From the Archives: Viejas reservation casino opened 30 years ago – California News Times

Thirty years ago this week, the Kumeyaay Indian Viejas Band opened a $ 4.5 million casino on the Interstate 8 settlement near Alpine.

San Diego Union-Tribune, from Saturday, September 14, 1991

Bob Roland, Staff Writer

In the crimson dragon room, a thin layer of smoke hung low. There, a high roller who flashed a Rolex clock and won a smile threw a $ 100 bill at a researched chaotic green felt table.

At the High Stakes poker table across the casino, a half-dozen men in T-shirts and jogging pants drank soft drinks, fingered a pile of nickel ($ 5 chips), and made a quiet noise. I talked about. Destined to win or lose.

Hundreds of high rollers and hard rock (experienced gamblers) yesterday with a curious audience eager to taste Las Vegas to open a new $ 4.5 million casino and turf club on the Viejas Indian Reservation. I had it with me.

Located on a rolling brown hillside dotted with 100-year-old oak trees, the 24-hour arcade offers Pai Gow Poker, Seven Card Stud, and Texas Holdem fans a cool, sparkling paradise. Offers. In addition to the Las Vegas-style cardroom, the complex features automatic joker poker machines and video slot machines, as well as a 20,000-square-foot turf club for off-track betting.

Thoroughbred Racetrack is beamed in year-round by satellites from Delmar, Hollywood Park, Los Alamitos and Bay Meadows.

Major domestic races such as the Triple Crown and Breeders Cup will also be transported via satellite to the Viehas Center.

The plan is to complete the largest 52,000-square-foot Bingo Hall in the county next year.

At yesterdays ribbon-cut ceremony, many hope that tribal members will sing traditional luck songs before opening the casino door and become a new chapter in the story of the Mission Indians Viehas band. I showed you.

Im very confident in this venture, and I can say its beneficial to stand here today, said tribal chairman Anthony R. Pico.

For 240 residents of the Viejas Settlement near Alpine, financial independence (the dream of an Indian Kumeyaay pioneer) depends on the success of the new casino complex.

Here, arcades are considered the cornerstone of a tribal master plan that requires spending about $ 1 million to upgrade reserved groundwater systems and rebuild sewage treatment facilities. Revenues from the casino will also be allocated to new homes and schools for Viejas residents.

Pico said yesterday that it is now impossible to estimate how much income a casino will generate. But his optimism doesnt seem to be dominated by fierce competition with the Siquan Indian Gaming Center, about six miles east of El Cahon, which has been steadily gaining popularity since it opened last fall.

I think there are ample opportunities for both operations, Pico said. And competition always brings better quality, so in the end the customer wins.

Viejas Casino may have one decisive advantage over nearby competitors. Its a place.

Just a few miles from Interstate 8 on Willows Road, the Viehas Center can be seen by passing the driver on the freeway. To reach Sikuan Casino near Dehesa, patrons outside the town must drive along the winding two-lane road that was the site of many accidents.

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