Century Casinos, Inc. is a gaming company based in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. The company operates ten casinos in Colorado, Missouri, West Virginia, and Alberta. It also operates casinos on four cruise ships for

TUI Cruises TUI Cruises is a cruise line based in Germany. It was formed in 2007 as a joint venture between the German tourism company TUI AG and the American cruise line operator Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., both of whom hold a 50% stake in the company. ...

. It owns a 67 percent share in Casinos Poland, which owns and operates seven casinos in Poland.

History

Century Casinos was formed in 1992 by several executives of

Casinos Austria Casinos Austria, formed in 1967 and based in Austria, is a gaming corporation that owns and operates casinos around the globe. It is one of the largest casino operators in the world. Casinos Austria together with its partners operate in about 40 ...

. In early 1993, the company signed on to manage a proposed

riverboat casino A riverboat casino is a type of casino on a riverboat found in several states in the United States with frontage on the Mississippi River and its tributaries, or along the Gulf Coast. Several states authorized this type of casino in order to en ...

St. Charles Parish, Louisiana St. Charles Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Charles) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, its population was 52,549. The parish seat is Hahnville and the most populous community is Luling. The parish was ...

. The proposal was blocked, however, by parish officials. The casino's developer bought out Century's management agreement in 1995 for $4 million, and relocated the project, which eventually opened as Isle of Capri Casino Lake Charles. In Indiana, which had recently legalized riverboat casinos, Century revealed two proposals in September 1993: one casino to be built in Gary in partnership with local investors, and another to be built in Vevay. Within months, the company dropped its plans for Gary, to focus on the Vevay project.

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(HFS) joined the project as a joint venture partner in 1994. In 1995, with the license application, still pending, Century and HFS sold the Vevay project to a partnership between

Boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, althoug ...

and Hilton. The project ultimately opened in 2000 as Belterra Casino, and Century received a total of $2.9 million for the sale. Century merged in March 1994 with Alpine Gaming, parent company of the Long Branch Saloon & Casino in

Cripple Creek, Colorado Cripple Creek is a statutory city that is the county seat of Teller County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 1,155 at the 2020 United States Census. Cripple Creek is a former gold mining camp located southwest of Colorado Sprin ...

. The casino was then renamed as Legends. Century then purchased the adjacent Womack's Saloon & Gaming Parlor in 1996 for $13.5 million. The combined property would take on the Century Casino name in 2010. Century's cruise ship casino business began in April 1994, when it began operating the casino on the ''

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'' under a concession agreement with

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. In November 1994, the company submitted an application to build a casino in Portage des Sioux, Missouri. The application languished amid an informal moratorium on the issuance of new gaming licenses by the Missouri Gaming Commission. Century's development agreement with the city eventually expired. In January 1995, Century opened the Legends Casino at the Soboba Reservation, a tribal-owned bingo parlor and

cardroom A cardroom or card room is a gaming establishment that exclusively offers card games for play by the public. The term poker room is used to describe a dedicated room in casinos that is dedicated to playing poker and in function is similar to a ca ...

in Southern California. The company pulled out of its management agreement for the facility seven months later. In August 1995, the company proposed to build a casino in

Alexandria, Louisiana Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the pri ...

. The Louisiana Riverboat Gaming Commission, however, did not award the one available casino license to Century, instead selecting the application for Horseshoe Bossier City. In November 1995, Century signed a $1.1-million deal to manage a casino planned for the Greek island of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

, being developed by a consortium including

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. The company turned over its duties to Playboy before the casino opened. Century moved its headquarters from

Denver Denver () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States#State capital, capital, and List of municipalities in Colorado#, most populous city of th ...

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since 2 ...

in 1996, to be closer to its casino properties in Cripple Creek. The company announced an agreement in 1998 to manage and co-own a casino to be built in a Marriott hotel in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a tempera ...

. The Millennium Casino opened the following year. In 2000, Century was awarded a license for a casino in Caledon, South Africa, which it would manage and co-own. The Caledon Casino, Hotel & Spa opened later that year. In 2001, Century agreed to co-develop another casino in South Africa, to be built in the province of

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

. In 2006, the company opened a Century Casino & Hotel in

Central City, Colorado The historic City of Central, commonly known as Central City, is a home rule municipality located in Gilpin and Clear Creek counties, Colorado, United States. Central City is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Gilpin County ...

and another property by the same name in

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anch ...

. Century also shuffled its holdings in South Africa, acquiring a majority stake in the Monte Vista Casino in Newcastle (subsequently renamed as Century Casino Newcastle) and selling its interest in the Gauteng casino project. In 2007, the company paid $8.7 million to acquire a 33 percent stake in Casinos Poland. Century increased its stake to 67 percent in April 2013. In 2009, Century sold its casinos in Prague and South Africa. Century assumed the management of a casino at a Radisson hotel in

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

(later a Hilton) in 2010. The management agreement ended in 2017. Century purchased the Silver Dollar Casino in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

in 2010 for $10.5 million, and then rebranded it as Century Casino Calgary. Next, the company financed the development of the Century Downs Racetrack and Casino near Calgary, which it also managed from its opening in 2015. In October 2016, Century acquired the Apex Casino in St. Albert for $12.3 million, and then renamed it as Century Casino St. Albert. The expansion in Alberta continued in April 2019, when the company opened the Century Mile Racetrack and Casino in the Edmonton area. The company made moves to expand into two new markets in 2017. In England, it purchased a small casino being developed in the city of

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. In

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, it signed on to manage a planned casino at the Hamilton Princess hotel. The Bath casino opened in May 2018. It closed in 2020 because of poor financial results and changes in British casino regulations. In 2019, Century bought the operating businesses of three casinos in Missouri and West Virginia from

Eldorado Resorts Caesars Entertainment, Inc., formerly Eldorado Resorts, Inc., is an American hotel and casino entertainment company founded and based in Reno, Nevada that operates more than 50 properties. Eldorado Resorts acquired Caesars Entertainment Corporat ...

for $107 million.

Vici Properties Vici Properties Inc. is a real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in casino properties, based in New York City. It was formed in 2017 as a spin-off from Caesars Entertainment Corporation as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. It ow ...

acquired the real estate of the casinos (

Isle Casino Cape Girardeau Century Casino Cape Girardeau, formerly Isle Casino Cape Girardeau, is a casino in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. It opened on October 30, 2012, as Missouri's 13th and final facility. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by Century Casinos. Cent ...

, Lady Luck Casino Caruthersville, and

Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort is a thoroughbred racetrack and casino resort located on the Ohio River north of New Cumberland, West Virginia. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by Century Casinos. It is notable for being the ...

) at the same time, and leased them to Century for $25 million per year. The acquisition more than doubled Century's annual revenue. The Isle and Lady Luck casinos were then rebranded under the Century name. In 2021, Century announced that the company will partner with British online Sports gambling company Bet365 to launch sports betting operations in the state of Colorado. In 2022, Century agreed to purchase a controlling stake in the Nugget Casino Resort in Northern Nevada from Marnell Gaming for $195 million.

List of properties

* Century Casino Cape Girardeau —

Cape Girardeau, Missouri Cape Girardeau ( , french: Cap-Girardeau ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 39,540. The city is one of two principal citie ...

(leased from

) * Century Casino Caruthersville —

Caruthersville, Missouri Caruthersville is a city in and the county seat of Pemiscot County, Missouri, United States, located along the Mississippi River in the Bootheel region of the state's far southeast. The population was 5,562, according to the 2020 census. Histo ...

(leased from Vici Properties) *Century Casino Central City —

*Century Casino Cripple Creek —

*Century Casino Edmonton —

*Century Casino St. Albert — St. Albert, Alberta * Century Downs Racetrack and Casino — Balzac, Alberta * Century Mile Racetrack and Casino —

Edmonton International Airport Edmonton International Airport, as of August 29, 2022, officially branded YEG Edmonton International Airport is the primary air passenger and air cargo facility in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of the Canadian province of Alberta. Designa ...

, Leduc County, Alberta *

— New Cumberland, West Virginia (leased from Vici Properties)

Former properties

Properties previously owned, operated, or managed by the company include: *Caledon Hotel, Spa & Casino — Caledon, South Africa *Century Casino Bath —

Bath, England Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

*Century Casino Calgary —

*Century Casino Millennium —

Prague, Czech Republic Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

*Century Casino Newcastle —

Newcastle, South Africa Newcastle is the third-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The city is KwaZulu-Natal's industrial centre. The majority of its citizens reside in Newcastle East in the main townships of Madadeni and Osizweni, with the ...

(60% stake) *Hilton Aruba Caribbean Resort & Casino — Noord, Aruba (casino only) * Legends Casino at Soboba — San Jacinto, California

References

External links

*{{official website, https://www.cnty.com/, Century Casinos Gambling companies of the United States Companies based in Colorado Springs, Colorado Gambling companies established in 1992 Companies listed on the Nasdaq 1992 establishments in Colorado