Sale of Louisiana’s DiamondJack Casino gets green light

Foundation Gaming will buy the shuttered DiamondJacks Casino in Bossier City.

US.- The Louisiana Gaming Commission has approved Pacific Peninsula Entertainment’s sale of the former DiamondJacks Casino to Foundation Gaming. The new owner proposes a $200m revamp before reopening the riverboat casino on land. The venue closed during the pandemic.

“This is a day we’ve been waiting for a long time,” said Gaming Commission chairman Ronnie Johns. “Foundation has an impressive plan.”

Foundation plans to build the first land-based casino in northwest Louisiana with an aim to reopen by December 2024. It will choose a new name for the property. The project will include a 47.000 square foot casino, a 405-room hotel and at least three restaurants. There will be a pool, spa and other features.   

Greg Guida, Foundation’s co-chief executive officer, said: “We’ve put together what we believe will be a great project for the market and for the community.”

Les McMackin, Foundations chief operations and marketing operator, said: “That’ll include the sports wagering, the live entertainment events centre that will have a capacity of around 300 seats, we’ll have a VIP lounge, we’ll have over a thousand slots, fifty tables, both electronic and live.”  

DiamondJacks in Bossier City has been shut since May 2020. P2E laid off 349 employees and held a liquidation sale after announcing that it wouldn’t reopen the casino after pandemic restrictions were lifted. The property was the first casino to open in northwest Louisiana in 1994.

P2E made a bid to relocate its licence, arguing that the Shreveport area casino market was oversaturated. However, in December, voters in Louisiana’s St Tammany Parish rejected a referendum that would have allowed that.

P2E originally had until February 9 to resume gaming operations at the Bossier City property or relinquish its licence, but it asked for and received an extension. In May, Foundation Gaming, a Mississippi-based company that buys and refurbishes distressed casino properties, agreed to acquire the venue.

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