The tribe, through its San Manuel Gaming and Hospitality Authority, has operated the off-Strip Palms Casino Resort for more than two years. 

On Wednesday, Hard Rock International, which is owned by Florida’s Seminole Indian Tribe, closed The Mirage Wednesday ahead of a nearly three-year renovation that will transform the Strip resort into Hard Rock Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Connecticut’s Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment will be replaced as the casino operator for Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in December.

San Manuel acquired the Palms from Red Rock Resorts for $650 million in December 2021 — becoming the first tribal gaming operator in Las Vegas. The resort never reopened following the state’s 78-day closure due to the pandemic because Red Rock wanted to sell the property.

Latisha Prieto, the chairperson of the San Manuel Gaming and Hospitality Authority, said in an interview Monday the tribe was hopeful its entry into Las Vegas “would create a pathway for more tribes to want to be in Las Vegas.” 

She said San Manuel displayed a large “congratulations” message to the Seminoles on the giant LED screen on the east side of the Palms hotel tower after the Nevada Gaming Control Board approved The Mirage purchase in December 2022.

“We were super excited there was going to be more tribal presence in Las Vegas,” Prieto said.

San Manuel operates one of the largest casinos in California through its flagship Yaamava' Resort & Casino in Highland, which is roughly 60 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. The property has 432 hotel rooms compared to the Palms’ 766 rooms, but it has a much larger gaming floor with more than 7,200 slot machines and 150 table games. The Palms has 1,500 slots and 50 table games.

Prieto said the Palms customer base is 40 percent locals, 40 percent visitors from California with the remaining 20 percent from other markets.

“Las Vegas is different than tribal gaming, but in a very, very positive way,” Prieto said, saying the San Manuel customer loyalty has been successful in driving business between both resorts. Anyone making the drive along Interstate 15 between Las Vegas and Southern California can’t miss the numerous billboards advertising the two properties. 

Prieto said the tribe, which has 316 members, hoped to recreate Yaamava’s “family work environment” at the Palms, which she said has several “day one” employees from the resort’s opening in 2001.

“It’s been one of the biggest positives at the property,” she said.

Prieto said the tribe “continues to look” at other opportunities to expand its business, potentially into Northern Nevada. The authority would also consider an opportunity to manage a casino in another state owned by another tribe — similar to how Hard Rock serves as the management partner for tribal casinos in Northern California and Oklahoma.

“That’s something that we're interested in,” she said. “However, we're focused on Palms and Yaamava’. But we’re always open to how we can help other tribes understand and learn.”

In June, Palms General Manager Cynthia Kiser Murphey stepped down after leading the reopening in April 2022. Prieto said the departure wasn’t a surprise.

“She helped us create this historic opening,” Prieto said.

Prieto said an “interim structure” has been created between the tribe and a management committee while the authority seeks a new general manager. 

“We want to make sure that the team is still supported and they continue to see that support from us as we're going through this process,” she said.

Monarch casts big shadow over Black Hawk

Reno-based Monarch Casinos “overshadows its competitors” in the Colorado gaming market of Black Hawk, according to one analyst who recently visited the community.

Jefferies Financial gaming analyst David Katz said the Monarch Black Hawk accounts for roughly 30 percent of the community’s monthly gaming revenue, beating out other large casinos operated by Caesars Entertainment, Penn Entertainment and Bally’s Entertainment.

Company representatives told Katz that the community, 34 miles from downtown Denver, is drawing increased business from the state’s largest metropolitan area after favorable gaming law changes and numerous property enhancements. 

“We believe capital investments should generate stronger returns,” Katz wrote in a research note last week. 

Monarch, which also operates the Atlantis in Reno, bought the small Rivera Black Hawk in 2012 and proceeded to spend $442 million during the next decade to renovate the casino into a full-scale resort with a 64,000-square-foot casino, 516 hotel rooms, new restaurants, a rooftop pool, spa and other amenities.

Katz told investors Monarch’s prominent location along Highway 119 makes the property the first casino encountered by visitors arriving from the Denver region.

Colorado banned smoking in casinos in 2008 but increased the original $5 limit on what a player could wager on a single bet to $100. In 2021, Colorado removed the betting limits entirely — a change Katz said “provides for greater return opportunities, notably for Monarch.”

He called Black Hawk “one of the few growing markets for regional casinos” in the U.S. Two years ago, Caesars rebranded its casino as Horseshoe Black Hawk.

Monarch, Katz predicted, would see almost $286 million in revenue in 2024 from its Black Hawk property, roughly $66 million more than the company would see from the Atlantis.