Red Hawk Casino's fortunes have disappointed so far
The Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians battled for more than a decade to build a casino along Highway 50, a gambling palace that would lift the tribe out of poverty.
It hasn't worked out that way.
Three years after it opened, Red Hawk Casino is performing well below expectations, can't pay all its debts and has failed to enrich its owners.
Despite a sea of slot machines and elegant trimmings worthy of Las Vegas, the $535 million casino continues to be dwarfed by its wildly successful rival, Thunder Valley Casino near Lincoln, in the battle for Sacramento-area gamblers.
Some of Red Hawk's woes have been made public before, including the debt problems. Now, testimony in an El Dorado Superior Court lawsuit provides the most vivid picture yet of how badly the Shingle Springs casino is lagging.
Red Hawk took in $214 million in gambling revenue last year, testimony shows. That was 10 percent below 2009, its first full year of operation.
More importantly, that was about $100 million less than what was expected in a forecast the tribe made in 2007, according to court records. Gambling revenue is the amount the house wins, not the amount wagered.