Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino
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| Harrah's Ak-Chin | |
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| Facts and statistics | |
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| Address | 15406 Maricopa Road Maricopa, AZ 85239 |
| Opening date | December 28, 1994 |
| Casino type | Land Based |
| Owner | Harrah's Entertainment |
| No. of rooms | 148 |
| Notable restaurants | The Range Steakhouse |
| Website | harrahs.com/our_casinos/akc/ |
Harrah's Ak-Chin is a casino and hotel located in the Ak-Chin Indian Community, 39 miles south of Phoenix, Arizona near Maricopa, AZ.
The 40,000 square foot casino has video poker and slot machines, as well poker, blackjack, keno, and bingo, and is open 24 hours a day. The hotel has 144 rooms, and an outdoor swimming pool. The complex also features 4 restaurants, meeting and conference space, and entertainment.
A notable event in the casino's history occurred in October 1997, when a 64-year-old retired farm worker, Herminia Rodriguez, won $330,000 on a malfunctioning Quartermania slot machine, only to be told by casino management that the jackpot would not be awarded. Rodriguez went to the media, which caused a dip in the casino's revenues.
In January 1998, Harrah's paid Rodriguez the $330,000, saying that "it is appropriate for Harrah's to satisfy the expectations it created for the customer." *[1] Because the malfunctioning slot machine was part of a pool of slot machines in the Southwest region, Harrah's did not have access to funds to pay the jackpot, so they paid it out of their own funds. There are no longer any Quartermania machines in the casino.
Robert Mulryne Jr, who was the spokesman for the Ak-Chin community during the controversy, later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. According to reports, family members say that his suicide was due to the slot machine problems. [2]
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