BILOXI, Mississippi – With a snip of his ceremonial golden scissors, Tilman Fertitta officially opened the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Friday's ceremony marked the opening of the Houston entrepreneur's fourth Golden Nugget location in the United States. It also offered a glimpse of what's in store for his fifth location in Lake Charles, Louisiana, which is set to open in December 2014.
"It's great to be in (Atlantic City), it's great to be in Vegas," Fertitta said referring to his other Golden Nugget locations. "But it's just so good to be back here in the South and to invest a billion dollars in the South."
As lavish as his newest $100 million Mississippi property is, Fertitta says this is just a taste of what his customers can expect come December, when the Golden Nugget Lake Charles opens.
He says the pool and the casino in Lake Charles will be twice the size as those in Biloxi.
Fertitta said the casino in Lake Charles will be like the Biloxi location "on steroids."
"It's just going to be a great property," Fertitta said about his still under construction project in Louisiana. "I think we're just going to shock Houstonians at how nice Lake Charles is going to be."
"It's just like a drive from Mobile, Alabama, to Biloxi," said former Houston Oilers player Robert Brazile. "If you want to go and have fun in Galveston, you drive from Houston to Galveston. Now you can drive from Houston to Lake Charles."
Fertitta says the Golden Nugget Biloxi was remodeled version of an existing casino, but the one in Lake Charles will built from the ground up and will also feature a golf course.