As reported by: The Associated Press
The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino opens today at noon with all the glamour of a Las Vegas event.

The $279 million project's opening is expected to draw 1,500 people who will attend a brunch, poolside dinner and a performance by Huey Lewis & The News.

"We could pick this thing up and put it in the middle of the Las Vegas strip or Atlantic City boardwalk and it could compete," said James F. Allen, chief executive of gaming operations for the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

A $167 million sister Hard Rock casino in Tampa opened in March. The casinos are expected to bring in an estimated $1 billion in annual revenue. Existing Seminole operations in Hollywood, Coconut Creek and elsewhere already bring in more than $300 million in profit each year.

For all but Native Americans, who are allowed to offer gaming on their reservations, casinos are illegal in Florida.

"I think it's going to be a tremendous success. There's a huge untapped market for casino gambling in Florida," said Michael K. Evans, chairman of Evans, Carroll & Associates, a Boca Raton consultancy that tracks the casino industry. "The Seminoles are filling a huge void."

The hotel in Hollywood has 500 rooms, 4,000 video gaming machines, poker tables and several restaurants. The public area has large ballrooms and a six-acre pool site with a 180-foot water slide. Guest rooms include marble and granite baths and sweeping balconies overlooking the 100-acre site. The casino does not offer blackjack or table games such as craps or roulette, which are illegal under state law.

Tampa Hard Rock is already exceeding the Seminoles' expectations, Allen said. The resort is drawing 20,000 patrons a day on weekends, he said.

He predicts the newest resort will draw 12,000 to 18,000 visitors on weekdays and 25,000 to 30,000 on weekends, most from within a three-hour driving distance.

Allen said the tribe plans to market the casino through advertising campaigns on network television, radio, print and billboards, mainly in East Coast locations.

"This is a new era for our tribe," said Seminole Tribe President Moses Osceola. "In the past, we were just gaming. Now we're a whole entertainment complex that's going to have an impact on the area for a long time."

The success of the casinos directly affect the 3,000 members of the Seminole nation.

Each Seminole receives $42,000 a year and free health care and college tuition because of gambling income. That amount will likely increase "if the casinos do as well as we think they are going to do," said Jim Shore, the tribe's general counsel.

The tribe has had its share of legal troubles over the years, including the downfall of the leader who built the Seminoles' gaming empire -- James Billie. He and other leaders admitted in a federal embezzlement trial that they went on multimillion-dollar spending sprees, but argued that the expenditures were approved. They were acquitted, and only Billie was ousted by the tribe from leadership.