Latest News For Caesars Entertainment Group Casinos

Grand Biloxi Casino undergoes major transformation as it becomes Harrah’s Gulf Coast in June, 2014



Say goodbye to Grand Biloxi and hello to Harrah’s Gulf Coast in Mississippi. Building on the already fantastic foundation of Grand Biloxi Casino, Hotel and Spa players can expect new amenities and experiences.

The New Harrah’s Gulf Coast Casino will include:

A new revamped Casino floor
Hotel room upgrades
Three new restaurants and bars
All new Video Poker Machines
100’s of new Slot Machines
Renovated boardwalk
Lawn Entertainment

“Harrah’s is a very exciting resort brand that celebrates a place where our guests can come to escape from their daily routines to play,” said Jonathan Jones, senior vice president and general manager of Grand Biloxi Casino, Hotel and Spa. “The energetic and welcoming atmosphere of Harrah’s fits perfectly with the culture our dedicated team members have created at Grand Biloxi and demonstrates Caesars Entertainment’s commitment to the region.”

The Harrah’s brand will draw even more visitors to Biloxi with this completely new renovation offering the Casino industry leading Loyalty program.

“With more than 44 million members in our Total Rewards database, we look forward to inviting players who already know and love the Harrah’s brand to experience the great offerings at our casino and resort,” said Jones. 

Harrah’s Tunica Closing

Harrah’s Tunica in Mississippi will remain open and be fully operational until June 2nd, after that the doors will be closed. The 2,000 acre property will surely have an impact on the 1,300 workers who will be left unemployed.

According to Caesars’ Mid-South spokesperson R. Scott Barber: “It’s a large property to maintain and it requires mass crowds to come in, and through this economic downturn we just haven’t seen those types of crowds here.”

Tunica is the third largest gambling destination in the US but after the major flood in 2011 it has wreaked havoc on Casino operators with renovations and loss of customers with doors blocked with flood waters.

There are currently no buyers for the Harrah’s Tunica property but in a phone conversation with a Caesars Entertainment rep I was told “there is a big surprise that will be announced”.

Probing, pleading and begging the rep to reveal what it was got me nowhere fast! So we will all have to wait and see.

With over 2,000 acres of land the possibilities could be endless. Maybe an amusement park? That would drive more tourism to Tunica which is otherwise desolate outside of Casinos.

Harrah's Riverboat Casino in Metropolis, Illinois is going to have a completely brand new land based Casino due to open in December some time. I just spent some time there and was able to talk a bit to a manager there and was told it was going to be quite nice.

It is long overdue because the Riverboat should have seen it's last sail a few years ago!

I did play a couple times while i was there and will be writing a blog about it 

Metropolis Riverboat was so so. Didn't impress us in our travels.

To be honest i think it was one of the worst Casinos i have ever been too. Since the major flood there the whole casino smells like dead fish. Restaurants were the bottom of the barrel. Looking forward to the new one next month!

Caesars Entertainment in financial trouble and unless some type of proposal comes through they will have no choice but to file bankruptcy in January. Read the full story here:

Caesars Empire About to Fall?

Mark Frissora Becomes President and CEO of Caesars Entertainment Corporation



It is official as of July 1st.  The former President and Chief Executive Officer of Caesars Entertainment Gary Loveman, will remain active as Chairman of the Board of Caesars Entertainment. He will oversee the restructuring of Caesars Entertainment Operating Company.

"Since joining the company in February, I have visited most of our domestic properties, met with all of the company's senior leaders and focused my attention on identifying new opportunities to drive growth and efficiency, which will ultimately create shareholder value," Frissora said. "I am excited about the opportunities ahead and to become part of such a dynamic company and industry. Caesars has a diverse collection of assets, a highly engaged management team and employee base and strong loyalty among its customers. I am working with the leadership team and the Board to formulate a multi-year growth strategy for the company that spans our footprint in Las Vegas and other markets."

"Mark has quickly assumed leadership of the company and has spent his early months at Caesars working closely with the senior team and pursuing opportunities to increase productivity," said Marc Rowan, founder of Apollo Global Management. TPG founding partner, David Bonderman, continued: "We have high confidence in Mark, and believe his track record of driving growth and efficiency will serve Caesars well." Apollo and TPG are the principal shareholders of Caesars Entertainment.

Harrah's Casino Tunica Just a Memory



It has been over a year that Harrah's Tunica has closed their doors leaving behind over 1,000 employees jobless.

In the wake of the demolition all that is left is 2,000 acres of vacant land. On a positive note the other 8 Casinos in Tunica are busier with one less in the mix.

I get the feeling with the Horseshoe brand being there now more prestigious brand.  I get the feeling over the next decade, we'll see less of Harrah's and more focus being put on the Horseshoe and Caesars brand.

I think the brand Harrah's is dying a slow painful death.  Just mainly because any Harrah's casino I ever seen these days.  Is pretty much not well ran at all.  It seems sort of trashy and ran down if you ask me.

I agree outside of major gambling destinations Horseshoe is second in line after Caesars for class act Casinos. It seems to tie relatively in close to when Harrahs Group switched over to Caesars Entertainment placing Harrah's Casinos at the bottom of the barrel in a lot of areas.

I know in Chicago it is my least favorite mainly because it is so small. At one time it was considered the best in the area and the only one to have an attached hotel. Even though it is not luxurious, in Atlantic City, Laughlin and Vegas it thrives!

Caesar's Helps to Clean the World One Bar of Soap at a Time



Caesars Foundation, a private funded division of Caesars Entertainment collaborates with Clean the World, a global recycler of hotel amenities. Clean the World distributed soap to 1,000 families across Guatemala in December 2015. It was hand-delivered to families by three Caesars employee contest winners. Due to Paulette Landell, Yader El-Azar and Laurie Porter community leadership they were chosen  to participate on the trip.

Caesars Foundation has been supporting Clean the World project since 2010 contributing $825,000 to the organization. 

"More than two million bars of partially used hotel soap are thrown away every day in the United States," said Thom Reilly, Executive Director of the Caesars Foundation. "It's incredibly rewarding for our employees to be involved at the ground level so they can witness firsthand the positive impact access to bar soap and hygiene education can have on families and communities."

"My favorite part of this experience was being able to help in the task of saving lives," said Yader El-Azir. "I'm proud to be part of this amazing team of two organizations getting together for one purpose: the well-being of the community."

Attracting Younger Customers to the Casinos

"It's clear that the opportunity for gaming innovation is tremendous, and I believe there will be a market for exciting new games," Caesars Entertainment CEO Mark Frissora said to the gaming industry leaders and regulators at Caesars Entertainment's Waterfront Conference Center held at Harrahs Resort Atlantic City.

"Gaming manufacturers, operators and regulators all have pivotal roles in figuring out how we will appeal to and shape the gaming desires of millennials and baby boomers."

Although there has been great success in drawing in younger crowds to the leisure and hospitality offerings there is still a lot of progress to be achieved in engaging these customers in the gaming experience.
Through research it concludes that what young customers and slot players want are skilled based, dynamic and social experiences.

Caesars Entertainment Committed to Responsible Gaming

In 2015 Caesars trained 45,000 of their employees on responsible gaming practice and in August, partnered with the American Gaming Association to celebrate its 19^th annual anniversary of Responsible Gaming Education week.

The program provides comprehensive training creating over 800 ambassadors and 45,000 employees across properties around the country who are specialized in talking with the concerns of gambling addiction for themselves or loved ones.

"Caesars, then named Harrah's, established the gaming industry's first responsible gaming efforts more than 25 years ago," said Jan Jones Blackhurst, Executive Vice President of Government Relations and Corporate Responsibility.

 

"Today, Caesars continues to be the casino industry's chief advocate for promoting responsible gaming through our constant efforts to train and retrain employees, and provide our guests the resources they may need to identify a problem and access services."

Caesars Entertainment Plan to Dissolve Bankruptcy

Caesars Entertainment Corporation needs to raise $3.8 billion to exit the controversial two-year bankruptcy battle.

The corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January of 2015 with debts adding up to $18 billion.

Reuters news service reported Caesars Entertainment Corporation filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court in Chicago last week. This is after an agreement from most its creditors to develop a plan to get out of bankruptcy by the early part of 2017.

Bankruptcy Court trial is set for January where Caesars Entertainment is required to secure a minimum $1.8 billion in new financing for the new real estate investment trust plus another $1.2 billion for the casino operations for the reorganization plan to work.

The Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment Corporation filing read:

“If confirmed by the court, the plan requires that [Caesars Entertainment Operating Company Incorporated] raise approximately $3 billion to $3.8 billion of cash from third-party exit financing”.