2001, $22.5 billion in 2005 and $25.1 billion in 2006, according to the NIGC. The findings represent 397 tribal facilities in 28 states. These findings did not include the revenue generated by dining, concerts and hotel stays.

But drawing a comparison between tribal gaming and the glitz of Las Vegas is not equitable. "Vegas is one site and Indian gaming is nationwide," Frank Ettawageshik (Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians) said. "The difference is the money staying in the local community."

The state of Michigan's slice of tribal casino revenues peaked at more than $46 million in 1998. It dwindled to about $2.5 million in 2006. The drop in payments to the state stems from breaches in agreements between the state and tribal compacts. Ettawageshik contends that when the state launched Club Keno, a game of chance in bars and restaurants, the state violated the 1998 compacts exclusivity clause.

The loss in revenue related to the Club Keno dispute is estimated at $38-$42 million allocated for Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Eric Bush, administrative manager of the Tribal Gaming Section of the Michigan Gaming Control Board said.

In a separate case, courts ruled the state violated the 1993 tribal gaming exclusivity clause in the compact agreement. Tribes that were part of the 1993 compact stopped paying the state when Proposal E was approved by a public vote permitting development of three casinos in Detroit.

According to Associated Press, Michigan's three state-chartered casinos in Detroit took in $1.3 billion in 2006. The state received a share of approximately $161 million from Detroit casinos, Bush said. In comparison, Bush said the state would generate $40 million if the tribes still had exclusive rights to gaming.
By Kristina Hughes, Petoskey News-Review, June 19th, 2007

All copyrights for images, artwork and text on yahbayrising.com are held by the original photographers, artists, writers and publishers or their assignees; and are presented solely for the purpose of personal and historical reference and collecting. No copyright is implied.