A Las Vegas Sands executive is the new general manager of Sycuan Casino Resort in San Diego.
Robert Cinelli was appointed to the post by the tribal council of the Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Indians. He begins the position on Jan. 1.
“The Sycuan tribe is excited to have Mr. Cinelli join our team,” Sycuan chairman Cody Martinez said in a statement posted to the resort’s LinkedIn page. “He brings incredible financial talent and an abundance of management experience and customer focus in a highly competitive gaming market. Rob’s breadth and depth of knowledge, and goals for our new property, mesh well with the goals and objectives of the tribal council and the entire tribe.”
Cinelli is currently senior vice president of casino operations at the Venetian and Palazzo, the company’s two resorts in Las Vegas. He has been with Las Vegas Sands since 2011. He previously served 10 years as director of corporate accounts with slot machine developer WMS Gaming, a company that is now part of Scientific Games.
Cinelli is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, and is currently pursuing his MBA from Pepperdine University’s Graziado Business School.
Sycuan completed a $226 million expansion this year that included a 12-story hotel, new bars and restaurants and a spa and redeveloped pool area. The property’s casino has 2,000 slot machines and 40 table games.
The Sycuan tribe launched San Diego’s first tribal-run bingo parlor in 1983. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the property was the last major casino in the San Diego market to build a resort complete with luxury Las Vegas-style amenities.
According to the Union-Tribune, the Southern California Indian casino market has experienced an unprecedented period of expansion and development over the past six years, in which eight of the region’s 10 casinos have been under construction to varying degrees.
