North Carolina Harrah’s Preparing for Poker Games
Written by Renee K | Friday, January 29th, 2010
The Cherokee Hotel and Casino in North Carolina belonging to Harrah’s is said to be preparing its casino floor for the introduction of what it terms “Las Vegas style table games” (read: poker). Harrah’s said that it was entering into talks with the Governor of North Carolina, Bev Perdue, in a bid to begin offering these games in the near future.
The Harrah’s Cherokee Hotel and Casino currently offers video poker, digital card games and slots, and is seeking to expand this offering to its gambling public. The casino is also looking to build a new hotel tower with extra restaurants and retail outlets.
The current agreement that the state of North Carolina has with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians does not allow for poker games on the gambling floor, however the Principal Chief, Michell Hicks said that “the outlook was positive” after talks with Governor Perdue got underway.
The governor’s office has not commented on the talks.
During a briefing of the plans for the casino’s expansion this week, the project manager, Erik Sneed said that part of the new casino could be open in April this year. The venture is expected to cost in the way of $600 million.
All in all, the full expansion is expected to be completed in 2010, providing twice the current floor space (150,000 square feet) and double the number of gambling machines.
By building in space for the new poker tables that still need to be approved, the casino is hoping to avoid more expansions when the green light comes out of the governor’s office.
The tribe has also placed bars in the new casino in the hope that the sale of alcohol will also be allowed. The Cherokee Indian Reservation traditionally does not provide alcohol in the territory, however North Carolina voters said yes to the sale of alcohol at the casino in the middle of last year.
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· Written by Renee K · Filed Under Poker Gossip · Comments Off
