Operators of failed Slidell casino face deadline to stay afloat in Bossier City

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A company that sought but failed to win voter approval to build a casino in Slidell is expected to win a bit more time Thursday to decide on what to do with its license for the casino it operated but shut down in Bossier City.

The Louisiana Gaming Control Board is meeting in Baton Rouge to decide the next step for P2E, an investment company based in Richmond, Va., that wanted to move its license for the DiamondJacks Casino from Bossier City to Slidell.

Under a resolution approved by the gaming control board in September4, P2E needs to reopen DiamondJacks by Feb. 9 – or forfeit its license – since St. Tammany Parish voters did not approve a referendum in November to allow gambling in the form of a casino in Slidell. The board has the authority to force P2E to surrender the license back to the state. 

“I don’t want them to lose the license. We want to keep that license in commerce,” Louisiana Gaming Control Board Chair Ronnie Johns said in an interview Wednesday. The board is meeting Thursday at the State Capitol.

His resolution, if approved, would push back the reopening date to Feb. 25 and require P2E executives to describe, in detail, their plans for the Bossier property at a Feb. 17 hearing.

On another gambling-related issue, Johns said he’s still unsure when bettors can use a phone or computer to make wagers on sporting events. Louisiana State Police is still vetting the companies contracted by the casinos to manage the software and processes of online betting. State law requires compliance and suitability investigations as well as tests to ensure the technology is working as promised.

“My goal is to have online available prior to the Super Bowl (Feb. 13). As of right now we do not have a definitive date,” Johns said. “We’re very close.”

But the bigger issue confronting the Gaming Control Board at its Thursday meeting is what to do about P2E’s license for DiamondJacks Casino in Bossier City.

The casino closed at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 and then permanently in May 2020 just after Gov. John Bel Edwards authorized casinos to reopen as the initial worst ravages of the coronavirus began to recede. The company raised the hackles of regulators by closing down without giving state officials advance notice. Nearly 400 employees lost their jobs. P2E sold off the furniture, linens, silverware, and other hotel items.

Company officials blamed the closure on the coronavirus, but DiamondJacks had been among the state’s worst performing casinos for years under P2E. The company had owned DiamondJacks’ since 2015, buying it out of bankruptcy.

The 400-room DiamondJacks hotel and casino remains abandoned with the recent installation of a fence to keep out the homeless, to the dismay of local officials.

“The longer it sits there empty, the more it will deteriorate. No community wants to have a blighted property of that size right off the interstate. It’s an eyesore,” said Lisa Johnson, president and CEO of the Bossier Chamber of Commerce.

“It is our hope there will be some investment coming into the property to improve the conditions and marketability,” added Rocky Rockett, president of the Greater Bossier Economic Development Foundation.

If the state does take back the DiamondJacks license, several casino companies are likely to bid to take it over, including his, said Dan Lee, president and CEO of Full House Resorts, which owns casinos in Mississippi and three other states.

Lee said the gaming control board would then have the opportunity to award the license to the company that makes the best offer in terms of how much it will invest and how many jobs it will create.

“You want to be close to the Texas border,” Lee said. “Houston has 7 million people. The state of Louisiana has 4.5 million.”

Johns said: “The ideal situation is for Diamond Jacks, P2E, to reopen the property in Bossier and if they decide to make some significant capital improvements, we will work with them.”