Ilani Casino Resort hits jackpot out of the gate

A month after opening, Ilani Casino Resort is entertaining thousands of people per day, though it’s still trying to get its bearings, casino officials say.

About 8,000 to 10,000 patrons are arriving every day and visitation peaked at about 15,000 daily during opening week, according to Kara Fox-LaRose, president and general manager. Before opening, casino officials said they expect 4.5 million visitors per year.

“We’ve certainly experienced high volumes,” she said. “It’s an indicator that there is definitely awareness and curiosity out there in the community.”

Ilani opened April 24, on a Monday morning, and made headlines around the region when gambling enthusiasts log-jammed 8 miles of Interstate 5 within 90 minutes.

Visits have been steady since then, but management needs more time to feel they have a good pattern, Fox-LaRose said. Peak hours seem to be around midnight, something Fox-LaRose called “interesting,” and workers are continuing to park off-site, near the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds on the weekends.

“We have anywhere from 500 to 700 cars from team members in the lot at one time, so we want to make sure we free those up for (customers),” Fox-LaRose said. The casino has about 1,500 employees.

The casino wrapped up its first month — a monthlong grand opening, according to casino officials — with musical entertainment and a fireworks show over Memorial Day weekend.

Fox-LaRose said she couldn’t speak to the demographics of the people who are going to the casino, specifically whether there are a lot of visitors from Portland or elsewhere.

Some of the gambling figures might also be worth noting: 3,000 jackpots have been hit at the slot machines since opening, Fox-LaRose said, some in the vicinity of $25,000. One blackjack player won $65,000, she said.

“There’s a lot of winners,” she said. “A lot of happy people. It’s been a great experience these past few weeks.”

Ilani struggled with some logistics early on. Whole sections of slot machines would deactivate intermittently, though Fox-LaRose stressed that those problems are solved. The biggest problem now, she said, is people getting lost inside the 368,000-square-foot complex.

Some construction is still underway. The casino is still on track to open its 17,000-square-foot event center and concert venue in the fall. A hotel is still in the plans, though that is about two years away.

Because Ilani is the closest casino to most of Portland, it’s expected to draw lots of money from Oregon gamblers. It’s still too early to tell how Ilani will impact the Oregon Lottery and the cash it flows into the state coffers.

While the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis has projected the state will lose $110 million a year, so far lottery sales are up, according to a May 17 forecast.

“At least based on these first three weeks, there has been no apparent impact on statewide video lottery sales,” the forecast said. While there have been declines at Hayden Island and at the northernmost tips of Portland, those were “more than offset by stronger sales elsewhere in the state, according to the research team at the Oregon Lottery.”

“It is still too soon to tell what the true impact will be from the new tribal casino, and our office is not yet changing the estimate,” the forecast said. “That said, it does suggest the risks to the outlook for video lottery sales are clearly tilted toward the upside.”