What a journey it’s been since the first casino in Biloxi debuted 30 years ago on a riverboat to now the prospect of cashless casinos and virtual reality becoming part of the experience when a “lucky 13” Coast casino joins the market.

Nobody knew what to expect as people stood in long lines for hours in 90 degree heat to be among the first aboard the Isle of Capri riverboats in East Biloxi, the first casino in the South. “Aug. 1, 1992, was marked with great fanfare,” the Sun Herald reported on the 10th anniversary in 2002. Pete Halat, Biloxi’s mayor at the time, snipped the ribbon and declared, “Laissez Les Bon Temp Rouler!”