They say patience is a virtue, so it’s only fitting that the driving force behind the opening of the Legend Bay Casino Resort, the first casino project in over 20 years in Reno-Spark, Nevada, is the name Court Cardinal.
Cardinal, the regional president of Olympia Gaming, was born and raised in Nevada and has seen all of this during his 35-year gaming industry career, which literally dates back to when he attended Reno University and started as a casino’s barback. He was there when he purchased the land where the Legends Bay Casino is located with the goal of opening a new gaming resort in 2006, but those plans were put on hold when the country was hit by a recession in 2008. It was evacuated, but he didn’t forget.
More than 15 years after acquiring the land, Olympia Gaming began construction on the Legend’s Bay Casino in February 2021, and the $130 million property received rave reviews celebrating its grand opening on Aug. 30.
“Yeah, I would say it’s been a really long time,” Cardinal said with a smile. “The housing market in Renault-Spark is on fire. But at the same time, we’ve seen some casinos close for various reasons, too. So, we’ve seen a decrease in the number of gaming devices per capita and an exponential increase in the region’s population, so even though we were in the midst of a pandemic, we’ve looked around and said, ‘Now is the time.’
“Timing is everything in life and business. We waited and waited and we think we pulled the trigger at the most appropriate time.” 파워볼게임
When the Cardinals talk to Legend Bay about everything it has to offer, his words take pride. Located at the center of a huge outlet for Legendary shopping and entertainment development six miles from Reno-Taho International Airport, Legend Bay, with nearly 300 employees, is an 80,000-square-foot casino where attention to detail is off the charts.
“It’s elegant and modern, but easy to approach,” Cardinal said of the casino’s exterior and feel. “We probably spent 1,000 hours deciding on the design of the carpet. It’s something we put a lot of thought into every corner of the property, whether it’s a dark leather marble on every bar from 14-17 feet high ceilings to crystal chandeliers. It’s really breathtaking as you go in, but at the same time, like I said, it doesn’t go over the top. It’s a great balance.”
While the centerpiece is a 40,000-square-foot casino floor with more than 650 gaming consoles and 10 table games, including Northern Nevada’s only fully arched Buffalo slot machine, Legings Bay has more than just gambling, especially for gourmets.
With the phrase “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” Olympia Gaming has decided to bring the Duke Steakhouse, a wildly popular hit at the Casino Pandango Realty in Carson City, to Legendary Bay, complete with the home’s signature 28-day dry-aged Prime U.S. Steak Diane recipe for the Cardinals’ own.
We decided to abandon the classic casino buffet and build a 5,000-square-foot food truck hall and an entertainment hub with a variety of menus, live music on the beds of the 1953 White Motor Company 3000, and “tap takeovers” where local breweries came in and served craft beer.
The Cardinal explained the idea behind the hall, which features four trucks (Pizza Genius, Rocco Bueno, Red 88, and Kraft 55). “We always had food trucks come into the casino pantry, and they always became very popular, and they became much more popular when COVID-19 hit,” the cardinal explained the idea behind the hall, which features four trucks: Pizza Genius, Rocco Bueno, Red 88, and Kraft 55. “So, in Legendary Bay, we decided to design a permanent food truck location instead of a food court instead of a buffet. The classic truck was built specifically for us, and it turned into a very cool place for people to come and drink food and beer, play, and listen to live music. It really did better than we could have imagined.”
What’s also unique about the area is the circa sportsbook and its giant screen, which can be found just about everywhere on the casino floor. Circa, of course, quickly shot to fame and became a powerhouse in the sportsbook industry when a three-story stadium-style book highlighted as “the biggest screen in sportsbook history” was unveiled in late 2020 with the opening of Circa Resort & Casino in downtown Las Vegas.