Island View Casino in Gulfport, MS, is owned by the previous owners of the former Copa Casino in Gulfport, although legally the ownership is a completely different entity.



Of all the casinos that have returned here to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the Island View is perhaps the biggest disappointment. I don?t mean the facility itself. The property was purchased from Harrah?s, and the former Grand Casino?s Oasis Hotel was renovated to house both the casino and hotel. The owners did an excellent job, much better than Harrah?s did with the Grand in Biloxi. But to me, the building that a casino is housed in doesn?t equate to whether I?m getting a good gamble for my money. I look at the video poker, blackjack, poker room and craps tables.



Before Katrina, the Copa could easily lay claim to some of the best gambling in the country, outside Nevada. Even though the evil 6-to-5 single-deck blackjack game had grown like a cancer in the rest of southern Mississippi, the Copa still had the righteous 3-to-2 version. But no more.



And video poker: the Copa was famous for its Full Pay Deuces Wild, Full Pay Joker Poker and 10/7 Double Bonus, which in this player?s humble opinion actually bootstrapped the Copa out of its old fire-trap cruise ship into a modern gaming barge. All long gone.



And I loved the Copa?s poker room. I understand there are plans for a poker room in the casino?s expanded version for spring of 2007, so we?ll see.



Cashback for video poker has turned into free play and has plummeted from .25 percent to .13 percent.



Also long gone is the database where gobs of accumulated comp dollars entitled one to free meals. Of course the database with the mailing list is still there, so where are the comp dollars? The present owner-entity claims that those comp dollars were gifted from the previous owners, not the present owners. Not good for public relations.



But who can blame the Island View? It no longer has competition from Grand Gulfport next door and has a beautiful facility with a nice hotel. It?s the only casino in Gulfport, so why should it offer more than the bare minimum?



Katrina washed away more than the beach and beachfront buildings. She also washed away some of the best gambling in Mississippi.

Well, being 26, my best friend and I had never gambled before, so we both went to Island View to get broken in as we were told it was the best one on the coast. All I can say is, if this is the best, I'd hate to see the worst. The staff were rude, when we signed up for the players club we were treated like street trash bums freeloading off them. The slots are incredibly tight! I only won maybe 20 dollars total but put in 50 of my own money after the 15 dollars freeplay I was given. Waitresses were rude and nowhere to be found, taking between 5, to 10 minutes to bring you your order. We did not play any table games, but I chose a wide variety of slots, from Pompeii to Whales of Cash to Wild Orchid, and none paid out at all. I was there a total of 6 hours playing and waiting on friends, and I was the only one that won enough to cash out, everyone else having pennies on the dollar. I had fun, but it was because of my companions, not the casino. I definitely am not going back.