The ilani Casino Resort owned by the Cowlitz Indian tribe near La Center, Washington, after operating for about a month, has seen the number of patrons visiting each day settle to between 8,000-10,000, after a high of 15,000 right after the opening.
According to Kara Rose-LaRose, president and general manager, the casino expects to attract up to 4.5 million visitors annually. During the first month 3,000 jackpots have been hit, some as high as 25,000. One blackjack player scored a $65,000 win. The Ilani draws on the Portland, Oregon market. Construction is still being completed, and the tribe is considering building a hotel as part of a second phase.
Spirit Mountain casino in Oregon, is the Ilani’s closest competitor. While the new casino is 30 miles from Portland, Sprit Mountain is 60 miles southwest from that urban center.
Spirit Mountain is operated by the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, who fought the opening of the new casino in federal court, armed with dire predictions that they could lose as much as 41 percent of their revenues.
A month after the opening of the rival, it seems like those predictions were considerably off. Part of the reason, says general manager Stan Dillon, is that Spirit Mountain, although farther from Portland, is much closer to the Salem metro area. Also traffic congestion crossing the Columbia River between the two states appears to favor Spirit Mountain.
Says Dillon, “I think it’s going to be based on drive time and value. Where do they think they are getting a better value?” In meantime, he says, the effect of the new casino on the old, has been “very minimal so far.”
Another advantage for Spirit Mountain, is that it uses Class III Las Vegas style slot machines, as opposed to the Ilani which, due to Washington laws, uses a Class II bingo type machine.
Even so, the Oregon-based casino faces long odds because the two are competing for discretionary funds—and the amount people spend on gaming doesn’t vary much, no matter how many outlets there are.
Meanwhile the Grand Ronde tribe feels that it will take a year for the full effects of the rival casino to be felt in full.
