The owner of the Terre Haute casino has changed its name to Lucky Luck Gaming LLC, the chairman of the company, Greg Gibson, revealed yesterday.
As shared by Mr. Gibson, the name change from Spectacle Jack to Lucky Luck Gaming was initiated in order to highlight that the $125-million Terre Haute casino project is a fully separate entity that is not associated with the large casino project of Spectacle Entertainment in Gary. He further noted that Spectacle Jack has been fully separate from the Spectacle Gary project since March 2020, so the name change was aimed at highlighting the complete separation and prevent further confusion.
The organization’s chairman confirmed that he is willing to open the Terre Haute casino by the middle of the next year. Despite the name change, Mr. Gibson is to remain an investor and vice chairman of the $300-million new casino project of Spectacle Entertainment in Gary.
The new corporation was established on December 11th, 2020, while the name change to Lucy Luck Gaming was officially approved by the Indiana Gaming Commission ten days later, on December 21st, 2020. The CEO position at Lucy Luck Gaming will be occupied by Jim Brown, who previously was president and chief operating officer at Centaur Gaming. Previously, Mr. Brown served as president and general manager of Evansville-based Casino Aztar.
Legal Dispute Could Delay Opening of Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana
As far as the Gary casino project is concerned, the state’s gambling regulatory body last week told Majestic Star Casinos, the parent company of the Gary casino, to operate its gaming boats until at least June 2021, rather than proceeding with previously-announced plans to close them in March or April this year, when the new land-based casino in Northwest Indiana was set to open.
In December last year, the Indiana Gaming Commission made an attempt to force the ex-CEO of Spectacle Entertainment, Mr. Ratcliff, to give up his ownership stake in the company that currently owns the existing Gary casinos and the Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana that is still under construction. Last month, Ratcliff filed a lawsuit against the gambling regulatory body, accusing it of wrongfully acting against him.
As CasinoGamesPro already reported, the ongoing dispute could result in leaving the casino empty for months.
In September 2020, the former vice president and general counsel of Spectacle Entertainment, John Keeler, faced federal charges alleging that he had participated in an unlawful scheme of funneling campaign donations in 2016 to the failed federal election campaign of a former state lawmaker. However, Mr. Gibson explained that the two individuals involved in the ongoing probes are no longer board members of Spectacle Entertainment. He also confirmed that both individuals have been separated from the Terre Haute project for almost a year now, so none of the investigations should have any effect on Terre Haute.
Once it becomes operational, the new casino is expected to employ 550 people. Mr. Gibson said he believes that the gambling venue is a significant addition to Terre Haute’s economy.
