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Governator Approves New Slots at Red Hawk

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California has signed off on five thousand new slot machines allocated to the Red Hawk Casino. It was reported this week in the Sacramento Business Journal that the “Governator” had approved the new slot games for the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, who are building the casino, due to open before the start of the new year. The Miwok have permission to operate five thousand new poker machine devices, although it is projected that they only will be installing two thousand.

Lakes Entertainment Inc. is the company that is developing the casino for the Miwok, and will be operating it on their behalf. The Lakes Entertainment group has considerable experience building and running other Indian casinos, and heads up several others scattered throughout the United States. Under the covenant signed into law by Schwarzenegger, the Miwok will share revenue from the new slot games with the state. In California, the state may bargain for revenue-sharing rights with Indian tribes if the Legislature offers them something substantial in return for a cut. In California, that trade-off is the exclusive right to operate slot games in the state. The state will receive proceeds from the slots on a sliding scale based on how much income the devices generated annually. This is different from the compact established between California and other Indian tribes running casinos in the state (specifically, the United Auburn Indian Community and Rumsey Band of Wintun) in which the state receives a static amount of money from the casino revenues, regardless of income.

When it opens, the Red Hawk Casino will create two thousand jobs. In addition to the mammoth number of slots, it will also offer seventy-five table games, ten eateries, and a childcare center.

Back to October 2008 Archive.