On the surface, Seattle Mariners Hall of Famer Edgar Martínez and Chehalis Tribal Chairman Dustin Klatush have very little in common.
Klatush represents the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, based in Oakville, Washington; Martínez is from Puerto Rico. Klatush isn’t betting on the Mariners for the 2023 World Series because he doesn’t like the odds; Martínez isn’t betting because, he said, “I’ve never gambled.”
There is one obvious trait the two men share, though: a love of sports. On Friday night, Klatush cast the Lucky Eagle Casino’s first-ever sports bet on UFC fighter Alexander Volkanovski, (who earned the chairman his reward with a technical knockout on Saturday).
After a hearty “EDGAAAAAR” from the crowd, Klatush and Martínez held giant scissors and cut the ribbon on the casino’s new sports watching and betting venue, Legends Sports Bar. After the ribbon-cutting, Martínez spent the evening taking photos with a long line of visitors.
Tribe-hosted sports betting in Washington only became legal in 2020, but the Chehalis Tribe’s historical love of sports runs far deeper, according to Lucky Eagle Casino CEO JaNessa Bumgarner.
The new bar is, on one hand, a new amenity that sets the casino apart from others, Bumgarner said. Yet, it’s also a new opportunity to honor tribal history and today’s community, she said.
“The Chehalis Tribe is known for our baseball tournaments. We start it off Memorial Day every year,” Bumgarner said, adding the tradition was, at least, established early in the previous century. “We have honored our legends.”
Both Klatush and Bumgarner’s grandfathers played on the Chehalis’ “Tomahawks” team. Now, thanks to Klatush’s donations, their photos decorate the walls of Legends Sports Bar. A crowd of tribal elders also joined for the celebration and had photos taken with Martínez.
The grand opening was also near Chehalis Day, an annual celebration of the tribe first being officially recognized.
“For the tribe, it’s just big. For sports — we’re a sports kind of a tribe. So this is great for us to come in here and watch baseball, UFC, basketball, tournaments, whatever else,” Klatush said. “It’s an awesome thing to have. Usually, you’d have to go down to Vegas to see something like this.”
It didn’t seem to change Klatush’s mind about the World Series bet, but the four-TV screen above his head showed the team’s score against the Astros Friday night. Seattle won 10-1.
Learn more about Legends Sports Bar here: https://www.luckyeagle.com/dining/legends
