The Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino near Coarsegold is preparing for a soft launch on the 31st of December after being shut down for over 14 months due to a number of reasons including a factional dispute and two years of missing audits.

All those issues have been sorted out and appear to be a thing of the past as the Chukchansi casino prepares to have a new start in 2016 and have confirmed an official launch for the 15th of Jan 2016. Casino officials decided to go ahead with the soft launch after tribal council members decided that it was in the best interest of the casino to open its doors to the public at the earliest even though some of the facilities in the casino will function only in January.

The soft launch will start at 10 am and customers will be able to access 22 table games and over 1,700 slot machines. The casino will initially open 220 hotel rooms to customers in December and open the remaining 200 sometime in 2016, while the 7 restaurants at the casino will be fully functional before the end of Jan 2016.

In a statement, Claudia Gonzales, Tribal Chairwoman said “Since our (October) election, the Tribal Council has worked every day with our government partners, casino management team and local business partners to get Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino ready to open. We are thankful for the support of our members and believe this is an important first step in bringing prosperity back to our people.”

The casino is also offering its customers a number of incentives and promotions along with the option of redeeming their winnings from last year, before the casino was shutdown. Patrons who love the slot machines will have access to both old and new slot games including Batman, Big Bang Theory, Britney Spears and Sons of Anarchy while traditional table games such as Mini Baccarat, Ultimate Texas Hold’em, Pai Gow Poker and Three Card Poker will also be available.

The casino has had to raise over $35 million to prepare for the re-launch of the casino and now has a debt of $250 million and a restructured financing plan. The tribe also has to pay the federal government $500,000 before the end of 2016 and be open to submitting its accounts for auditing as and when required.

The Chukchansi tribe also has to honor its deal with the federal government by making provision for office space at the casino which will be occupied by a full-time deputy and house a firefighting vehicle to ensure the safety of its patrons.