In 1987, the Choctaw Bingo Palace opened, filling 28,000 square feet of space and attracting Oklahomans and Texans. I knew that’s where I needed to be,” Dillard said.ĭillard says the tribe purchased the land from two sisters struggling to sell. Today she is Choctaw’s senior executive officer. In 1987, she became a floor manager for the Choctaw Bingo Palace. The casino also hosted bowling and bingo, a nod to its beginnings.ĭillard began working for the tribe in 1982.
This month, Choctaw gave away $2 million in cash and offered a special anniversary hotel rate. After 35 years of gaming, Choctaw Casinos and Resorts is celebrating its anniversary in southeastern Oklahoma. Eventually, it started to dabble in casino gaming.Ī lot has changed since then for that bingo hall. “We built high-stakes bingo,” Dillard said, basically because that’s all the tribe could afford. Some folks may not remember the bingo hall that once stood in southeastern Oklahoma 35 years ago.
Alexandra Skores, The Dallas Morning News
