First look: Choctaw lands in Hochatown, ready to meet Texans’ gambling desires

Choctaw Landing, the newest casino and resort in Hochatown, Oklahoma, is less than four hours from Dallas and ready to welcome hundreds of thousands of guests this year with a large portion of them expected to be Texans.

The $238 million facility sits on 80 acres at 272 OK-259A, Hochatown, Okla. with a view of lush trees accompanied by the sounds of birds constantly whistling in the distance. The getaway location is unlike many others where casinos are located — quiet and ready to welcome everyone from individual gamblers to families looking for an escape to busy cityscapes. It’s set to open May 23.

To Choctaw Nation, the masterminds behind the complex, that’s the point.

“They were already going to chop trees down here because the property used to be a tree farm. So it gave us the chance to chop down the trees ourselves and not disturb nature too much,” said Jeremy Whitaker, regional marketing director for Choctaw Landing. “This is the perfect opportunity for the Nation to expand their footprint and provide a unique cultural experience.

“Plus, there’s obviously money to be made.”

The Choctaw Nation is taking another roll at pulling tourists from North Texas, Oklahoma City and western Arkansas after establishing itself as a major player in the gaming industry with its flagship 1,700-room casino and resort in Durant, one of its eight casinos in the state. Winstar World Resort in Thackerville, operated by the Chickasaw Nation, has 1,300-plus rooms and hosts major musical and comedy acts including upcoming shows from Stevie Nicks, Jason Aldean, Duran Duran and Kevin Hart.

Gamblers spent almost $3.2 billion in 133 Oklahoma casinos in 2022, the state reported.

And the Hochatown area is already a popular getaway for North Texans because of nearby Broken Bow Lake and Beavers Bend State Park.

The Hochatown property, which has a 24-hour casino with 600 slot machines, eight table games and a center bar, wants to go beyond being a gambling getaway.

It has a pool area with nine cabanas and two hot tubs, an outdoor amphitheater that can seat 125 people, four dining options, a Starbucks, three conference rooms, a 24-hour gas station and a mercantile that serves as a gift shop and deli serving local fresh meats.

There’s even a playground for children. For Whitaker and Choctaw Nation, being able to serve as more than a casino is part of the key to the facility’s future success.

“The playground is unique to this property. Casinos usually tend to shy away from children and marketing to them is not our intention by any means,” he said. “But at the same time, we’re not just a casino. We’re a destination first. The casino just happens to be one of the amenities.”

Ready to roll and grow

Choctaw Landing is accepting room bookings and is already scheduled to host events like weddings soon.

The amphitheater is one of the biggest music venues in the immediate area and is going to host local artists after the opening on May 23. But there’s already plans to expand it and other amenities if operators see high demand, Whitaker said.

“We’ve built everything here with expansion in mind. You’ll see areas here that are still empty and that’s the next challenge,” he said. “Expansion will allow us to bring more people in. So we have plans for a bigger and better concert venue, pool, you name it.”

The facility also has 600 pieces of artwork from award-winning Choctaw Nation artists. Each painting and sculpture is accompanied by a QR code where guests can scan them to essentially take a self-guided tour through each piece of art and where they come from.

The casino and resort is expected to add 400 jobs to the region. Employees at the facility are constantly using phrases like ‘Halito,’ which means hello in Choctaw language. It’s apart of the experience meant to make guests embrace the Choctaw Nation’s culture.

Choctaw doesn’t see itself slowing down artistically in Hochatown any time soon, said Shauna Williams, Choctaw Landing’s executive director of communications. Enthralling visitors deeper into Choctaw Nation culture is part of the goal.

“We tried to be very intentional about the role the art plays here, too,” Young said. “There’s still two more sculptures that we’re going to be installing in the coming weeks. I think it lends itself really nicely to bring in live art activations and it compliments the local arts community here.”

Choctaw Landing is planning for its next move which could feature a bigger gambling area with more table games and slot machines. But for now, watching the market is at the top of its priority list, Whitaker said.

“We never want to overbuild anything. Right now, we’re waiting to see how the market will respond to this. Once we get the doors open to more people, we’ll come back and see what the facility needs,” he said. “But we’re ready for it. We want to put more shovels in the ground and build more.”

Halito, Texans

Many forms of gambling, like casinos, are outlawed in Texas. It leads Texans, many from D-FW, to go to other facilities to spend their gambling dollars in neighboring states like Oklahoma, Louisiana and as far as the gambling capital of the world, Nevada.

Choctaw knows that many of its visitors will be coming from the Lone Star State.

“I think that’s a fair assessment, that there will be a large portion of visitors that come from Texas,” Whitaker said. “If you look at Hochatown, in general, a large portion of the visitation is from Texas. So we expect to see the same thing here.”

Though Choctaw Nation is keeping its attention on its current businesses at the moment, they’ll be ready to spring on the opportunity for gambling legalization in Texas if the time comes, said Heidi Grant, senior executive officer of commerce for Choctaw Landing.

“[A facility like this] could work in Texas. I think everyone’s keeping a close eye and looking into just what legislation looks like in Texas,” she said. “But right now, we’re focusing on our markets and making sure that our facilities are up to par and making sure we have the best guest experience in our local areas.”

It’s only a matter of time until a casino like Choctaw Landing ends up in Texas, Whitaker said.

“Not yet. It’s around the corner. I don’t know how far the corner is, but it’s happening,” he said.

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