Spirit Mountain Casino Cancels Bingo

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From http://www.katu.com/stories/82870.html

Spirit Mountain, Oregon's largest casino, cancels bingo

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GRANDE RONDE, Ore. - There was an overflow crowd Thursday when Tim Van Ooyen began calling Spirit Mountain Casino's last bingo game.
"It's hard to say goodbye without shedding a tear," he said. "We will all miss you and consider you all our second family. Now, who wants to win some money?"

The casino is closing its bingo hall, at least for now, and replacing it with a nonsmoking area for slot machines.

On the last night, some $90,000 of prize money was at stake.

Many stood in line to get in.

Theresa Harvey, third in line, was there nearly 12 hours early. By midafternoon, crowds filled the casino to wait for a chance to play at 6:30 p.m.

The Woodburn resident was not a regular bingo player until Spirit Mountain opened. She attended Mondays on Senior Day and Fridays for Free Bingo Day and sometimes on Sunday after church. Her top payout in a game was $1,300.

"It's a different atmosphere here," she said of the casino trappings. "They have different games, and it's just more fun."

Greg Fritz, the marketing manager for Spirit Mountain, said needed renovations necessitated the move.

Although the casino has more than doubled in size since it opened in October 1995, the gaming area has never been renovated.

But it is a heartbreaker for bingo regulars.

Arriving early to reserve a seat is not unusual for some players who think one spot is luckier than another, Fritz said.

"There are a lot of strangers here tonight," said Dino Hoggatt of McMinnville, who attended regularly with his wife, Joy.

"We spend about $350 a night when we're here," Joy Hoggatt said. "Management wants the high rollers and the high profits of the slots, but a lot of people only came out here for the bingo."

Joy Hoggatt had set up about a half-dozen marking pens next to her table.

"You could just daub with one dauber, but that wouldn't be any fun," she said. "I like to be color coordinated with my paper.

Bingo was never just about winning money, players said. It was about having a good time, being with people you knew and being where you wanted to be.

"It's almost like losing a part of our family," said Gean Nelson, who has met friends at the bingo hall for years. She left her Aumsville home before noon Thursday to go to the casino.

Many players are retired, and bingo has been a big part of their lives.

"And I can come here and spend $30, and it will last 2 1/2 hours," Melba Hanna of Albany said. Hanna said. "Out there (on the slot machines), it would only last 20 minutes."

Spirit Mountain Casino Cancels Bingo

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Spirit Mountain dumps bingo for higher stakes

It's clearing space for higher-profit slot machines, tables

MICHAEL ROSE
Statesman Journal

January 25, 2006

Clarification: The original version of this story needs to be clarified. Spirit Mountain Casino is planning to build a new concert facility that could seat a maximum of 2,000 attendees. This is the clarified version.

It could be the last chance for bingo at Spirit Mountain Casino.

Casino officials intend to close the bingo hall at the end of the day Thursday and move in more-profitable slot machines.

Bingo might be gone for good.

"We don't know when it's coming back or if it's coming back," said Greg Fritz, Spirit Mountain's marketing manager. The space is needed to accommodate customers who want more non-smoking areas, he said.

But Spirit Mountain eventually hopes to do more than shift some of its 1,500 slot machines to the former bingo space. Changes at the bingo hall are one piece of the casino's plans to bolster its gambling operations with hundreds of additional slot machines and more gaming tables. Those plans are pending approval by gambling regulators.

Spirit Mountain's immediate problem is unhappy bingo players, a loyal clientele who enjoy meeting friends at the casino almost as much as winning.

"There are a lot of people who are so disappointed, especially elderly people," said Theresa Harvey, 77, a bingo regular at Spirit Mountain. "That's really the only recreation a lot of them have."

The Woodburn resident, who once won a $1,300 jackpot, is taking her business to the Chinook Winds Casino Resort in Lincoln City. She said she has played bingo at Spirit Mountain several times per week for years.

Shirley Thomas, a Sheridan resident, collected six pages of signatures from bingo players upset about the shutdown of the bingo hall. She sent the petition to Spirit Mountain's management.

Thomas does see an upside to the situation: "It will save me a lot of money because I'm not going to play the machines."

Spirit Mountain's Fritz said that the casino understands the bingo players' complaints, but space is at premium. Each week, an average of 50,000 visitors head to Grand Ronde to gamble. The casino still might find ways to keep bingo players content, he said, by hosting bingo tournaments or relocating the bingo hall.

The changes at the bingo hall, which has doubled as a concert venue, also will have repercussions for the casino's entertainment.

For the short term, the casino will use outdoor or temporary structures to handle concert crowds. Spirit Mountain's five-year plan is to build a facility for concerts, with seating for at least 2,000 attendees, Fritz said.

The casino's former off-track betting room is in the midst of renovations and is expected to reopen in April as the Rapid Riches room. It will feature 77 slot machines with a more frequent payout than a typical Spirit Mountain machine.

In addition, the casino has discussed expanding its buffet and remodeling its restaurant.

Taking into account the bingo hall and the other spaces that the casino plans to remodel, Spirit Mountain hopes to create room for as many as 500 additional slot machines, Fritz said. The casino also wants to add more gaming tables.

"Our customers aren't finding open seats for the games they want to play," Fritz said.

Before Spirit Mountain adds more slot machines or gaming tables, however, it will have to reach a new agreement with state and federal regulators.

The tribal-state compact between Oregon and the Grand Ronde community, which hasn't been amended since 2001, is being renegotiated. The confidential negotiations involve the tribe, the governor's office and the gaming enforcement division of the Oregon State Police.

After the compact has been finalized, it will go to the U.S. secretary of the interior for review. The agreement then would become public, and there is 45-day period for public comments.

Even if a new compact is not approved, the casino intends to use the bingo hall for other purposes. More nonsmoking areas and more elbow room in the crowded casino are among the top requests of casino customers, Fritz said.

mrose@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6657

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