ho chunk casino black river falls wisconsin

“And that begs the question of what we can do to move beyond gaming.” “We were hit pretty hard by the pandemic,” said Ho-Chunk President Marlon WhiteEagle, no relation to the casino official. That’s forcing tribal leaders to confront their economy’s outsized reliance on casinos. But the pain from the temporary shutdown still lingers for the tribe, manifested in layoffs and cuts to crucial services. Two years later, casino officials say revenue is eclipsing pre-pandemic levels. Patrons didn’t complain as the payouts kept coming, but Ho-Chunk Nation officials hardly felt lucky as their government’s economic engine sputtered amid the public health crisis. “The secondary maintenance that we had to attend to didn’t get done at all.” It was constant running for all of our employees,” White Eagle said. “There were quite a few nights where it was just off-the-wall jackpots. Verifying each jackpot kept the former slots department supervisor on his toes as a skeleton crew of his colleagues adapted to pandemic life - installing plexiglass dividers between slot machines and covering shifts for staff who felt unsafe returning to work, he said.ĭespite fewer gamblers on the floor, visitors made larger bets that triggered big prizes. This reporting was made possible with support from the Walton Family Foundation. Beer prices OK, band was OK, not much seating to sit and listen to band.The Institute for Nonprofit News, Indian Country Today, Wisconsin Watch and eight other news partners examined the state of the economy in Indian Country.

The prime rib looked good (we asked to check it out).

We did not do the buffet because it was very limited choices but we heard lots of people getting the buffet. Had popcorn, my husband liked the chicken, had cheese curds and chili and all was good and served quickly. I lost during the afternoon, without ever winning but then at night played same machines and hit some, much more fun! Food in the snack bar was good. Now I get more money goes in so more comes out, but when playing for over an hour should hit at least 1 bonus or 1 free game. But later on when the place was full, machines were paying. I also was there around noon when it was dead and no machines were paying out, not for me and for anyone I watched, well1 did. The smoke was really bad, we smelled from head to toe of smoke, I don't remember that ever happening before.

I have been here 3 times, 2 in the past year and this time it just seemed much different.

Ho chunk casino black river falls wisconsin