By Staff
NEW BUFFALO – Four Winds Casino Resort celebrated its official grand opening on Thursday, Aug. 2, and averaged approximately 20,000 guests a day through the first weekend.
Already, several large jackpots were hit, including a $130,000 winner on Monopoly Super Money Grab.
Dennis Weaver of Elkhart, Ind., decided to check out Four Winds on opening day.
He was rewarded with a $130,000 jackpot after playing on a penny Monopoly Super Money Grab Wide-Area Progressive game. Dennis is a huge fan of Monopoly and was wearing his lucky shirt. He plans to purchase a Jeep Wrangler and invest with his winnings.
Weaver won on the Wide-Area Progressive game, which is linked to other Native American casinos around the country, which produces the highest jackpots in the region.
Weaver was playing on Monopoly Super Money Grab, manufactured by Chicago-based WMS, which supplies 18 percent of the 3,000 slot machines at Four Winds Casino Resort.
Christine Dobrzykowski of Mishawaka, Ind., won a total of approximately $53,000 through multiple jackpot wins at the Aug. 1 pre-opening party.
Christine won VIP passes through a radio contest on Sunny 101 in South Bend, Ind. With her winnings, Christine is planning to help her son, who is in the Navy, pay off his bills.
"I just had a feeling and I knew I had to come on the first day. When I won those tickets and got to come before the first day, I was just ecstatic!" said Christine. "I don't think I'll ever have the same feeling I had when I won again. My whole body was shaking. Somebody asked me if I wanted to sit down and I told them, 'If I sit down, I don't think I'll be able to get back up!' "
Members of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and their invited guests were treated to a pre-opening party on the evening of Aug. 1.
The evening was highlighted with a special red carpet entry which led guests from the casino's Porte-Cochere to the gaming floor.
Arriving guests were greeted by several photographers, videographers and media, followed by hundreds of cheering onlookers in the casino's expansive Rotunda.
Celebrities who graced the red carpet included:
Six-time NBA World Champion and former Chicago Bull Scottie Pippen
NFL Super Bowl Champion, Super Bowl XX MVP and former Chicago Bear Richard Dent
NFL Super Bowl Champion and former Chicago Bear William "The Refrigerator" Perry
Actor Steven R. Schrippa, who plays "Bobby 'Bacala' Baccalieri" on HBO's Emmy award-winning television series "The Sopranos"
Grammy Award-winning R&B group The Pointer Sisters
Author, executive, Poker Hall of Famer and three-time World Series of Poker winner Lyle Berman.
In between celebrity arrivals, guests were also treated to stunning, gravity defying performances from a troupe of world-class acrobats.
Following the red carpet entrances, The Pointer Sisters pumped up the crowd and treated guests to a live performance which included some of their greatest hits, such as "Jump (For My Love)" and "I'm So Excited."