| SAN DIEGO, July 14, 2000 - The face of California
and Nevada gaming will change dramatically today when Barona Casino officially
opens its new $30 million gaming complex, complete with new Las Vegas slot
machines and table games. The grand opening marks Barona's introduction
of Las Vegas "coin" slot machines, as well as Barona's exclusive new "Voucher
In/Voucher Out" coin-less slot technology, which industry watchers say
will revolutionize the gaming industry.
"This is a proud moment in our history. We have truly come a long
way. We used to always want what Las Vegas had and now the table has turned
-- Las Vegas is watching us. Barona has always been a leader and
today we are again at the forefront of a new era," said Clifford LaChappa,
Chairman of the Barona Band of Mission Indians. "Barona is proud
to be the first casino in the world to introduce a slot machine system
that experts say will revolutionize the slot machine industry."
An exclusive group of world-renowned high-rollers, media, and gaming
industry and business leaders will be among the first to experience the
new 16,000 square foot gaming complex, designed by leading Las Vegas architect
Bergman Walls & Youngblood. The complex features Barona's new
Voucher technology, which allows casino guests to play all of their favorite
slot machines without the nuisance of coins or the long waits associated
with "cashing out" in order to play a machine made by a competitive slot
maker.
| In addition to the most popular Las Vegas slot machines, including
Wheel of Fortune, Triple Play Poker, Jackpot Party and Quartermania, Barona's
new gaming facility also features 20 new table games, including California's
highest limit Blackjack (bets up to $5,000), Pai Gow Poker, Caribbean Stud,
Mini-Baccarat, Casino War, Let It Ride and Three-Card Poker.
"We have created the most advanced casino floor in the world, and in
all my years in the gaming industry I've never seen anything like it,"
said Lee Skelley, long-time Las Vegas gaming expert and Assistant General
Manager of Casino Operations for Barona. "Barona has created a new
era in gaming by bringing together the world's leading slot machine and
gaming systems manufacturers, who have never before worked together or
allowed their competitive machines to 'talk' to one another. Previously
a customer would need to 'cash out' each time they wanted to play a new
machine, and now they can simply take a voucher from machine to machine,
without the hassle or the wait time."
"I've played in casinos from Las Vegas to Monte Carlo, and this is by
far the most impressive casino floor in the world," said Max Rubin, world-renowned
high-roller, card counter and best-selling author of Comp City. "Las
Vegas is definitely watching, and I've heard a lot of buzz that Barona's
new voucher technology will eventually phase out traditional coin slot
machines." |
The Barona Tribe / Impact
of Gaming
The Iipay-Tipay, sub-culture of the Kumeyaay and
ancestors of the Barona Band of Mission Indians, have
lived in the area now known as San Diego County for more than 5,000 years
- they are the true first San Diegans.
After thousands of years of peaceful life in San Diego
County, the late 1700's began more than 200 years of hardship for
Native Americans - that is when the Spanish soldiers and missionaries
arrived and the Spanish Era began in 1769. In 1891, the federal government
established the Capitan Grande Reservation for the native people
living in that area at that time. About 40 years later, 1932, the city
literally bought the Capitan Grande Reservation to build a reservoir. Without
a homeland, but with money in their pockets, members of that tribe bought
the Barona Ranch which today is the Barona Indian Reservation near
Lakeside, about 30 miles northeast of San Diego.
Living on their own land but still economically struggling
in the backwoods of San Diego County --
that is the life the Barona Tribe lived up until the
1990s. In 1994, the tribe, with the consulting guidance of Inland Entertainment
Corporation, opened the Barona Casino "Big Top."
Through the hard work and dedication of many Barona tribal
members and Inland Entertainment Corporation, today Barona Casino is the
largest casino in California. More importantly, the casino has become
the means to a restoration of self-sufficiency, prosperity and renewed
hope. Unemployment and welfare dependency have dropped from 70 percent
to zero.
Indian gaming is the cornerstone by which tribes
such as Barona have begun to build a community, renew their culture and
share their good fortune with others. The impact of such a reversal
from poverty and despair is likely to impact many future generations.
Through Indian gaming revenues, the Barona tribe is now
able to provide its members with the basic needs any government should
provide its people. |
|
Rubin, who has been featured in numerous national publications and appeared
on 48 Hours, The Learning Channel and the Discovery Channel, is among the
guests attending the grand opening. Rubin will play the new slots
and review them for Casino Player Magazine, the industry's premier publication.
"What is truly remarkable to me is that Barona was able to accelerate
the introduction of this technology by encouraging competitors to work
together to develop a voucher system that is compatible with nearly a dozen
different slot machine manufacturers," said Rubin.
For those guests who feel more comfortable with traditional coin-operated
slots, Barona will still offer a variety of traditional coin operated slot
machines. However, over 85% of the machines will use the new voucher
technology. The convenient, dollar-sized vouchers fit comfortably
in patrons' wallets, are compatible with multiple slot machine manufacturers,
and can be used just like dollar bills. To begin play on the new
machines, people simply insert cash or a voucher into the machine.
When cashing out, players receive a printed voucher that can be used in
any machine throughout the casino floor.
Barona Casino is one of the most successful casinos in California, with
115,000 square feet of alcohol-free gaming and hospitality space.
The casino is owned and operated by the Barona Band of Mission Indians,
which is recognized by the United States government as a sovereign government.
Barona is in the process of a $150 million expansion project, which will
include a world-class, 18-hole championship golf course scheduled to open
this summer, and a new casino and a resort hotel scheduled to break ground
this year. |
