| Harrah's Casino Tunica | |
|---|---|
| Location | Tunica Resorts, Mississippi |
| Address | 13615 Old Highway 61 N |
| Opening date | 1996 |
| Closing date | June 2, 2014 |
| Theme | Mardi Gras |
| No. of rooms | 1,356 |
| Total gaming space | 140,000 sq ft (13,000 m2) |
| Signature attractions | Bellissimo Spa & Salon |
| Notable restaurants | '37 Steakhouse, Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill, Paula Deen's Buffet |
| Casino type | Riverboat casino |
| Owner | Caesars Entertainment |
| Previous names | Grand Casino Tunica (1996–2007) |
Walking around Hollywood Casino Tunica is like exploring the sound stages of a famous movie studio. Play all your favorite slots and table games and stay the night in a comfortable luxury hotel. Robinsonville, MS 38664 Get Directions. 1st Jackpot Casino An odds-on-favorite, 1st Jackpot Casino Tunica offers an experience you won't soon forget. Our casino hosts approximately 900 slot machines, 16 table games and a sportsbook. Known for how comfortable we make our guests, you'll enjoy just how fun getting away from it all can be at 1st Jackpot Casino. - Tunica County hit the jackpot. Not with another casino, but a new river port and grain elevator. Consolidated Grain and Barge Company wants to put the new port where Splash Casino. Gold Strike Casino: Biggest jackpot ever. See 780 traveler reviews, 46 candid photos, and great deals for Tunica, MS, at Tripadvisor.
Harrah's Casino Tunica, formerly Grand Casino Tunica, was a casino and resort located in Tunica Resorts, Mississippi. It was owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. The casino offered a 140,000 sq ft (13,000 m2) casino and three hotels with a total of 1,356 rooms. There was also an RV park, the Bellissimo Spa & Salon, a convention center, The Willows sporting clays shotgun club, and a 2,500 seat entertainment venue called the Harrah's Event Center.
Citing steadily declining business rates in its last few years, Caesars announced the closure of Harrah's Casino Tunica, along with its hotels, golf course, and events center in March 2014.[1] The casino permanently closed on June 2, 2014 and was demolished in August 2015.[2] As of February 2017, the three hotel buildings remain standing, but have not operated since the resort's closure in 2014. The golf course and events center have also been abandoned.
History[edit]
Grand Casino Tunica (1996-2007)[edit]
| Harrah's Casino Tunica | |
|---|---|
| Location | Tunica Resorts, Mississippi |
| Address | 13615 Old Highway 61 N |
| Opening date | 1996 |
| Closing date | June 2, 2014 |
| Theme | Mardi Gras |
| No. of rooms | 1,356 |
| Total gaming space | 140,000 sq ft (13,000 m2) |
| Signature attractions | Bellissimo Spa & Salon |
| Notable restaurants | '37 Steakhouse, Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill, Paula Deen's Buffet |
| Casino type | Riverboat casino |
| Owner | Caesars Entertainment |
| Previous names | Grand Casino Tunica (1996–2007) |
Walking around Hollywood Casino Tunica is like exploring the sound stages of a famous movie studio. Play all your favorite slots and table games and stay the night in a comfortable luxury hotel. Robinsonville, MS 38664 Get Directions. 1st Jackpot Casino An odds-on-favorite, 1st Jackpot Casino Tunica offers an experience you won't soon forget. Our casino hosts approximately 900 slot machines, 16 table games and a sportsbook. Known for how comfortable we make our guests, you'll enjoy just how fun getting away from it all can be at 1st Jackpot Casino. - Tunica County hit the jackpot. Not with another casino, but a new river port and grain elevator. Consolidated Grain and Barge Company wants to put the new port where Splash Casino. Gold Strike Casino: Biggest jackpot ever. See 780 traveler reviews, 46 candid photos, and great deals for Tunica, MS, at Tripadvisor.
Harrah's Casino Tunica, formerly Grand Casino Tunica, was a casino and resort located in Tunica Resorts, Mississippi. It was owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. The casino offered a 140,000 sq ft (13,000 m2) casino and three hotels with a total of 1,356 rooms. There was also an RV park, the Bellissimo Spa & Salon, a convention center, The Willows sporting clays shotgun club, and a 2,500 seat entertainment venue called the Harrah's Event Center.
Citing steadily declining business rates in its last few years, Caesars announced the closure of Harrah's Casino Tunica, along with its hotels, golf course, and events center in March 2014.[1] The casino permanently closed on June 2, 2014 and was demolished in August 2015.[2] As of February 2017, the three hotel buildings remain standing, but have not operated since the resort's closure in 2014. The golf course and events center have also been abandoned.
History[edit]
Grand Casino Tunica (1996-2007)[edit]
The casino itself was built in 1996. It was the largest casino between Las Vegas and Atlantic City, featuring a large poker room. The Harrah's Casino Hotel was directly connected to the casino and contained 148 rooms and 40 suites. Two additional hotels were situated along a lake approximately ½ mile away. Complimentary shuttle service ran 24 hours a day to take guests to and from the casino. The Veranda Resort Hotel, which opened in 1996 along with the casino, contained 532 rooms and 36 suites. The largest hotel was the Terrace Hotel & Spa, which opened in 1999 and contained 563 rooms and 37 suites.
Grand Casino Tunica's original owner was Grand Casinos, Inc., headed by Lyle Berman, a pioneer in developing resort-style casinos on Native American reservations and in Mississippi.
In 1998, Berman and Grand Casinos, Inc., sold their Tunica, and Biloxi, Mississippi resorts to the gaming division of Hilton Hotels, with the combined assets being spun off to create a new corporation called Park Place Entertainment (later renamed Caesars Entertainment).
In 2005, Caesars Entertainment was acquired by Harrah's Entertainment, which converted back to the Caesars Entertainment name in 2010. In the Tunica market, Caesars also operates Horseshoe Casino Tunica and Tunica Roadhouse Casino & Hotel (formerly Sheraton). The three properties share management and player marketing operations.
Harrah's Casino Tunica (2007-2014)[edit]
In October 2007, Harrah's officials announced that Grand Casino Tunica would undergo a $45 million renovation of its hotels and casinos, which included the resort being renamed Harrah's Casino Tunica.[3] In addition, the company announced that the new Harrah's would feature a new buffet bearing the name of Food Network celebrity chef Paula Deen. Paula Deen's Buffet was reported to be the first celebrity chef-branded buffet at an American casino.[4] It was rebranded in 2013 shortly after she was removed from the food network.[5]
A Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill owned by Scottsdale, Arizona-based Capri Restaurant Group Enterprises LLC opened in Harrah's in September 2010, replacing the former Replays bar and grill and Murano's Italian Restaurant.
Previous Harrah's Casinos in Tunica[edit]
This is the third casino in Tunica Resorts to bear the name Harrah's. The previous Harrah's Tunica was designed by Steelman Partners. The first was located just off Casino Strip Blvd., several miles south of the former Grand, and was the first casino to open in that area in 1993. In 1996, Harrah's acquired the shuttered Southern Belle Casino, approximately 500 yards (450 m) away from the first Harrah's. The company operated both casinos as Harrah's for a short time, calling the second property 'Harrah's Mardi Gras.' Eventually, Harrah's sold the original property to Isle of Capri Casinos, who operated it as 'Isle of Capri Tunica' for a short time before closing it.
With the sale of Caesars to Harrah's in 2004, the combined companies were forced to sell two properties to avoid owning five of the nine casinos in the Tunica market. Harrah's Mardi Gras was sold, along with Bally's Casino Tunica, to Colony Capital, and Harrah's Mardi Gras was renamed Resorts Casino Tunica.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^WREG.com: Harrah's Tunica Casino To Close
- ^'Demolition begins at Harrah's Casino in Tunica'. WMC-TV. Memphis, Tennessee, USA. August 22, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
- ^Harrahs.com: Harrah's Tunica Coming Soon
- ^Harrahs.com: Paula Deen's Buffet - Coming May 2008
- ^Tepper, Rachel (June 26, 2013). 'Paula Deen Dropped By Caesars Entertainment, Loses Four Casino Buffets'. The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
External links[edit]
Coordinates: 34°51′20″N90°17′40″W / 34.855613°N 90.294544°W
| Hollywood Casino Tunica | |
|---|---|
| Location | Tunica Resorts, Mississippi |
| Address | 1150 Casino Strip Resort Blvd |
| Opening date | August 8, 1994 |
| Theme | Art Deco |
| No. of rooms | 494 |
| Total gaming space | 54,000 sq ft (5,000 m2) |
| Notable restaurants | Epic Buffet Fairbanks Steakhouse Celebrity Grill |
| Casino type | Riverboat casino |
| Owner | Gaming and Leisure Properties |
| Operating license holder | Penn National Gaming |
| Previous names | Summit Casino (in planning) |
| Coordinates | 34°48′45″N90°25′03″W / 34.81250°N 90.41750°W |
| Website | HollywoodCasinoTunica.com |
Hollywood Casino Tunica is a casino and hotel located in Tunica Resorts, Mississippi.
History[edit]
Casinos were brought to Tunica County, Mississippi in the early 1990s as a revenue stream to improve the conditions at the time. At one point, Tunica County held the distinction of being the poorest county in the United States.[1] The casinos in general brought in a host of jobs and revenue to the area, and had risen to become one of the larger gaming markets in the country at one time.[2]
The Hollywood Casino began under the name Summit Casino, originally one of four planned for the Commerce Landing area of Tunica. While under construction, Hollywood Casino Corp. bought the casino project from Summit Casinos International for $15 million.[3] At the time, Hollywood Casino Corp. owned the Sands Atlantic City and had opened a riverboat casino in Aurora, Illinois, the Hollywood Casino Aurora, the year before. Hollywood opened in Tunica on August 8, 1994, becoming the ninth casino in Tunica and joining Sam's Town, Southern Belle, and Harrah's at the Commerce Landing section of Tunica.[4]
In 2003, Penn National Gaming of Pennsylvania purchased the Dallas-based Hollywood Casino Corp. for $328 million.[5] Penn National kept the Hollywood branding, and has since used the Hollywood name extensively in other casino developments.
In 2017, the neighboring Resorts casino (formerly Southern Belle) as well as Bally's (now the 1st Jackpot Casino Tunica) were sold to Penn National Gaming. Penn National closed the Resorts property in July 2019 due to declining revenues, but still operates the 1st Jackpot casino.
Property information[edit]
Hollywood Casino Tunica has 54,000 sq ft (5,000 m2) of gaming space with over 1,000 slot machines, 20 table games, and a sports book. A 494-room hotel and a 123-space RV park are also on the property. There are three restaurants: Epic Buffet, Fairbanks Steakhouse, and the Celebrity Grill. Also, The Stage Bar hosts live music. There is also an event venue and ballroom available.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Harrison, Eric (October 6, 1994). 'Dirt-poor town grows bumper crop of casinos'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- ^Sparks, Glen R. (January 1, 2007). 'Tunica, Miss., Lays Big Bet on the Casino Industry'. Regional Economist. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- ^Campbell, Laurel (January 7, 1994). 'New player antes up for Tunica casino'. NewsBank. The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- ^Campbell, Laurel (August 9, 1994). 'Hollywood crowd big at casino's premiere'. NewsBank. The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- ^'Penn completes Hollywood Casino Buy'. Dallas Business Journal. March 4, 2003. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
External links[edit]
Casinos Tunica Mississippi
