WELCH, Minn. – A recreational gambler pressed the video slot machine into a whir. It was a moment, at 2:43 a.m., of shock. The payoff: $1 .1 million. In announcing the lucky spin later in the day, the Treasure Island casino said the new millionaire didn’t recognize what had happened: “The guest was in total disbelief.” The exact sum from the Buffalo Grand machine: $1,101,111.26. The winner chose to shun publicity. Treasure Island honored the anonymity request. The machine has paid handsomely in the past. The casino said there was a $830,000 spin in December 2017.
Job creator. The casino has 1,600 employees, mostly from the once-impoverished tribe. The casino is Minnesota’s 14th largest employer.
Casino profile
The Prairie Island Indians entered the gambling business in 1984 with a bingo hall on their Mississippi River island between Hastings and Red Wing. After Congress passed the Indian Game Act in 1988 to improve the lives of reservation people nationwide, the tribe launched a series of expansions. Today the casino features 2,000 slots, 40 table games, a poker room, and a 500-seat high stakes bingo hall. The property is home to a 460-bed hotel, the second-largest hotel in state, There is a water park, wave spa, bowling alley, and a 130-slip marina. Of the casino’s 350,000 square feet, 25,000 square feet are designed as convention meeting space.