A Tale Of Two Casinos

The Windcreek Casino here in Wetumpka is expecting pretty big crowds for this memorial day weekend. But it’s a completely different story over at victoryland. 

 

Electronic bingo machines once covered this floor in the Victoryland casino in Macon County. Since they were raided by Attorney General Luther Strange in 2012, all that remains are wires, chairs, and old signs. The casino can’t afford to pay property taxes anymore and it’s getting harder and harder to cover operation costs. 

 

“I think the ironic thing is the machines that left this facility right here went to three different indian casinos in the state. If they’re illegal here they’re illegal in the indian casinos. Luther Strange knows this is a legitimate operation,” said shareholder Andy Hornsby.

 

The casino still simulcasts horse and dog races at the increasingly overgrown track. About 200 people a week come to bet each week, which Hornsby says won’t pay the bills. 

 

The hotel, which was only open for four months, is even harder to get in to. Only two people have the keys to even get into the building. 

 

About 30 miles away in Wetumpka, the new hotel is full almost every weekend. General Manager Cody Williamson says it’s been a big help to the casino.

 

“Everything’s going really good. The main thing about the hotel is it brought in a lot of business that we weren’t getting before. We really love our locals and we have locals that will stay in the hotel but a lot of people coming in to the hotel business are from Atlanta, Birmingham, Huntsville,” said Cody Williamson, general manager of the casino.

 

The hotel is built so that even if customers don’t like gambling, they never have to set foot on the casino floor.

 

But there are a lot of people who do. Williamson says there are about 10 to 12 thousand people come through the casino on a normal weekend. That’s not even counting people coming to the restaurants. 

 

Crews are still putting the finishing touches on a few things here at the hotel and casino, but they expect to be completely done next month.