For more than 25 years, casinos have transformed the Mississippi upper Gulf Coast from sleepy fishing and seafood industry communities into a glitzy gaming mecca second only to Nevada in number of casinos and hotel rooms.

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Twelve casinos line the Mississippi coast, from Biloxi to Bay St. Louis. Ten are in Biloxi, Gulfport, and D’Iberville within the upper west coast of the state. They and their complementary casinos in other parts of the state generated $6.5 billion in tax revenue in 2017, enough tax income to fund the entire Mississippi state budget for a year. Gulf Coast casinos alone generated $1.2 billion in tax revenues.

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The coastal casinos provide tax income for the cities on the coast to transform local governmental operations. School systems that hadn’t built new schools since 1960 have built beautiful new campuses with casino revenues. Law enforcement and fire departments, with casino tax revenues, have become modern operations unthinkable before casinos were legalized in 1992.

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Moreover, the casinos have fueled Mississippi coast tourism, drawing in more than 14.3 million visits to the Gulf Coast in 2016; statewide that year there were 23 million visitors spending about $6.3 billion, much of that because of casinos.

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Granted, because the casinos must be dockside on the coast, bays, or rivers, they are vulnerable to bad weather. On the coast, that means hurricanes and tropical storms. When the last major hurricane hit in 2005, Hurricane Katrina, the Mississippi coast was devastated, and the casinos took a massive economic loss. But they rebuilt and were soon attracting visitors once again.

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One advantage to having casinos on the Gulf Coast is that lodging for visitors remains relatively inexpensive. Indeed, vacationers can stay at casino resorts much less expensively than staying at condos and hotels in other stretches of the upper Gulf Coast.

 

In addition, the casinos provide some of the finest restaurants and buffets on the coast, and they bring in exciting entertainment shows by headline performers.

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The economic impact of the casinos has also provided funding for art museums and history museums that entertain and enlighten visitors and residents alike.

All the Gulf Coast casinos have Vegas-like slots, game tables, and sports betting.

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Here is a list of the casinos on the Mississippi Coast:

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Biloxi

Treasure Bay Casino & Hotel, 1980 Beach Boulevard, Biloxi, Mississippi.  (228) 385-6000.  In addition to rooms and suites, the casino provides five restaurants. The casino has more than 809 slot and video poker machines, 26 table games, and three video poker bars. On the Gulf beach.

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IP Casino Resort & Spa, 676 Bayview Avenue, Biloxi, Mississippi. (228) 435-7000. In addition to the resort rooms and amenities, the casino has more than 1,462 slots and 53 table games, as well as a 10-table poker room. Across the street from the Gulf beach.

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Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino, 151 Beach Boulevard, Biloxi, Mississippi. (228) 435-5400. It offers hotel rooms and more than 1,110 slot machines, 49 table games and a live action poker room. On the Gulf beach.

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Palace Casino Resort, 154 Howard Avenue, Biloxi, Mississippi. (228) 432-8888. In addition to their rooms, the casino has more than 777 slot machines and 26 table games. The resort also has a golf course, The Preserve Golf Club, a short distance away in Vancleave, Mississippi. Resort and golf packages available. On Biloxi Bay with a marina. No smoking casino.

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Beau Rivage, 875 Beach Boulevard, Biloxi, Mississippi. (228) 386-7111. This is an MGM property, with more than 1,773 slot machines, 93 game tables, and 1,740 hotel rooms, including 95 luxury suites. It is the largest hotel/casino in the United States outside of Nevada and at 32 floors, the tallest building in Mississippi. On the Gulf beach.

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Boomtown Casino, 676 Bayview Avenue, Biloxi, Mississippi. (228) 435-7000. The casino has 680 slots and video games and 15 table games. It bills itself as a locals’ casino and does not operate a hotel. Sits on the Biloxi Bay. An RV park is offered.

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Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, 777 Beach Boulevard, Biloxi, Mississippi. (228) 374-7625. This upbeat casino with a robot bar tender that makes great drinks, has 1,083 slot and video machines and 53 gaming tables. It has 479 rooms, of which 154 are non-smoking. Sits on the Gulf beach.

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Harrah’s Gulf Coast Casino Hotel & Spa, 280 Beach Boulevard, (228) 436-2946. This is a Caesars property located on the Gulf beach. There are 748 reel and video slots and 31 game tables. The hotel has 499 rooms, including 40 suites.

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Gulfport

Island View Casino and Resort, 3300 West Beach Boulevard, Gulfport, Mississippi. (228) 314-2100. This resort-casino was the first built on the coast. It has about 2,580 reel and video slot machines, including video poker machines, 49 table games, and 974 hotel rooms. On the Gulf beach. No smoking casino.

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D’Iberville

Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort, 9380 Central Avenue, D’Iberville, Mississippi. (228) 392-1889. This casino has 966 video and reel slot machines, 33 gaming tables and three restaurants.  The resort has 300 rooms.  It overlooks the Biloxi Bay. Located on the Gulf beach in Hancock County.

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Bay St. Louis

Silver Slipper Casino Hotel, 5000 South Beach Boulevard, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. (228) 469-2777. The casino has 856 slots and 24 table games with a high limit salon. This is the first land-based casino built from the ground up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

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Hollywood Casino Gulf Coast, 711 Hollywood Boulevard, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. (866) 758-2591. This is a 14-story waterfront hotel and casino which sits next to the only Arnold Palmer Signature golf course in Mississippi and is minutes away from the Gulf Coast beach. It has 291 hotel rooms and a pool with a lazy river. It has 928 slot machines and 20 game tables.  Overlooks the Gulf Coast and offers an RV park and marina.

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All data is as of June 30, 2019, and was obtained from the Mississippi Gaming Commission monthly survey report.