Biloxi Gambling Returns

After hurricane Katrina, it looked like Biloxi might never be the same. The news showed the famous casino ships tossed up onto the shore or splintered into a million pieces along the coast. Biloxi gambling was finished for awhile. But, to some extent, it is beginning to come back. There are now seven casinos that have reopened- a marvelous feat barely a year after the destructive hurricane wiped out so much of the coastal areas of Biloxi.

The Isle of Capri casino, known to people along the coast for the millions of billboards that once advertised it, is open for business. The Imperial Palace is open, but has now been rechristened as the IP Hotel and Casino. Even Treasure Bay, my personal favorite, is now open, though in a much different form.

In 2004, Biloxi's casinos raked in just less than $1 billion in revenue for the coastal city, and were leading the way toward making Biloxi a major tourist destination. Even before legalized gambling, people came for the illegal Biloxi gambling that was never hidden very well. The historic Southern homes and the powdery beaches were a draw in themselves to people from around the South, and gambling just added the extra push the city needed to take it beyond the tourist draw of most cities along the Gulf Coast.

When Katrina hit, it wiped out much of the strip that was so compelling, with its white beaches on one side and old pastel buildings on the other. The huge casino ships lit up the strip like Christmas lights all year round. Many of the casino boats could not be salvaged, however. In mid-2006 legislation was passed allowing casinos to be built on land, which will likely make them bigger and more numerous than ever.

Of course, there was just something about stepping across the walkway to get on a casino boat decked out like a pirate ship or a gigantic sailboat. Somehow walking into a huge glass and steel building isn't remotely the same experience. Treasure Bay was once a big wooden ship with a wacky pirate theme. Now it is the first floor of an ordinary-looking hotel parked firmly on land. The city looks a little homogenized, and the casino experience will be just like any other in America. Biloxi is not quite the same place it was before Katrina, but, it is rebuilding, and that in itself is definitely something to be thankful for.