Tar Heel Travels
Harrah's Casino
The gaudy gambling parlor will welcome 3.5 million visitors this
year
By Bill F. Hensley
Since
it opened in 1997, Harrah’s Casino in Cherokee has been a major, and
apparently irresistible, travel attraction. Patrons come from across
the South like ants to a picnic, spilling from their cars, RVs, and
chartered buses, hungry for an opportunity to win a few bucks at the
slots and be entertained. This year more than three and a half million
customers are expected to find their way to the spacious, gaudy
gambling Mecca in the North Carolina mountains.
The players — many of them from Charlotte, Atlanta, Chattanooga and
other cities within a 500-mile radius — flock to a gaming area the
size of three football fields, their wallets bursting with hundred
dollar bills. By mid-morning, hordes of gamblers, with women obviously
in the majority, hunch over machines, pump in quarters by the cupful,
puff on cigarettes, and watch for cherries, bars and assorted fruit
symbols to flash brilliantly across the screen.
The “slots”— more than three thousand video games pulsating with
fantastic colors, all computer operated — will take bills from $1 to
$100, and players can bet any number of quarters on a game. The
largest payoff so far has been a $200,000-plus jackpot that evoked
raucous cheers and deep envy among the assembled crowd.
Yet while the amount of money these players take home (or leave
behind) each year isn’t disclosed, it doesn’t take a mathematical
brain to figure out that it’s sizeable, with odds always on the
casino, of course.
“Being there when someone hits a jackpot is like seeing Santa Claus
come down the chimney on Christmas Eve,” says one patron. But the
large jackpot cashed in recently was a rarity since most payoffs are
in the five or six thousand-dollar range.
For the unenlightened that have not made the westward trek in search
of great riches, it must be explained that there are no more
“one-armed bandits” as in days of yore. Today’s sophisticated
machines require a few free operating lessons before inserting
quarters at random. And there are no “dealers” as such, like the
casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City and other gambling towns, and a
few of the popular traditional games, such as roulette, are not
offered. The only dealers at Harrah’s supervise digital blackjack
games where even the playing cards are missing.
Unlike other casinos, there is no alcohol at Harrah’s of Cherokee
because it is located on an Indian reservation, the 56,000-acre Qualla
Boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokees that is home to 13,000
native Americans. Casinos on reservations came as a result of a 1988
act of Congress that established the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act as
an economic measure.
The Cherokee casino, controversial throughout the state at first, has
provided the expected monetary boom. It employs 1,440 persons from
surrounding counties, including about 500 of Cherokee descent. Last
year’s payroll exceeded $48 million with the average salary topping
the $37,000 mark.
Though strong and forceful, Principal Chief Leon Jones, a
soft-smiling, likeable man, heartily endorses the casino. “We are a
poor nation and the casino has helped bring us prosperity. It has
provided money to each family on the reservation, it has paved roads,
built homes and schools, and provided healthcare facilities.”
There is no shortage of things to see and do in the mountain village
that adjoins the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Though the
village is touristy and unattractive, a downtown restoration project
is in the planning stages. Among the attractions are the Museum of the
Cherokee, Oconaluftee Indian Village, Qualla Arts and Crafts, and in
summer the fine Kermit Hunter outdoor historical drama “Unto These
Hills,” which colorfully details 300 years of Cherokee history.
Last year the tribe, which owns the 175,000-square-foot casino but
retains Harrah’s as the management company, received $139 million in
payouts from the casino. The funds went to tribal operations and a
payment of $5,800 to each tribal member. Since the casino opened seven
years ago, each tribe member has received more than $20,000.
The casino, which never closes, offers excellent entertainment in its
1,500-seat auditorium. Featured recently were such stars as Bill
Cosby, Jay Leno and the musical group Alabama. There are three
restaurants and a gift shop in the building. Opening this month is a
252-room, 15-story luxury hotel next door to the casino and connected
by a covered passageway.
Though Junaluska, Sequoyah, Tsali and other Indian heroes might not
approve of gambling in the mountains they loved, the casino has found
a home amid the Cherokee nation. And frankly, it’s more fun and less
dangerous than fighting a bunch of cowboys. For more information, call
800-438-1601 or visit www.harrahs.com.
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