Silver Slipper Casino GM Tells Parents To Get a Babysitter, Resort Becoming 21+

Posted on: June 8, 2022, 02:37h. 

Last updated on: June 8, 2022, 02:56h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

The Silver Slipper Casino Hotel in the southernmost part of Bay St. Louis, Ms., will soon only be for guests aged 21 and older.

Silver Slipper casino 21+ Mississippi gaming
The Silver Slipper Casino Hotel in Bay St. Louis, Ms. The Mississippi Gulf Coast casino property is going 21+ beginning July 1, 2022. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Management at the Mississippi casino owned and operated by Full House Resorts said the change comes in response to parents continually failing to monitor their children. Silver Slipper General Manager John Ferrucci explained that the casino was recently cited by the Mississippi Gaming Commission (MGC) for unsupervised children.

They cannot be left unattended at all,” a frustrated Ferrucci told the Biloxi Sun Herald. “I’m not doing it anymore. We invite parents to come back when they have a babysitter.”

Ferrucci says effective July 1, no one under the age of 21 will be permitted access to the Silver Slipper resort.

Mississippi gaming laws prohibit anyone under the legal drinking age from being on a casino floor. But to access the resort’s restaurants and buffet, guests of all ages are required to walk a designated corridor that travels next to the slot machines and table games.

The Silver Slipper is roughly eight miles south of downtown Bay St. Louis. The remote casino is adjacent to the 500-acre Hancock County Marsh Coastal Preserve.

The Silver Slipper’s 39,000-square-foot gaming space houses roughly 750 slots, 23 table games, and a sportsbook. The resort’s hotel features 129 guestrooms.

Feedback Largely Positive

The Silver Slipper joins Treasure Bay in Biloxi and Island View in Gulfport as the state’s only casino resorts reserved for guests 21+. Ferrucci said going adults-only was a “difficult decision” that management “didn’t take lightly.”

No persons under the age of 21 years are permitted in this building for any reason. All guests must be 21 years of age or older in order to be admitted to the casino, our restaurants, the hotel, or the pool area,” the Silver Slipper website now advises.

“You may be asked to provide identification in order to enter the building. If you do not have the proper I.D., you will not be permitted to enter,” the casino added.

Ferrucci explained that all hotel bookings for July 1 onward were contacted and notified of the impending age requirement. The casino GM says feedback from the guests has been relatively positive.

The casino’s Facebook post announcing the age change garnered a positive response, too. Of the more than 500 comments, most welcomed the news that kids will no longer be roaming the resort.

“Take your kids to a family resort. Casinos are for adults,” opined one commenter.

Silver Slipper Bounce Back

As was the case for every casino in the US, 2020 was a most difficult year for the Silver Slipper. Along with COVID-19, the Mississippi Gulf Coast casinos endured an active 2020 hurricane season.

During Tropical Storm Cristobal in June of that year, around 100 Silver Slipper workers had to be rescued by first responders. That’s after flooding blocked their passage from the casino to the employee parking lot. The staff members were rescued via a high-water vehicle.

For 2021, Full House Resorts reported that Silver Slipper revenues increased 45% year-over-year to $90.6 million. The Nevada-based casino operator says it’s bullish on the future of its Bay St. Louis resort because of the many recent resort-wide renovations. Those include “a substantial renovation of the casino and buffet, a renovated porte-cochere, repainted exterior, and the introduction of on-site sports betting.”