Tony Amormino
Tony Amormino dove into the Indian gaming world in 2024. Following stints on the commercial and supplier sides, he took the reins as CEO of Apache Nugget Corp. The industry veteran now looks to grow Apache in a small but mighty New Mexico tribal casino market, utilizing his previous experience to keep innovation and technology at the forefront.
Amormino spoke with iGB U.S. News Editor Jess Marquez at October’s Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.
GGB: You were named to GGB’s 40 Under 40 list for 2025 after moving to Apache Nugget. How did you get to this point in your career?
Tony Amormino: My first property was Harrah’s Philadelphia, then I went down to Harrah’s New Orleans. I was up in Detroit for a little while and now I’m out here in the Southwest with Apache and the Jicarilla Apache Nation. Without that great team, that support system that helped me grow into this position, none of this would be possible.
In addition to your commercial and tribal experience, you also worked on the supplier side with Light & Wonder. What was that like?
I thought I’d had enough of land-based and wanted to go to digital, because that’s the way the world is going. So I was excited to learn that piece of the industry and explore the iGaming realm. I loved it.
Eventually, I had that itch to get back into the land-based side of things. But when I got to Apache, I thought, “We need the digital product back. We’re going to bring the two together.”
How do you view the intersection of land-based and digital? How will that factor into Apache’s plans?
You need to be able to optimize your floor space and bring in things to attract your clients. For us, we’ve got a million and a half acres; we’ve got a lot of room to play with. We’re talking about doing things inside the property, the reservation, and then going outside.
As for digital, I truly believe if you’re not an innovator, you’re going to be reactive, and that’s going to do more harm than good in the long run.
What do your current operations include?
Right now we have the Apache Nugget Casino, located off U.S. 550 (near Cuba, New Mexico). We have 82 slot machines, a sportsbook, and we’re starting to bring in the infrastructure. We’re looking at Class II iGaming to come onto the reservation. We’re just dotting i’s, crossing t’s, but we’re also looking to build out our portfolio.
Here in Las Vegas I’ve been talking to a lot of people about how to diversify and not just be an entity on the reservation.
What’s your biggest goal for the next 12 months?
I want to get another property up and running within that 12-month period. I’ve been talking to people and just tapping into my network. Long term, I want to see the success of the nation, not only as a property or an entity outside the reservation. I want to see the reservation and the nation grow. I want to build an additional property there and diversify our portfolios.
