May 18, 2004
By John Hill
BATON ROUGE -- Harrah's Casino Shreveport will close at 3 a.m.
Wednesday to reopen sometime Thursday as Sam's Town Casino operated
by Boyd Gaming of Las Vegas.
The State Gaming Control Board unanimously approved the $190 million
sale at its meeting Monday, the last legal hurdle in a long, slow
process that has involved gaming regulators in several states.
Harrah's and Boyd Gaming officials said the closing of the sale will
take place at 8 a.m. Wednesday, five hours after the casino closes
for employees to count money, exchange chips, reprogram computers and
swap out forms, a transfer operation that will take up to 30 hours.
State police gambling regulators, who will oversee the operations,
must then give Boyd approval to reopen the casino.
"We hope to be reopened by noon on Thursday," said Keith Smith, Boyd
Gaming's chief operating officer, who flew in from corporate
headquarters in Las Vegas for the meeting.
©The Shreveport Times
May 18, 2004
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