The Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino and Hotel in Murphy is abuzz these days as 200 on-site construction workers hustle to finish a $275 million expansion project expected to open in 2024. 

One day after the seven-year anniversary of the Valley River Casino’s grand opening just outside of Murphy, tribal officials and casino executives gathered under a bluebird sky Thursday, Sept. 29, to break ground on an expansion project whose budget is more than double that of the initial construction.

At an Aug. 11 event  that Principal Chief Richard Sneed said felt more like a pep rally than a ceremony, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians broke ground on a $650 million casino development in Danville, Virginia, in partnership with Caesars Entertainment.

Casinos in Cherokee and Murphy will be permanently smoke-free following a majority vote from Tribal Council Dec. 9, codifying a policy that’s been in place since the Coronavirus Pandemic spurred a temporary ban on lighting up indoors. 

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ new sports betting venue is now open following a ribbon-cutting ceremony held Thursday, March 18 — just in time for March Madness. 

A $250 million deal between the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Caesars Entertainment will go forward after Tribal Council voted Jan. 14 to deny a protest challenging the deal’s legality. 

Due to decreased casino profits related to the pandemic, December per capita payments to members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will be only about two-thirds the size of last year’s distribution — but that number is better than expected.

Due to decreased casino profits related to the pandemic, December per capita payments to members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will be only about two-thirds the size of last year’s distribution — but that number is better than expected.

Four months after the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians filed suit against the U.S. Department of the Interior’s decision to allow the Catawba Indian Nation to move forward with plans for a casino in Kings Mountain, the DOI has officially taken the land into trust and the Catawba have broken ground on the site. However, the EBCI is still fighting the decision, on July 6 submitting a new, amended complaint in the case. 

For the first time since closing March 18, Harrah’s Cherokee Casinos in Murphy and Cherokee are now open to the general public.