Crowd packs IP for casino’s opening

By TOM WILEMON
tewilemon@sunherald.com

BILOXI - A crowd of impatient gamblers rushed into the IP Casino just after 11 a.m. Thursday, a reopening that was delayed two hours because of a glitch in the surveillance system.

“Let the good times roll,” Mayor A.J. Holloway said as he cut the ribbon to the completely renovated and refurbished casino.

The casino’s new poker room remained closed, but the surveillance cameras may be repaired in 24 to 48 hours, said Larry Gregory, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission.

Two more casinos will open before the end of the year, the Isle of Capri on Dec. 26 and the Palace on Dec. 30.

The people at the front of the lines included drive-in gamblers from Alabama and Florida. Air flights in and out of the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport are almost up to their pre-Katrina levels so gamblers also can fly into Biloxi.

Teresa Snow Waltman of Alabama, who met her husband at the casino seven years ago, said Biloxi holds a special place in her heart for several reasons.

“When we had to evacuate from the Mobile area for Hurricane Ivan in 2004, the people of Mississippi were so good,” she said. “They were so gracious and helpful. When this happened to them, I cried. I just want to say this to everybody in Mississippi. Were going to keep coming in and make it good.”

Mississippi’s Coast is also dear to Bob Seely of Pensacola. As Hurricane Katrina approached, he came to Biloxi and took one last drive down U.S. 90 on the day before the storm struck. He stopped to smoke a cigarette and drink a cup of coffee in front of the new Hard Rock Casino, which never got a chance to open.

“I got caught in that traffic jam,” Seely said. “It took me eight hours to get back to Pensacola.”

Steve Richer, the executive director of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau, was all smiles as the gamblers rushed past him.

“This is the first clear signal today to the investment marketplace that the Coast is coming back greater and stronger,” Richer said.”It’s going to be a safe bet to invest in this economy and this area.”

Source: Sun Herald

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 22nd, 2005 at 3:01 pm and is filed under Biloxi Casinos, Biloxi Mississippi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.