The Mississippi Gaming & Hospitality Association (MGHA) last week announced the inaugural class of the Mississippi Gaming Hall of Fame. The honorees include local developers, industry pioneers, gaming influencers and risk takers. The awards will be presented at a Gala Dinner presented at the close of the Southern Gaming Summit on May 3.
The honorees are:
INDUSTRY PIONEER
Lyle Berman, Co-Founder, Grand Casinos
Bernie Goldstein, Founder, Isle of Capri Casinos
INDUSTRY INFLUENCER
William S. Boyd, Executive Chairman, Boyd Gaming
Tommy Gollott, Senator, Mississippi State Senate, District 50 – Harrison
COMMERCIAL GAMING
Jack Binion, Founder, Horseshoe Gaming Corporation
Rick Carter & Terry Green, Co-Founders, Island View Casino Resort
“These inductees of the first class to the Mississippi Gaming Hall of Fame truly played crucial roles in the development of our industry in the state,” said Larry Gregory, executive director of the MGHA. “Without any one of these gentlemen, there might not have been an industry or at least one as successful as we see today. We’re proud to recognize them as the initial members of the Hall.”
As the co-founder of Grand Casinos, Lyle Berman not only played a role in the development of Mississippi gaming, but was also a major developer of Indian gaming in Minnesota.
Bernie Goldstein, the founder of the Isle of Capri Casinos (named for a small island off the coast of Biloxi), opened the first casino riverboat on the Gulf Coast.
William S. Boyd, the executive chairman of Boyd Gaming, came east from Las Vegas to develop a casino named after his father, Sam’s Town, in Tunica, and also helped to develop Indian gaming in the state.
Tommy Gollott, then and now a member of the Mississippi State Senate from Harrison County, was instrumental in writing and promoting the legislation that approved casino gaming in the state, and especially the dockside element.
Like Boyd, Jack Binion, also the son of a gaming legend, recognized the potential for gaming in the south. His Horseshoe casino in Tunica quickly became the most successful casino in the state.
Rick Carter and Terry Green are two local developers who figured out how to make the most of the new industry and opened the Copa casino in a converted cruise ship in the early 1990s and now own the Island View Casino Resort.
For information about attending the Southern Gaming Summit, May 2-3, and the Mississippi Gaming Hall of Fame Gala May 3 at 6:30 p.m., visit www.SGSummit.com. Full bios of the recipients can also be viewed at the same website.
