Broward Seminole casino gets Vegas-style slots; Tampa awaits
The Seminole casino in north Broward gets the machines as Tampa awaits.
By Steve Huettel, Times Staff Writer
Published March 13, 2008
COCONUT CREEK - With a faux show girl and a black-suited trio impersonating the Rat Pack, the Seminole Tribe of Florida celebrated the arrival of Las Vegas-style slot machines at its north Broward County casino.
But the tribe's most profitable gambling venue, the Tampa Seminole Hard Rock Casino, will have to wait until early summer for the new slots, and even longer for the state's only legal blackjack and baccarat.
The card games are expected to debut in June at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, said Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen during the event Wednesday at the tribe's Coconut Creek Casino. Tampa should get into the action in late summer or early fall, he said.
To gear up, the tribe launched a drive to recruit 3,650 dealers experienced in blackjack, baccarat and pai gow, a variation of poker. The push starts with ads in three South Florida newspapers Friday designed to attract dealers from the area's casino boats.
Recruiters are also looking outside Florida, holding a two-day job fair next week in Atlantic City. The tribe is accepting applications at the casinos and online (workhardrock.com. Dealers typically earn $75,000 annually, including tips, Allen said.
The new games will also require more support staff, but Allen would not estimate the number of new hires.
Under a compact signed by Gov. Charlie Crist in November, the Seminoles can operate the card games and Las Vegas-style slots at their seven Florida casinos. The state receives a share of revenues, starting with at least $100-million this year.
House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, and Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, sued Crist, arguing he overstepped his authority by signing the compact without legislative approval. The case is still pending before the Florida Supreme Court.
In late January, the tribe swapped out older bingo-based machines with 1,000 new Las Vegas-style slots at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood. It quietly began the same process in Coconut Creek last week and by Wednesday had 700 of the upgraded slots running.
Tampa's Hard Rock is the state's largest casino, with nearly 3,100 Class II machines in which players compete against each other in a bingo game. Gamblers play against the house on Vegas-style slots, programmed to pay back a set percentage of wagers.
The Tampa casino generated nearly half of the tribe's gaming profits for the last three months of 2007, according to Fitch Ratings. The South Florida casinos suffered revenue declines, Fitch wrote, because of competition from three Broward tracks with Vegas-style slots. The tribe has won back customers with the new machines in Hollywood, Allen said, but isn't ignoring Tampa.
"Twelve to 15 weeks is the normal lead time for machines," he said. "It takes time to manufacture these things. We've had people working 16 to 18 hours a day."
Steve Huettel can be reached at shuettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.
What's coming
- Las Vegas-style slot machines will debut early this summer at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa.
- Card games such as blackjack and baccarat are coming by early fall.