But the good news is that I was able to dig up a few that you guys and gals might enjoy.

First is: Mississippi Gulf Coast Travel and Vacation Coupons for Biloxi and Gulfport

This page has ton of coupons available and all are printable! They have a nice section geared towards the casino resorts and hotels but also have other activities available. I will list the current casino related coupons:

Hard Rock Biloxi - Hard Rock Cafe is offering a “Suvenir Special” coupon. Get a free Hard Rock Cafe Souvenir with a $25 a purchase.

Isle of Capri Casino Resort - Buy 1 Get 1 FREE Buffet Coupon. Must be an ISland One member (free to join).

Palace Casino Resort - Offering 2 coupons. First is receive $10 in power play with any lunch or dinner buffet purchase. Second is get a FREE $10 power play when you join the players club (New members only).

Silver Slipper Casino - Lunch Buffet Coupon - Either a buy one get one free buffet or 50% of the lunch buffet. Must redeem at players club and only available to new members.

Second is: Biloxi Promotions

Found that Biloxi Promotions was offering a printable free buffet coupon at the Hard Rock Biloxi during your birthday month. Not if it can be used for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. This coupon does not have to be used on your birthday day, just during the month. Must redeems at players club booth.

These aren’t the greatest coupons but it is good to see some free coupons finally showing up for the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

BILOXI - Mayor A.J. Holloway welcomed the Mississippi Gaming Commission to Biloxi and the Hard Rock Casino on Thursday and said he hopes they will look favorably on the Gold Coast Casino.

Now known as the South Beach Resort and Casino, the project was rezoned waterfront by the Biloxi City Council. The commission will determine if the property on the north side of U.S. 90 on the Biloxi Strip is a suitable casino site.

Chairman Jerry St. Pé responded to Holloway’s remarks by saying the city can count on the commission to be “aggressive visionary partners.” He said the commission would look at the South Beach project “objectively, fairly and thoroughly.”

Officials from South Beach met recently with commission Executive Director Larry Gregory, who expects the site approval could be on the commission agenda in June.

“Within 60 days we’ll know one way or another” if South Beach Casino will be approved, he said. “We’ve been keeping up with it,” and he said despite whether city officials or local people speak for or against a casino project, “we look at each individual casino on its own merit.”

The commission traditionally schedules one of its monthly meetings each year on the Coast. Also at Thursday’s meeting, the commission approved the application of Penn National Gaming, the parent company of Boomtown Biloxi and Hollywood Bay St. Louis casinos, to be acquired by private-equity firms Fortress Investment Group and Centerbridge Partners.

Loren Ostrow, president of Silver Slipper Casino, was given approval for the sale of bonds and warrants by some of the company’s bond holders. He said Silver Slipper doesn’t have dates yet for construction of an addition to the casino, which now doesn’t have hotel rooms.

“It’s a different market now,” said Ostrow, and the project remains in the planning stages. “We’re hopeful sooner rather than later” construction can begin.

Related Post here at BiloxiBlog.com: Gold Coast Biloxi

Source: SunHerald.com - Mary Perez - Link

BILOXI - After a record-breaking year at the Coast casinos, competition is closing in from Mobile and Florida as other states look to legalize gambling to pay for schools and Medicare.

The Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review last week said Mississippi could lose $254 million in yearly casino revenue and 3,191 direct jobs when the seven Seminole casinos in Florida are outfitted with new slot machines and table games. Because nearly all of the Florida gamblers play at the Coast casinos, those figures would mean one-quarter of the 12,328 people employed at the local casinos would lose their jobs.

Mississippi Gaming Commission Chairman Jerry St. Pé doesn’t believe the numbers. “The wolf’s not at the door,” he said. “Competition can be viewed as a stimulant.” For casinos that do a better job, “your market will be protected.”

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has signed a 25-year casino compact with the Seminoles for class III gaming in return for a minimum of $100 million per year to fund schools. Although the compact is being challenged in the Florida Supreme Court, the Seminoles are moving slot machines into their six casinos in southern Florida and the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa, the closest to Mississippi.

In Alabama, the House Tourism and Travel Committee approved a constitutional amendment to allow electronic bingo machines at greyhound dog tracks in Mobile and Birmingham. If the bill, passes the legislature the voters will decide the issue in a state referendum. These games look and play quite similar to the slot machines at the Coast casinos, said Ed Rogich, vice president of marketing with International Game Technology, the company that manufactures the machines.

“We keep our eye on what’s going on in Atlantic City and Las Vegas,” which St. Pé said also has an impact on the companies and investors doing business with Mississippi casinos. “We need to be as astute as we can,” he said, to protect casino tax revenue and jobs.

The MGC reports that 19.4 percent of the recent Coast’s casino visitors came from Florida and 14.8 percent from Alabama. An even larger percentage, 21.3 percent, came from Louisiana, which has casinos.

General Manager John Ferrucci said about 75 percent of the Silver Slipper Casino’s business is from Louisiana. “We’re already in competition with them. Florida is a threat only because they are going to introduce these games in key feeder markets for us.” He likes House Bill 1196 that would give tax breaks to casinos that invest at least $10 million in non-gambling amenities, including a hotel and marina at Silver Slipper, to attract visitors.

Source: Sun Herald 

The article was from WLOX:

BILOXI - The Bacaran Bay casino project on Caillavet Street will be built, without condominiums, and without its creator Marlin Torguson. On Tuesday, members of a newly formed company called the Phoenix Gaming Group confirmed that they now control the Caillavet Street site.

Their plan is to reconfigure Bacaran Bay, refinance it, and move it forward. Whatever the new design looks like, it won’t include condos.  Phoenix Gaming Group spokesman John Ed Ainsworth says the market isn’t right for condos to be part of a casino resort…  Read complete article.

I visited their website and it still looked like they were pushing condos, we will see when it is updated and post here at the Biloxi Blog.

However, it still has to be approved by the city and state. I am looking forward to another casino coming to the Gulf Coast.

Keep checking back at Biloxi Blog for more updates.

Article on BiloxiCasinos.com:
Biloxi Gold Coast Casino Resort

Article on WLOX:
Biloxi Planning Commission Approves RW Development

Tidbit..

Against a backdrop of sinking share prices and sharp revenue losses, Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. Chairman Bernard Goldstein said Wednesday that he was stepping down as chief executive.Goldstein, 79, and regarded as “the father of modern riverboat gambling,” will hand his CEO title to industry veteran Jim Perry, who joined the company’s board of directors last summer. Goldstein will stay on as chairman.

Read the complete article on the Kansas City Star page:
Isle of Capri CEO steps down, remains chairman

The Gold Coast Resort would be the latest investment made by RW Development in the Biloxi strip. It’s South Beach condominium is out of the ground. And a Veterans Place development with apartments and shops could be built north of the tracks in three months. It turns out, those projects could be considered RW Development’s appetizer.

The location would be at Veterans Avenue and Highway 90. For those of you who are not familiar with the location, it would be located near the Treasure Bay.

Complete article from the WLOX:
RW Development Ready To Pitch A Biloxi Casino

Here are some initial sketches.

According to the Sun Hearld the article will include photos of the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art pod pavilion on the beach along with the casino strip, Mary Mahoney’s, Emeril’s Gulf Coast Fish House and Hard Rock Casino. They’ll learn the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport has more direct flights now than before Katrina, and that the Biloxi Bay Bridge again connects Biloxi with the live-music bars in Ocean Springs like the Julep Room Lounge.

Budget Travel is a popular magazine and this will be good exposure for Biloxi. I just went over to the Budget Travel Magazine website (BudgetTravel.com) and it looks like they post their current issue online for everyone to read. We will have to check again at the begining of March to fully verify.
About Budget Travel Magazine:
Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel magazine; offering travel guides, travel tips, and advice on trip planning, restaurant recommendations, city guides, and popular destinations.

Don’t forget to visit Biloxi Casinos! 

The casinos won $80.4 million for Jan. 2008 compared to $85.9 million in Jan. ‘07.

Prior month earnings were $78.3 million in December, $80.3 million last November and $86 million in September ‘07.

The revenues for all the casinos on the Coast and in the state will be posted next week.

Source: Sun Herald 

What else was pretty cool was that Todd Harrell with the group 3 Doors Down accompanied the Hard Rock crew.

So next time you are at the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi, playing blackjack, roulette, slots, or other games and you are mad about losing, just remember they are giving some back to the local community.

Good job Hard Rock!

More information about Hard Rock Biloxi and other casinos can be found at Biloxi Casinos.