Tim Merrill, general manager of the new Gilley’s-branded gambling hall in Park City, Kansas, says the venue will be “a family destination, a place where everybody can come, everybody feels welcome.”
In naming Merrill to run the gambling parlor near Wichita, owner Phil Ruffin has chosen an industry veteran with 26 years’ experience. For Merrill, it’s something of a homecoming.
The Park City GM broke into the gaming industry in 1999 at Harrah’s-run Prairie Band Casino Resort, near Topeka. His career then took him to Wheeling, West Virginia, for Delaware North, then to American Racing Company. Merrill made a stopover back at Harrah’s (now Caesars Entertainment) before a fateful signing in 2008.
Merrill took a job on the Las Vegas Strip as director of slots for Las Vegas Sands, the beginning of a 10-year association with the company. In 2012, that took him to Macau, where he oversaw slots for six casinos, as well as premium-mass marketing, and eventually became executive assistant to then-COO David Sisk.
Returning stateside in 2019, Merrill signed on as president of startup Maverick Gaming in Seattle. He was on a hiatus from casinos when he received a call from an executive recruiter, “asking if I wanted to go to Wichita and build a property. I came up and met with Phil. We had a great conversation,” leading to the job offer Merrill accepted.
Ruffin’s association with Mickey Gilley and his eponymous brand of honky-tonks goes back to the 1990s, says Merrill. “Ruffin’s dream was always to have this facility in Kansas. It’s a natural fit.”
Projected to open on December 15, Gilley’s is set to deploy 1,000 historical horse racing (HHR) machines when it opens. Merrill enumerated his HRM inventory as composed of devices from International Game Technology, Light & Wonder, Aristocrat Leisure, AGS, Castle Hill, and “a little bit of Ainsworth.”
Although Gilley’s has a racebook, general sports betting is not in the cards at this time.”We may not have live sports wagering,” Merrill contends, “but we absolutely have a live racebook and I would say it’s the nicest in at least the surrounding 10 states.”
He also makes no apologies for the historical racing machines, which he explains are not an interim step toward Class III gambling. “We don’t have any aspiration to have regular slot machines,” Merrill remarks. “We’re very happy with what the state has given us and we’re happy with what we think we’re going to bring to the market.
“We haven’t contemplated table games or Class III or Class II. None of those product mixes are even on the table for us,” Merrill explains. “There’s already a Class III casino in this market,” he says, referring to the nearby Kansas Star. “There’s already a Class II casino [CrossWinds] in this market. That market’s being served. We’re very happy to be a parimutuel offering, where customers are playing against each other.”
Merrill believes the machine product can compete with the other casinos in the area. “The difference between an HHR terminal and a Class III terminal is very minimal, from an outward look,” he continues. “The magic is what happens behind it. This is the first traditional-style gaming environment where customers are playing against each other,” Merrill argues. “We’re not setting a hold. We’re not deciding how much money we’re going to take from a customer’s wallet or how long their gaming spend is going to last.
“We get a take-out, just like a simulcast, and then they get to experience all that volatility on their own,” Merrill summarizes. “It’s actually really exciting for the market.”
The slot parlor is part of a larger complex sitting on 80 acres that used to host the Wichita Greyhound Park. Sixty acres remain undeveloped. What has been built up includes: the Golden Circle racebook with its 150-foot video wall; a 120-machine amusement arcade called High Score; golf simulators; a bowling alley; Gilley’s BBQ; an outdoor concert area, The Back 40; and a 10-court pickleball facility with a dedicated bar and café.
Ruffin is also contemplating a 111-room Marriott hotel and 50,000 square feet of retail, which will still leave three-fourths of the acreage vacant. “We’re unique in that we have that land,” Merrill says.
As for the customer base, Merrill says Gilley’s will be locals-focused. However, he extends that to include the feeder markets of Oklahoma City, Joplin (Missouri), Dodge City, Salinas, Topeka, and Lawrence.
“We’re trying to be an addition to the culture in Wichita and Park City,” Merrill demurs. “We’re not trying to target a certain demographic. We’re not going after the VIP. We want a place where everybody feels comfortable to come, play, and enjoy themselves. They don’t feel pressured to do any one thing.”
The typical Gilley’s patron, Merrill concludes, “iworks hard every day, lives a clean country life — or a clean city life. We have good people around us and we expect good people to come visit us.”
