Tunica Casinos Change Face of Rural Mississippi
The History Of Tunica Casinos

Tunica's first casino, Splash, opened in October 1992. It was a modest affair built on a barge that once held a floating restaurant.

It offered slot machines, table games and all the other standard casino attractions. It was an instant hit.

Splash chose Tunica County because it is the closest town to Memphis that allows casino gambling. Memphis is the largest city on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and St. Louis, and Tennessee does not allow gambling.

Tunica got its second casino, Lady Luck, in 1993. As more casinos arrived, they began adding hotels, concert halls and shops.

The casinos are called riverboats, but they're boats in name only. While the gambling halls sit in slips cut into the banks of the Mississippi River, their attached hotels and other support businesses are on land.

When Splash opened its doors, Tunica County had an annual budget of $3.5 million, barely enough to keep the roads passable, the sewers working and the schools open.

"We had a planning commission but it never met. There was nothing to plan for," Franklin said.

Now, because of casino taxes, the county's annual budget is $80 million. So far, it has collected more than $255 million from the casinos.

"Tunica County is debt free," Franklin said, "and projects are paid for with cash."

At first, Tunica spent most of its casino money on roads, sewers, and other improvements that would help attract more riverboats. Property taxes were eliminated.

The county also built two new schools and a small medical center. The jail was remodeled, and "things that were broken were fixed," Franklin said.

Tunica alos has built a 168-acre riverfront park and putting in a 7,000-foot runway at its small airport.

The casinos have created more than 15,000 jobs, and Tunica County has a total population of just 9,200.

Most of the casino workers came from Memphis and surrounding communities in Mississippi and Arkansas. Last year, the casinos paid out more than $90 million in salaries.

Before the casinos, farm work provided modest incomes for most of Tunica's residents and unemployment rate was 26 percent.

By latest count, unemployment is 5 percent, and per capita income has increased from $11,875 to $20,203.

The number of Tunica residents on welfare has dropped 90 percent, and food stamp distributions have dropped 70 percent.

In recent years, the casinos have expanded their advertising outside the Memphis region.

The casinos estimate that 29 percent of their gamblers last year were from Tennessee, while 18 percent were from Arkansas and 13 percent from Mississippi. The other 40 percent came from a variety of states, mostly in the South and Midwest.

Overall, the regional economy has improved since the casinos arrived, said Jeff Wallace a University of Memphis economist.

"Many of the initial fears people had on the negative impact on the community simply haven't happened," Wallace said.

Eighteen of Mississippi's 30 casinos are along the Mississippi River, with the rest on the Gulf Coast.

The riverboats in the "North River Region," which includes Tunica's casinos plus another at the town of Lula, had gross revenues last year of more than $353 million.

The state does not report on finances from individual casinos.

But while the casinos have brought money and jobs, they undoubtedly have had hidden costs as well, said Andy Meyers, a University of Memphis psychologist.

Meyers runs a clinic in Memphis for victims of compulsive gambling. Since opening in 1999, largely because of the casinos in Tunica, the clinic has treated more than 120 patients.

No records are available on how many bankruptcies, divorces and other problems can be directly linked to gambling, but national studies give an idea on their social costs, Meyers said.

Most people who patronize casinos gamble for entertainment, but up to 5 percent are at risk of becoming compulsive gamblers. And it is clear, Myers said, that more people give gambling a try as casinos become more accessible.

A Decade in the Delta
Tunica turns ten, and keeps on growing

When it comes to this vast, mostly unpopulated stretch of Mississippi, even the clichés have become cliché. By now, it’s no secret that Tunica is a thriving gaming jurisdiction, surrounded as it is by acres of cotton and soy farms, dotted by towns in various state of disrepair, or, more recently, apartment complexes and bedroom communities to serve the casino industry’s growing employee base.

One thing’s for certain, though. Tunica is an anomaly. When Mississippi legalized casino gambling ten years ago, the state was primarily focused on reviving its neglected Gulf Coast shore towns, most of which were rich in history, but had fallen into sleazy disrepair—not unlike Atlantic City when the decision was made to legalize gambling in the decrepit shore town.

Without a doubt, Biloxi, Gulfport and the southern shore communities have seen dramatic increases in tourism and local renovation, as have smaller historic communities, like Vicksburg, home to four gambling riverboats. But it’s been Tunica, barely 40 minutes south of Memphis, that has emerged as the giant in Mississippi gaming. Quite remarkably, it is now the third-largest casino jurisdiction in the country, following close behind Las Vegas and Atlantic City. And yet, the cliché that is Tunica has to be considered. Ten years ago, there was nothing more than swampy farms and complete poverty.

The term “riverboat” is used interchangeably with “casino” by many gamblers, but don’t confuse the two, for the difference is what has made Mississippi stand out among the other “riverboat” gaming states. Essentially, state law doesn’t require Mississippi’s casinos to be housed in riverboats, cruising or otherwise, as is the case with states such as Louisiana, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. Rather, Mississippi’s casinos are mostly housed on floating barges, tethered to the land but able to be shuttered up and moved to safety in the event of an evacuation—particularly on the Gulf Coast, where hurricanes can wreak devastation.

While you’ll still find riverboats in the smaller gaming communities, most of the state’s major casinos are built on multileveled barges, incorporating not only the gaming areas, but restaurants and other amenities as well. The most successful properties have integrated their barges so seamlessly into their overall design, it’s impossible to know whether you’re on land or above water. It’s been the adaptable success of these barges, some with well over 100,000 square feet of gaming area, that has allowed Mississippi’s casino industry to thrive, and for the “Tunica Miracle” to happen.

Tunica’s Times

But it wasn’t so easy at the start. It was on the afternoon of October 19, 1992, that Splash Casino opened its doors on a murky Delta estuary called Mhoon Landing. This was not only Tunica County’s first casino, it was the state’s first casino. Splash was little more than several narrow barges and a parking lot, which was constantly full. The little casino actually had the audacity to charge an admission fee of $10, but business certainly wasn’t deterred. If anything, the lines continued to grow.

A year later, US News and World Report ranked Mississippi number one in the nation for economic recovery from the 1990 recession, identifying gaming as the chief reason. In September, 1994, a mere two years after its opening, Splash welcomed its three millionth visitor.

To say the rest of the gaming industry took notice of Splash’s success would be quite an understatement. Five months after Splash opened, Harrah’s announced plans for its own casino in Tunica. That announcement was followed by Bally’s in April, followed by the opening of the Lady Luck in September. In November, Harrah’s made good on its commitment, opening its casino in Tunica, a bit farther to the north. Rounding up 1993, on December 6, the President and Bally’s opened, marking the first time in history that two casinos have opened on the same day, in the same region.

The following year made 1993 look calm. In February, 1994, the ill-fated Southern Belle Casino opened. In May, the equally ill-fated, pirate-themed Treasure Bay opened. But two weeks after that, the sprawling, double-decked Sam’s Town opened as Tunica’s largest casino, and the first of the major gaming resorts that would later come to define the mature Tunica market. In this respect, while other casinos may have had their plans on the drawing board, or tossed open a few barges to start generating fast revenues, Sam’s Town was Tunica’s first true innovator, representing Boyd Gaming Corp.’s vision of what the region could become.

In June, the Irish-themed Fitzgerald’s opened, and a month later the President, dealing with location shifts in the overall market, shut its doors and sailed away. On August 1, the Sheraton Casino opened, the first of what would become the vital triumvirate of the Casino Center cluster of casinos. A week later, Hollywood Casino opened in the already thriving cluster of Casino Strip casinos, which consisted of Sam’s Town, Southern Belle and Harrah’s. These two areas... Casino Center and Casino Strip... remain the central clusters of Tunica’s modern casinos.

On August 29, the strikingly pink Circus Circus opened, on the opposite side of the three casinos in Casino Center, a seeming replica of its Vegas sister, right down to the high-wire circus acts and hideous tented big top. (The theme wouldn’t last for long.) Two days later, the Southern Belle closed its doors, the first of the “major” casinos to fail.

In February 1995, the Horseshoe Casino opened between Circus and Sheraton, completing the Casino Center trio of casinos. Four months later, the beleaguered Treasure Bay, located adjacent to Fitzgeralds, pulled its plank up for good. In December, Bally’s completed its move from the now-vacant Mhoon Landing to its current location just east of the Casino Center cluster.

With all but one of the major casinos now operating or shuttered, the expansion plans began to be announced. Starting off 1996 was Sam’s Town, whose $40 million investment would add convention facilities and double hotel space to a much-needed 860 rooms. The expansion will be completed by the end of that year. In April, Harrah’s completed its move to the former Southern Belle, putting its smaller, original casino up for sale. In June, Horseshoe broke ground on a $60 million expansion that would include the Bluesville concert hall and Blues & Legends Hall of Fame Museum, as well as a 300-suite hotel and a new parking facility.

And finally, on June 24, the massive Grand Casino Tunica opened its $450 million hotel and casino, with over 140,000 square feet of casino space, four different themed gaming areas and several restaurants. Located on 2,200 sprawling acres, Grand became the closest casino to Memphis, with plans for additional hotels, retail space, sporting areas, and even housing. By February of the following year, plans would be released for the $18 million Cottonwoods golf course, to be designed by Hale Irwin. Five months later, its 48,000-square-foot convention facility would be complete, and by 1999, its plantation-style Terrace and Veranda hotels would open, bringing Grand’s total room count to a whopping 1,350.

In July, Fitzgeralds opened its $34 million, 507-room hotel, and two months later, Hollywood followed suit with 352 new rooms and 15,000 square feet of convention space.

By late August, Circus Circus is officially off the map, replaced by the upscale-Victorian Gold Strike, reflecting the company’s new corporate mentality. Themed rather like the Monte Carlo in Las Vegas, the inside is a fantasy lobby of flowers, marble and waterfalls, with a completely renovated casino, restaurants and public areas. Most remarkable of all was the opening of the Gold Strike hotel, a 31-story tower that became the tallest building in Mississippi. While not quite as large as Gold Strike, Sheraton opened its 140-suite hotel by the end of the year, with a luxurious group of ro