Torguson Gaming Group

Company History

Marlin F. Torguson is a visionary who first entered the gaming industry in 1983. That year, he formed GMT Management, a company that built, funded and contracted to operate Jackpot Junction Casino, owned by the Lower Sioux tribe in Morton, Minnesota. In 1991, he opened Goldiggers Hotel & Casino in Deadwood, South Dakota. But it was in 1992 when Torguson seized an opportunity that would forever change the gaming industry and engrave his name into gaming history books.

In 1989, riverboat gambling had become a popular way to enjoy gaming without having to travel long distances to either Las Vegas or Atlantic City. Mississippi required that gaming had to commence in international waters, 40 minutes off the Mississippi Coast, which greatly limited the amount of revenue the riverboat could earn due to the restricted period of time a player could gamble. In 1990, Mississippi passed legislation to eliminate the cruise requirement of gaming vessels and allow dockside gaming on the Mississippi River and Mississippi Sound. Torguson, however, noticed that the word “riverboat” was omitted from the bills, therefore providing an opportunity to create a better gaming experience.

Torguson then envisioned a superstructure casino built on a massive floating barge creating a seamless transition between land and water. Using this design and permanently docking it in the waters of his property in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, the facility could remain open 24 hours a day. And in 1992, Casino Magic, the first floating barge casino in the world, was born. In 1993, a second Casino Magic was constructed in Biloxi, Mississippi. The concept was proliferated by a number of companies with barge casinos peppered throughout the United States with hundreds of thousands of loyal and enthusiastic patrons.

In October 1998, Casino Magic Corp merged with Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc., formerly known as Hollywood Park, Inc. (“Pinnacle”), and Torguson became a director on the board of Pinnacle, serving for five years. Pinnacle presently owns and operates casinos in Nevada, Louisiana, Indiana, Missouri and Argentina.

In June of 2004, Torguson stepped down from Pinnacle's board and formed Torguson Gaming Group, Inc. Marlin Torguson has based his successful career by focusing on the basics. He knew any successful company needs a strong foundation and core belief that taking care of customers, employees and the communities in which they operate is paramount. Torguson is dedicated to making TGGI a corporation operated with the highest level of integrity featuring gaming and entertainment properties of uncompromising quality. TGGI owns and operates The Lodge at Belmont, a greyhound racetrack in Belmont, New Hampshire and will hold an equity interest in Bacaran Bay Casino Resort, a proposed development in Biloxi, Mississippi.