1st Jackpot Casino Tunica (formerly Bally's) is a

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

and former hotel in

Tunica Resorts, Mississippi Tunica Resorts, formerly known as Robinsonville until 2005,

. It is owned by

Gaming and Leisure Properties Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. is a real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in casino properties, based in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. It was formed in November 2013 as a corporate spin-off from Penn National Gaming. The company owns ...

and operated by

Penn Entertainment Penn Entertainment, Inc., formerly Penn National Gaming, is an American entertainment company and operator of integrated entertainment, sports content, and casino gaming. It operates 43 properties in 20 states, online sports betting in 14 jurisd ...

. The casino has of gaming space, with 899 slot machines and 16 table games.

History

Bally's Saloon & Gambling Hall was originally opened on December 6, 1993, at

Mhoon Landing Mhoon Landing is an unincorporated community located on the Mississippi River in Tunica County, Mississippi, United States. It is approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) northwest of North Tunica and approximately 12 miles (19 km) southwest of T ...

Bally Manufacturing Bally Manufacturing, later renamed Bally Entertainment, was an American company that began as a pinball and slot machine manufacturer, and later expanded into casinos, video games, health clubs, and theme parks. It was acquired by Hilton Hotel ...

. In 1994,

Lady Luck Gaming Lady Luck Gaming Corp. was a gambling, gaming company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, that developed and operated casinos in the Midwestern and Southern United States, Southern United States. It was acquired by Isle of Capri Casinos in 2000. History ...

opened its Olympia Hotel in Robinsonville, an area 10 miles north of Mhoon Landing which had emerged as a prime casino site because of its closer proximity to

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

. Lady Luck began construction of a casino to accompany the hotel, but suspended it later that year because of financial difficulties. In February 1995, Bally and Lady Luck entered into a joint venture agreement, under which Bally would close its casino and move the barge upriver to dock at Lady Luck's hotel. Bally would own 58 percent of the combined venture and manage it, with Lady Luck and a local partner owning the rest. Bally's at Mhoon Landing closed on February 9. The casino reopened at its new location in Robinsonville (now Tunica Resorts) on December 18, 1995.

Hilton Hotels Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton. The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As ...

acquired Bally in 1996 and then purchased Lady Luck's share of Bally's Tunica in 1997 for $15 million. Hilton's gaming division, including Bally's, was spun off in 1998 as

Park Place Entertainment Park Place Entertainment, later named Caesars Entertainment, Inc., was a casino company based in Paradise, Nevada. For a time it was the largest casino operator in the world. It was formed in 1998 as a corporate spin-off of the gaming division of ...

, later renamed as Caesars Entertainment. In 2004,

Harrah's Entertainment Harrah's Entertainment (later named Caesars Entertainment Corporation, previously The Promus Companies) was an American casino and hotel company founded in Reno, Nevada, and based in Paradise, Nevada, that operated over 50 properties and seven g ...

agreed to purchase Caesars. The deal provoked antitrust concerns in some markets, including Tunica, where the combined company would own 5 out of the 9 casinos in the area. To ensure approval of the merger, Harrah's and Caesars agreed to sell four casinos, including Bally's Tunica and Harrah's Mardi Gras, to

Colony Capital DigitalBridge Group, Inc. is a global digital infrastructure investment firm. The company owns, invests in and operates businesses such as cell towers, data centers, fiber, small cells, and edge infrastructure. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Digita ...

. The sale was completed in April 2005. The casino continued using the Bally's name under a licensing agreement. The two properties became part of

Resorts International Holdings Resorts International Holdings, LLC (RIH), also known as Colony Resorts Holdings (CRH) was an affiliate of Colony NorthStar based in Las Vegas, Nevada. As of 2005, they were the fifth largest gaming company in America under Nick Ribis. RIH was ...

, a newly formed affiliate of Colony Capital. In 2011, facing a threat of foreclosure, Resorts International Holdings agreed to hand over ownership of Bally's Tunica and Resorts Tunica (formerly Harrah's) to lenders. Foundation Gaming Group, a company based in Gulfport, was retained to manage the two properties. In January 2014, RIH Acquisitions MS II assumed the management of Bally's Tunica and Resorts Tunica. In May 2017, Bally's and Resorts Tunica were sold in a joint deal, with Gaming & Leisure Properties acquiring their real estate assets for a total of $83 million, and Penn National Gaming (now Penn Entertainment) purchasing the operating assets for a total of $44 million. The casino was renamed in September 2017 to 1st Jackpot Casino Tunica. The hotel was later demolished.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:First Jackpot Casino Tunica Casinos in Mississippi 1995 establishments in Mississippi Casinos in Tunica County, Mississippi Tourist attractions in Mississippi

History

See also

References

External links