Nambe Pueblo, who has had a state and federally approved gambling compact since 2007, has decided to go small and build a “casino-ette,” a term devised by its developer, Matt Doyle.
They had previously had plans for a much larger casino, but economic considerations at home, and major competition with a handful of nearby tribal casinos convinced them to downscale to a 7,310 square foot facility with 180 slot machines. They will not offer such table games as blackjack, poker, or roulette.
They plan to have the casino in operation in November.
They are building on U.S. highway 84-285, land swapped out with the Pojoaque Pueblo many years ago, a decision that Pojoaque probably regrets, considering the Nambe casino will be only minutes away from the Pojoaque casinos.
Doyle is describing the casino as “convenience gaming,” a term used to set it apart from the “destination gaming” heralded by Pojoaque, Sandia, Isleta and other casinos. Destination gaming was supposed to attract hordes of out-of-state gamblers to their hotels and casinos. Most of the casinos in the Rio Grande corridor, including Pojoaque, Sandia and Isleta, extract about 90% of their ill-gotten-gain from their neighbors.
It’s sort of refreshing to hear the new casino admit that they plan on exclusively fleecing their neighbors.
Pojoaque’s Buffalo Thunder Casino has had to turn over management of its casino to its creditors because they were defaulting on their contract. Business has not been very good in recent years, and is bound to get worse with another casino moving in down the block.
An article on the new casino in the May 7, 2015 Albuquerque Journal gives more details on the project.
We can hope they all fail and rid the state of the blight of predatory gambling.