Snoqualmie Casino holds grand opening

JESSICA SIMPSON TO HEADLINE INAUGURAL PERFORMANCE

SNOQUALMIE, WA - The Snoqualmie Tribe celebrated the grand opening of their lavish, new $375 million casino Thursday.  The 170,000 square-foot facility features 1,700 electronic slot machines and five restaurants. The celebration is headlined with a concert by Jessica Simpson Friday night.  An estimated 30,000 people could travel to the casino before Saturday morning, and the King County Sheriff's department is warning of huge traffic backups.

The tribal administrator Matt Mattson said the tribe's mood as "ecstatic."  "The tribe views this as a tremendous opportunity. And economic opportunity means empowerment. It's a chance for the tribe to grab hold of its future and control its own destiny."

"We're hearing things from some of the other tribes that their revenue is off or flat. People are spending more to fill up their gas tanks and they're seeing home values go down. And as a result, entertainment spending has been curtailed."

"These are some of the wealthiest communities west of the Mississippi. And everything that we read and studied in putting this project together indicated that you have to be able to appeal to the people who live within 25 miles."

The casino is designed by Bergman, Walls & Associates, which designed The Mirage, Treasure Island, Paris and several other casinos.  "What we've tried to create there is a little touch of Las Vegas," said Leonard Bergman.

ENTERTAINMENT LINEUP

The Ballroom
Wynonna Judd, Nov. 26 ($55-$95)
Sergio Mendes, Nov. 28 ($40-$80)
The Blakes, Dec. 27 ($10)
Hiroshima, Dec. 29 ($20-$40)
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Dec. 30 ($25-$45)
New Year's extravaganza on Dec. 31 ($175)
Darryl Worley, Heidi Newfield and Jason Michael Carroll, Jan. 3 ($20-$40)
Terry Fator, Jan. 15 ($45-$95)
Wilson Phillips, Jan. 16 ($45-$95)
En Vogue, Jan. 17 ($30-$50)
Chinese Acrobats of Hebei, Jan. 25 ($20-$55)
The Flying Karamazov Brothers, Jan. 29 ($10-$25)
LeAnn Rimes, Jan. 30 ($50-$100)

Sno Lounge
Deanna Carter (Tuesday)
Ingram Hill (Wednesday and Thursday; free)
Chuck Wicks, Nov. 18
Kyle Cease, Nov. 19-20
Jypsi, Nov. 25-26 (free)
Gloriana, Dec. 2 (free)
Cary Brothers, Dec. 3-4
Keith Anderson, Dec. 9
Henry Cho, Dec. 10-11
Kate and Kacey Coppola, Dec. 16 (free)
Natasha Leggero, Dec. 17-18 (free)
Trent Tomlinson, Dec. 30

Return to Washington Casinos.