Arizona Casinos
Casinos are popping up all over the desert Southwest thanks to Arizona's growing presence in the gaming world. In 1993, Arizona's then Governor Symington signed a compact agreement with the state's native tribes that allowed the tribes to offer slot machines on their reservations. The original agreement didn't allow for table games, a major facet of any solid casino, but in 2003 blackjack was added to the list of permissable table games. The casinos are also permitted to offer video versions of craps, roulette, keno, and other casino games.
The effect of the state's touch and go relationship with table games has been that Arizona casinos are stuffed to the gills with slot and video machines. This is a boon for those players who travel to casinos for video play, but could leave table gamers out in the cold. Slot and video gaming far outpaces table gaming in the state -- not a perfectly unique situation in the gambling world, but a difference that visitors will notice.
Revenues began to dip for the first time in early 2008. According to ome member of the Arizona Indian Gaming Association, "Recent figures from the Arizona Department of Gaming show that the revenue the tribes share with the state from their casinos was about $24.4 million for the first three months of 2008. That is down about 0.8 percent from the same period a year earlier." This not only gives us an idea of the economic impact of gaming in Arizona (around 100 million per year) but indicates that since 2003, the gaming industry here has seen steady growth. A small dip in revenue notwithstanding, Arizona's casinos are bringing in lots of green.
While annual totals of slot machines are recorded and regulated rather heavily, Arizona tribes are not required to release their slot machine percentage paybacks or other information about the games themselves; however, according to the Arizona Department of Gaming, the terms of the compact agreement require each tribes' family of machines to fall somewhere within the following minimum and maximum payback totals: video poker and video blackjack - 83% to 100%, slot machines - 80% to 100%, keno - 75% to 100%. Each tribe is free to set its machines to pay back any amount as long as it falls legally within these limits.
All Arizona casinos have slots, video poker and video keno. Optional games include: blackjack, Spanish 21, let it ride, video craps, video roulette, poker, live keno, bingo, greyhound or horse betting, and off-track betting. The minimum gambling age is 21 and all casinos are open for 24 hours daily. At last count there were over 13,ooo slots to play in casinos in Arizona, and this year the Gaming Association announced a new slot allotment of up to 3,000 new slots across the state. Arizona is making a move to become a major player in American gaming. For more information on Arizona or the state's gaming system, call the state's Office of Tourism at (602)364-3700 or visit their website at: www.azot.com
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Bucky's & Yavapai Casinos
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Casino Del Sol
Cliff Castle Casino
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Desert Diamond Casino
Fort McDowell Casino
Gila River Casino - Lone Butte
Gila River Casino - Vee Quiva
Gila River Casino - Wild Horse Pass
Golden Ha:sañ Casino
Harrah's Phoenix Ak-Chin Casino Resort
Hon-Dah Resort Casino
Mazatzal Casino
Paradise Casino
Quest Castle Casino
Radisson Resort and Casino
Spirit Mountain Casino
Starwood Hotels & Resorts