Reply #30: The idea

[Sgent]

of being built on a "barge" is laughable. The Coast casinos (and the ones in Tunica for that matter) are not barges in any regular sense of the word.

They have levees built around them to provide for protection from waves and storm, they are permanetly moored into place, and they have 5+ stories of gambling space built on top of them. If I didn't tell you it was floating, you would never know it.

The way the law was written in MS, the number of casino licenses were unlimited given proper financials and character checks. On top of that, 75% of all development costs had to be on land -- not on water. This gave rise to the entertainment venues, golf, and host of other features.

Until Katrina, MS had more gambling space than any place but Nevada. In fact, the total gambling space in the south and Tunica was more than in Las Vegas.

Tunica County was the POOREST IN THE NATION before casinos came to the area -- and provided comparatively excellent jobs for locals and non-locals alike.