World Casino Directory Gambling Forums North America Casinos United States Casinos California Casinos Valley Center Casinos Valley View Casino Tribe spends $114 million to enlarge Valley View
Try out No Download - Black Jack at Winward Casino

  
Advanced Forum Search -- Advanced Casino Search

Tribe spends $114 million to enlarge Valley View
 Message was posted: 10:19 Apr 15th, 2007     
No picture uploaded User: vegasqueen
Rank:
Casino Gold: 28510CG
Contributor rating: 71920
 Status: Offline

Casino news source: SignOn San Diego - http://www.signonsandiego.com


Tribe spends $114 million to enlarge Valley View
By Onell R. Soto
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
April 14, 2007

VALLEY CENTER – The speeches were over, the ribbon had just been cut and the doors opened, and Olivia Leon wanted to know one thing as she entered the newly expanded Valley View Casino yesterday morning: the location of her favorite slot machine.

“There it is!” he told her. “Right there.”

Leon walked over to the bank of “Diamond Solitaire Deluxe” machines.

“These are my machines,” she said. “I've won on these machines. I like the way these machines play.”

And so, having taken the day off work so she could be there, Leon inserted a frequent-player card into the machine, where her name lit up on a small screen. She inserted $10.



Advertisement“OK!” she said, rubbing her hands together in anticipation.
It's something Leon does once or twice a week.

“Normally I put $20 in and that will last me for hours,” she said.

She likes the casino, the food, the way the workers know her name, the way it feels to watch the reels after she presses the Spin button every six seconds or so.

That's the kind of loyalty that the 297-member San Pasqual tribe is relying on to support its $114 million expansion of the casino it opened six years ago.

“This used to be just a rock pile standing here,” tribal Chairman Allen Lawson had earlier told more than 2,000 patrons, workers and tribal members. “Just brush and a couple of burned-out cars.”

Now, the casino, perched on a hillside overlooking Valley Center, offers 1,306 slot machines, a six-story parking structure and a larger-than-life sculpture called “Three Generations” that welcomes visitors.

The sculptor, tribal member Johnny Bear Contreras, said he wanted to convey the change that the tribe is facing.

“We've never been at this point before,” he said, talking about how the casino has created jobs and economic opportunity for tribal members, but has also brought complex challenges for coming generations.

“We're embarking on things that have never been done,” Contreras said.

The new, 62,000-square-foot casino opened less than an hour after workers escorted gamblers out of the old, 40,000-square-foot casino.

Near lunchtime, the sound of sledgehammers banging could be heard from behind a curtain where slot machines had just been shut down as patrons waited in line for the buffet.

A couple of hours after the casino opened, Leon was still sitting at her machine, up about $20, but not knowing whether she would walk out with more money than she had put in.

“It gives, it takes,” she said about the machine. “It gives, it takes.”





Forums by topic

Forums by Location

Other
  • Thread map
    • Bodog Mobile
    Online casino reviews
    • USA online casino and poker reviews
    • Germany online casino and poker reviews
    • France online casino and poker reviews
    • Italy online casino and poker reviews


    World Casino Directory | Weltweites Casino-Verzeichnis | Annuaire de casino Du Monde | Directorio Mundial de Casinos | Indice del casino | Diretório Mundial de Cassinos
    Website FAQ | Privacy policy | Advertising rates | Sitemap

    The SAFE Ports Act passed by the U.S. congress is affecting certain payment processors, and as a result, online casinos or
    poker rooms listed with a no USA banner are not currently accepting U.S. players for real money deposits.
    U.S. online gambling ban info

    ©Copyright 2002-2008 World Casino Directory. All rights reserved.

    World Casino Directory: The world's casino search engine.