More than 1,000 slot machines are being loaded onto the Live! Casino & Hotel gaming floor this week in Bossier City as Cordish Co. prepares to open its new Louisiana resort.
The big question: When will the jackpots begin ringing?
“We’re still on target for early 2025,” Joshua Robinson, vice president of marketing, told USA Today Network Thursday without revealing the specific target date. “We’re getting closer and closer every day.”
Construction on the $270-million project continues for all phases — casino, event spaces, hotel and restaurants — as well as the hiring of 750 permanent employees.
“When the first (slot machines) hit the floor, this became an active gaming space,” said Robinson, which means specific security has to be in place and nobody under 21 can go onto the gaming floor even during construction. “Seeing these machines coming onto the gaming floor is another milestone.”
Robinson said the slot machines represent the favorite gaming consumer brands in the industry, from Dragon Cash to the traditional Double Diamond.
In all, the casino will offer 47,000 square feet of gaming space.
Live! will be the first land-based casino in the Shreveport-Bossier market.
Cordish’s top executives have promised that the new Live! Casino will be a destination resort that will attract conventions and tourists from beyond Louisiana’s borders.
“It’s going to have a quality and energy that when you walk into this property, you’ll feel like you’re in a premier casino and resort in the top gaming markets, including Las Vegas,” said Jon Cordish, a partner with The Cordish Companies, in a previous interview with USA Today Network.
The available jobs are posted at Louisiana.LiveCasinoHotel.com/Careers and include positions in every operation of the resort, including hotel, gaming, finance, marketing, human resources, information technologies, food and beverage, facilities, security and surveillance and more.
Robinson said customers will experience “a wow factor” when they walk in the door, from the gaming floor to the entertainment venues to the restaurants like The Prime Rib and Luk Fu.
“It’s going to be a fully immersive entertainment destination,” he said.
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.
