“It is something that the tribe considered for a long time and seeing the successes that we’ve had in Yaamava and all the lessons that we’ve learned from that experience, we wanted to expand,” she explained in an exclusive interview with GGB News. San Manuel has been shopping for a Las Vegas destination casino for some time, according to Latisha Casa, the chairwoman of San Manuel Gaming & Hospitality Authority (SMGHA), the business arm of the tribe that actually owns the casino. Under Station ownership, the property never achieved the traction necessary to succeed and wasn’t reopened when most other Station casinos did after the lockdown. The Palms closed during the pandemic, less than a year after it reopened following a $500 million renovation by Station Casinos, which bought the casino from the original owners and developers, the Maloof family.

While the Mohegan tribe operates the casino at the Virgin Las Vegas hotel, and the Seminoles have purchased the Mirage which will be rebranded a Hard Rock, the Palms is the first fully operating casino to open under tribal ownership. The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians has become the first tribe to own and operate a casino in Las Vegas.

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