Broward News

... Because Seminole Gamblers Aren't Quite Cash-Crazed Enough

From March 18 to 20, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino will kick off a unique marketing ploy that is both a customer lure and a photo op. No, there's no Disney character dressed in a furry costume, no photogenic celebrity host, not even a wax statue of Chief...

By Deirdra Funcheon

March 12, 2009

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From March 18 to 20, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino will kick off a unique marketing ploy that is both a customer lure and a photo op. No, there's no Disney character dressed in a furry costume, no photogenic celebrity host, not even a wax statue of Chief Billie. Just $5 million in cold, hard cash. That's right: The casino will display piles and piles of 100-dollar-bills -- $5 million worth -- encased in a custom enclosure that weighs 1,300 pounds and cost $90,000 to build.

Visitors will be welcome to take pictures in front of the dough, and members of the Seminole Player's Club -- which anyone over 21 can join -- are eligible to win $1 million by swiping their card at a kiosk. The Seminoles say this will be the most cash ever displayed by a casino; they're hoping the effort gets them into the Guinness Book of World Records.

Sounds a teeny bit like dangling barbecued ribs in front of a starving mob, but hey -- we're not marketing experts. Is the Hard Rock's idea crass? Or genius?

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