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Thursday, July 02, 2009
Demise? No way: Thunder flourishes
By Bill Previtti
For the Journal
Going back about six months, a gaggle of the wise birds on the gambling avenue were beginning to count Pojoaque Pueblo's Buffalo Thunder Casino & Resort going down for the count.
Not even close, no cigar. Like all of the state's full-service casinos, there was a bottom line hit toward the end of 2008. Buffalo Thunder was no exception.
The storm clouds began lightening in the seven or eight days leading up to New Year's Eve. Traffic in all of Thunder's venues began showing muscle, and sales and activity began building. And is hasn't stopped since. Each month is storming above the previous 30-day flight. Pojoaque bosses are predicting a good summer and fall, and if they get ample snow for skiers, they look to a solid 2009 season.
An aggressive marketing team works Thunder and its sister casino Cities of Gold. For July both casinos are giving away cars. On July 24, upscale Buffalo Thunder is giving away a 2009 Mercedes-Benz C300 sedan. Following that, on July 25, blue-collar, where-everybody-knows-your-name Cities of Gold is giving away a heavenly restored 1958 Pontiac Chieftan, a car to die for. The retail on that creation is easily $32,000-plus.
To win the Mercedes, casino patrons play Thunder slots and table games; each time the play reaches 10 points, an entry is earned. Each Friday in July, drawings are held at 6 p.m., 7 p.m., 8 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. The five names drawn are qualifiers. On the evening of July 24, all qualifiers return for the pull for the Mercedes. The winner gets the car. The remaining qualifiers each receive $100 in free slot play.
The ploy is the same at Cities: Every 10 points earned playing casino games gets an entry. Each Saturday in July, four drawings are held at 6 p.m., 7 p.m., 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. All of the four names extracted are qualifiers. On July 25 all qualifiers return. One name is drawn; that name gets the Pontiac. The remaining qualifiers each receive $100 in free slot play.
SANDIA RESORT & CASINO: Bingo, the game that started all this casino commotion and substantially changed the Land of Enchantment's landscape, is still around, and where it's played draws wall-to-wall crowds. Among the favorites of the bingo bunch is Sandia Resort & Casino, where sell-out crowds are not the exception.
Two big mid-June bingo winners were Douglas Champion and DeWanna Pace, both of Albuquerque. Champion carried off $63,230 after winning the Blue Planet bingo jackpot. Pace won the Green Planet bingo jackpot, putting $13,155 in her purse.
The Planet Bingo games are progressives with jackpots that at times soar into six figures.
Healthy slot paydays were abundant during mid-month: Edgewood's Ondre Barela won $7,200 playing a $5 Triple Dollars; Irene Catanach of the Duke City took off with $12,500 after playing the $5 Playboy. I think it's the only $5 Playboy slot on the floor, and may be the only one in the area. It's been a happy niche for more than a few players.
The biggest slot winner through mid-June was Carl Morris Crider of Ponder, Texas. He won $20,000 playing a $2 multidenomination Game King poker machine.
Talking about poker, Rio Rancho's Casey Fitzgerald won the Poker Room's June's $10,000 Big Event Poker Tournament. It was a Hold 'Em tussle.
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