Taking a gamble on Browning

By KRISTI ALBERTSON

The Daily Inter Lake

BROWNING - Many people are unimpressed when they hear about a new casino opening in Montana.

Countless small casinos - generally consisting of keno and a couple of rows of video poker machines - exist all over the state.

"So when people heard they were opening a casino here, they were like, big deal," said Gary Green, general manager of the new Glacier Peaks Casino in Browning. "It was like, sure, yeah, have a nice life."

Green's goal is to show people in Montana what a "real" casino looks like. So far, he said, visitors have been impressed and a little dumbfounded by Glacier Peaks.

"When you bring people in and give them the tour, they're like, 'Oh my god, you've built a casino,'" he said.

Glacier Peaks, a $7 million facility near the intersection of U.S. 2 and U.S. 89 just west of the Museum of the Plains Indian, is owned and operated by Siyeh Corp., the Blackfeet Indian Reservation's for-profit business and economic development arm.

Green has worked in the casino business for years and managed both commercial- and American Indian-run ventures. Browning is one of the more remote locations in which he's worked, but he's convinced Glacier Peaks will be a success.

When Walt Disney wanted to put a theme park in Orlando, Fla., the locals thought he was crazy for building in the middle of a swamp, Green said. People have had a similar reaction to the idea of building a casino in Browning, he said, an area that historically has been economically depressed.

But so far, most visitors have been pleasantly surprised by Glacier Peaks, Green said. "What we created here was an oasis where people go, 'Oh my god, this is not my grandfather's Browning. This is not my grandmother's Browning.'"

What makes Glacier Peaks unique is its resemblance to a Las Vegas casino. Five poker tables are set up near the front entrance. Five hundred slot machines beckon patrons with flashing lights and promises of huge payouts.

Five nights a week, an Elvis impersonator opens the door for customers and wanders through the casino, occasionally breaking into a rendition of "Blue Suede Shoes." And every Friday and Saturday night, Vegas-style showgirls, complete with feathered headdresses and fishnet stockings, parade throughout the building.

"I wanted to bring a piece of Las Vegas here," Green said. "It's a fun place because it hasn't been done before" in Montana.

A casino in Browning is a sustainable business, he added. When conducting market research prior to moving to Montana, Green discovered the average tourist at Glacier National Park has an income 35 percent higher than the national mean.

Locals make up the bulk of the business, but tapping the tourist market will greatly increase its prosperity. Plans are already in the works for a four-star, 90-room hotel next door to the casino to accommodate those travelers, Green said.

Even though Glacier Peaks opened in late September (at the tail end of the tourist season), Green said he has been encouraged by the amount of business it's seen. On a typical Friday or Saturday night, between 300 and 500 players are inside the building at any given moment, he said. The casino serves about 2,000 people over the course of a weekend.

Even on weeknights, which are less crowded at any casino, 100 people might visit a night, Green said. "That's still pretty exciting."

He expects business to pick up even more next summer when tourists flock to the park. They can only hike during the day, Green said; the casino will be there to fill their evening hours.

Glacier Peaks also is attempting to attract customers from a wide radius around Browning. A bus picks up patrons every weekend in Lethbridge, Alberta. Daily bus service from Great Falls and the Flathead Valley began Tuesday.

Already, people are coming from Kalispell, Whitefish, Great Falls, Lethbridge, Calgary, Missoula and Billings.

"A lot of people drive over that pass," Green said.

And he anticipates many return visits: "Once people come into this place, they come back."

"Gamblers are serial people," he added.

There are two types of gamblers, he explained - those who come strictly for entertainment and serious players who constantly return. Glacier Peaks has measures in place to deter gambling addiction, he said; the 1-800 number for Gamblers Anonymous is posted throughout the building, and security guards watch for people who "are maybe playing a little bit too much."

But in an area where unemployment can reach high levels, Green has been asked whether operating a casino is wise.

Glacier Peaks isn't out to capitalize on an economically depressed group of people, he said. It won't cash welfare or government checks. Furthermore, unlike alcoholism, gambling addiction isn't a genetic condition, he said.

"There is no propensity toward gaming addiction," he said. "I wish there was, because I would target those people, whoever they are."

The casino already is improving the local economy, Green said. More than 300 people, most of them from the Browning area, work at Glacier Peaks. And as specified by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the casino's profits are used for tribal social programs.

Its economic benefits go beyond the borders of the Blackfeet Reservation, he said. Much of the furniture came from Great Falls. The food comes from Billings.

Overall, the casino has been well received by the Blackfeet Tribal Council and the general public, Green said.

Community response has been terrific, he said. "There's just been support all around."

That support includes showing up to gamble. Since its grand opening on Sept. 29, the casino's most popular games have been its slot machines.

Glacier Peaks also has jazzed up a Montana casino staple: A 125-seat bingo hall fills one end of the building.

"I have a reputation in Indian casinos of closing bingo halls," Green said.

Financially, there's good reason to do so, he explained. "Mathematically, I'm going to make a heck of a lot more money from the 5.5 square feet a slot machine takes up than the 5.5 square feet a chair in a bingo hall takes up."

However, the game is popular among many locals, he said. So to make it jibe with the rest of the glitzy building, Green created what he calls a "high-tech bingo hall."

Players sit in ergonomic chairs and play touch-screen or hand-held electronic cards. Paper cards are available for traditionalists, and true die-hards can play all three simultaneously.

Actually, every game in the building is bingo-based. Class II gambling, defined as bingo or an electronic facsimile of bingo, is permitted on the Blackfeet Reservation and is regulated by the National Indian Gaming Commission.

When Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988, Class II gaming consisted of paper cards or a handheld bingo game, Green said. Thanks to the Internet, however, "virtual bingo" became possible.

On the Internet, 72 virtual bingo balls are called every fraction of a second, Green said. Each machine in the casino is essentially a work station with a virtual bingo card. The games look like slot machines, complete with spinning bars and cherries, but payouts happen when those virtual cards get a bingo.

Many people have questioned the legality of Glacier Peaks' machines, but those virtual bingo cards make them Class II games, Green said. Actual slot machines are Class III games, which require a contract between the tribe and the state.

House-banked card games such as blackjack, in which players compete against the casino, also fall under the Class III designation.

In poker, however, gamblers play against each other, so poker is allowed under Class II regulations. Customers can play popular Vegas games such as Three-Card Poker, Caribbean Stud or Let It Ride, or can try their luck with Texas Hold 'Em.

Glacier Peaks might look like a Vegas casino, but Green says that because it's tribally operated, it is far more heavily regulated than a similar facility in Nevada or New Jersey.

"We are probably the most regulated industry in the country," he said.

Every penny - even a free meal - has to be meticulously accounted for, he said. Potential employees are required to go through a rigorous criminal background check. Manned live-feed cameras operate 24 hours a day.

"This is a business. There's very little that's left to chance," Green said.

Some people hesitate to gamble in a tribal casino, he said. A longtime gambler himself, Green didn't try Indian gaming for years. Now, thanks to the heavy regulations and greater opportunity for higher payouts, he prefers gambling on reservations.

"I'd rather gamble in any Indian casino in the country than in any Harrah's," he said. "Indian gaming is actually a pretty good deal, because it's so regulated you know it's safe."

On the Net:

www.glaciercash.com

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.