Four Winds Casino cashes in

By LOU MUMFORD, Tribune Staff Writer

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Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo revenue

Four Winds Casino near New Buffalo took in $49 million just in slot-machine revenue in its first two months of operation. (WSBT file photo)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Feb 20, 2008 at 3:30 PM EST

Story Updated: Apr 14, 2008 at 10:08 AM EST

NEW BUFFALO — How popular is the Four Winds Casino near New Buffalo?

It’s such a crowd pleaser that in its first two months of operation, gamblers provided the facility, owned by the Dowagiac-based Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, with nearly $49 million just in slot-machine revenue.

That was the figure derived from a listing of the Pokagons’ 8 percent state revenue-sharing payment and 2 percent Local Revenue Sharing Board award that showed up Wednesday on a state Web site.

The 8 percent share, intended to boost economic development, was listed as slightly more than $3.9 million. The 2 percent share shows a figure of $977,266.

"That’s huge,’’ said Eric Bush, administrative manager for the Michigan Gaming Control Board and the director of tribal gaming for the state.

The figures, compiled for the period Aug. 2 through Sept. 30, don’t include table games but Bush said they typically account for about 10 percent of gaming revenue. That would put the Four Winds’ total at just less than $54 million for its first two months, or a little less than $1 million a day.

Disputes between the Pokagon Band, the state and the LRSB have held up to the tribe’s payments, which have been placed in interest-bearing escrow accounts until the issues are settled. The controversy with the state involves the Michigan Lottery Bureau’s introduction of the state’s Club Keno game in 2003, which the Pokagons and two other tribes claim violated exclusivity agreements in their state gaming compacts.

The tribes lost the first round of the dispute in federal court but the payments remain on hold pending an appeal of that decision.

As for the 2 percent LRSB issue, it involves the board’s makeup. Bush said he believes, however, the Pokagons and local officials are "very, very close’’ to settling the dispute.

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