A second casino is proving to be a big benefit for the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians of Michigan and the surrounding community.

In just one year of operation, the Four Winds Hartford Casino generated $52 million in slot machine revenues. The tribe is sharing two percent of that amount, $1.04 million, with its neighbors.

"It's just a great pleasure for the Pokagon Band to be able to share the success of Four Winds Hartford with the local community," Chairman Matt Wesaw told MLive.

The Hartford location boasts 530 slot machines, far fewer than the 3,022 in operation at the much-larger Four Winds Casino Resort. That facility opened in August 2007 and pumped $5.8 million into the region as of July 2011, according to the Pokagon-New Buffalo Area Local Revenue Sharing Board.

The tribe is currently building a third casino in Dowagiac. The 200-slot machine facility is expected to open in 2013.

The tribe is also looking at a fourth casino near South Bend, Indiana. Plans are not yet solid but have been proposed in a land-into-trust application.

Get the Story:
Four Winds Hartford presents $1 million in slot machine revenues to Hartfort area taxing agencies (MLive 10/3)
Hartford casino slots generate $52 million in first year (The South Bend Tribune 10/2)

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BIA hosts meeting on Pokagon Band casino-land-into-trust bid (9/28)