Gaming news briefs for June 27, 2003

Friday, June 27, 2003 | 12:04 p.m.

Casino plans 'Las Vegas feel'

TUCSON -- The Pascua Yaqui Tribe will unveil the expanded Casino del Sol next month.

With the opening of the 213,000-square-foot venue, the casino will be the state's largest.

It features 46 blackjack tables, four restaurants, a bar and a meeting hall that can seat 600 people.

"It puts us on the map. It kind of gives a Las Vegas feel to it, which is quite different from other casinos in Arizona," Robert Valencia, tribe chairman, said.

The expansion is expected to result in several hundred new jobs and add significantly to the local economy, he said.

The casino now generates an economic impact of more than $100 million per year, according to a 2002 study conducted by the University of Arizona's Udall Center and Native Nations Institute.

The expansion is the result of a pact signed between Gov. Janet Napolitano and the tribe that allowed expanded gaming operations.

The tribe operates both the Casino del Sol and Casino of the Sun.

Gambling banned in resort area

BLAINE, Wash. -- The City Council has banned gambling on Semiahmoo Spit, the home of golf courses, sweeping views of Drayton Harbor and the Semiahmoo Resort.

The Upper Skagit tribe, which manages Semiahmoo and the nearby Skagit Casino Resort, says it doesn't care.

"This is a $30 million complex down here (at the Skagit Casino Resort). Why, in our right minds, would we want to duplicate that and compete with ourselves?" Skagit General Manager Don Guglielmino asked. "It's crazy."

Some Blaine residents had expressed concerns about gambling at Semiahmoo since spring, when the Upper Skagit Tribe started managing it and bought a 50 percent interest in the property. The tribe owns and operates the Skagit Casino Resort near Bow, about 40 miles to the south.

Guglielmino said it would be impossible to open a casino at Semiahmoo because the Upper Skagits have never claimed a historical use of Semiahmoo Spit -- a necessary step to opening a tribal casino.