Blackbird Bend nearly doubling amount of games at Walthill casino with new building
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WALTHILL, Neb. -- Before the year is up, the Lucky 77 Casino will be operating in a brand new building in Walthill.
That's according to a press release from the Blackbird Bend Corporation that announced there will be a Thursday afternoon groundbreaking on the new $1.6 million site at 203 Main St.
"This is an exciting, long-awaited project," Chief Operating Officer for the Blackbird Bend Corporation Brad Appleton said in the press release. "The new Lucky 77 Casino will offer a more spacious gaming floor, a deli, a smoke shop, and other amenities. It will be a contemporary, comfortable gaming environment, and a nice community investment in Walthill — of which we’re proud to be part."
Blackbird Bend Casino director of marketing Mike Krysl said the number of games at Lucky 77 will almost double and slot machines will be added.
"We will see what new games might hit the market in the next few months prior to opening," Krysl said in an email Wednesday.
Krysl said there are no plans to offer sports betting at the new casino at this time. However, he said there will be "a full-fledged Player Services window along with kiosks."
Lucky 77 has been in Walthill since 2005. Blackbird Bend Corporation, owned and operated by the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, manages the northeast Nebraska casino, as well as the Blackbird Bend Casino on tribal land near Onawa, Iowa. The casino also operates an Events Center for concerts and other entertainment as well as private functions.
In November 2020, Nebraska voters approved a trio of ballot initiatives that allowed casinos at the state's six licensed horse tracks. Sports wagering was included in the three constitutional amendments, but since Nebraska does not allow online and mobile wagering, legal sports gambling in the state can’t begin until the so-called "racinos" are approved by the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission, likely sometime later this year.
Ho-Chunk Inc., owned by the Winnebago Tribe, was a major backer of the ballot measures and has plans to open casinos at tracks in Omaha, Lincoln and South Sioux City, and also has applied to open a new casino and track in Norfolk.
