Bally Technologies, Inc. is an American manufacturer of slot machines and other gambling technology based in Enterprise, Nevada . It is owned by Light & Wonder .
119-527: The company was founded in 1968 as Advanced Patent Technology . It eventually changed its name to Alliance Gaming and in 1996 acquired Bally Gaming International, a former division of Bally Manufacturing . In 2006, the entire company adopted the Bally name. Scientific Games (now Light & Wonder) acquired the company in 2014. Today, Bally constitutes one of the three brands of Light & Wonder, along with WMS and Shuffle Master . Advanced Patent Technology
238-682: A slave rebellion that started during the French Revolution of Saint-Domingue in 1791. Over the next decade, thousands of refugees landed in Louisiana from the island, including Europeans, Creoles, and Africans, some of the latter brought in by each free group. They greatly increased the French-speaking population in New Orleans and Louisiana, as well as the number of Africans, and the slaves reinforced African culture in
357-789: A "louvered television screen", an ultrasonic meat tenderizer , and an ultrasonic dry cleaning machine. Advanced Patent made its move into the gaming industry in 1979, acquiring United Coin Machine Company , one of the largest slot route operators in Nevada, and announcing plans for the Colorado Belle hotel and casino in Laughlin , the first of a series of hotels to be built in the Las Vegas area. An obstacle arose in July 1980 in
476-544: A $ 5 million investment in exchange for 11 percent of the company. Wilms owned 62 percent of the company, but agreed to give up control to Kirkland, allowing them to name 4 of the 7 directors, in exchange for the investment. Concurrently, the company sold $ 85 million in convertible debentures . Rainwater outlined a plan to "become a really large factor" in the gaming industry, looking for bargain-price casinos "in every jurisdiction". Rainwater's level of involvement in United became
595-678: A 22" game display and a 26" top display. Bally engineered reduced power consumption in these new platforms. Bally also developed Ultimate Texas Hold'em in 2009. In 2010, Bally sold the Rainbow Casino to Isle of Capri Casinos for $ 80 million. On November 25, 2013, Bally acquired SHFL entertainment , a global gaming supplier operating in five primary categories: Utility products (including Deck Mate card shufflers and roulette chip sorters), proprietary table games, electronic table systems, electronic gaming machines (including video slot machines) and iGaming. In 2014, Bally won four awards in
714-692: A 43 percent stake in Capital Gaming International, which was developing casinos with various Indian tribes and the Crescent City Queen casino in New Orleans. The company came under scrutiny in November for its relationship with Antoine Saacks, Assistant Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department , who had worked as a consultant for United's video poker operation in Louisiana. Saacks
833-618: A Spanish expedition led by Pánfilo de Narváez located the mouth of the Mississippi River. In 1542, Hernando de Soto 's expedition skirted to the north and west of the state (encountering Caddo and Tunica groups) and then followed the Mississippi River down to the Gulf of Mexico in 1543. Spanish interest in Louisiana faded away for a century and a half. In the late 17th century, French and French Canadian expeditions, which included sovereign, religious and commercial aims, established
952-412: A buyer for Bally Wulff. The next day, Bally's board capitulated, canceling the deal with WMS and approving a merger with Alliance on terms similar to those of the tender offer, with a total value of $ 215 million. After the two companies agreed to revise the deal down to $ 185 million to ensure the combined company would have enough cash to grow, and Alliance raised $ 166 million in financing, the acquisition
1071-827: A combination of Alliance and Bally would be so undercapitalized as to raise licensing concerns among gaming regulators. Alliance undertook a hostile takeover effort, suing to block the WMS merger, announcing a tender offer of up to $ 55 million for 4.4 million shares of Bally, enough to give it a controlling interest, and seeking consent from Bally's shareholders to replace a majority of the board. Bally and WMS fired back with separate lawsuits seeking to block Alliance's tender offer. Alliance raised its offer to $ 70 million for 5.4 million shares, and WMS, in turn, raised its total bid to $ 142 million. In October, Alliance announced that it had been tendered 5.8 million shares, and alleged that Bally and WMS had reached an impasse over Bally's failure to find
1190-627: A dominant competitor was daunting though, so Alliance looked for an acquisition. The natural choice was Bally Gaming International, the number two player with a 15 to 20 percent share. Kirschbaum had contacted Bally Entertainment about a merger as early as 1993, but Bally's CEO rebuffed him because of Alliance's heavy debt load and lack of earnings, suggesting they "develop their company a bit". Talks began again in October 1994, until Alliance broke them off in February 1995. Bally reached out to Alliance
1309-551: A foothold on the Mississippi River and Gulf Coast. With its first settlements, France laid claim to a vast region of North America and set out to establish a commercial empire and French nation stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. In 1682, the French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle named the region Louisiana to honor King Louis XIV of France. The first permanent settlement, Fort Maurepas (now Ocean Springs, Mississippi ),
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#17327838645941428-558: A growing town. This became a pattern repeated in New Orleans and other places, although the commodity crop in the south was primarily sugar cane. Louisiana's French settlements contributed to further exploration and outposts, concentrated along the banks of the Mississippi and its major tributaries, from Louisiana to as far north as the region called the Illinois Country , around present-day St. Louis, Missouri . The latter
1547-628: A line of fitness equipment and clothing owned by FAM Brands , which acquired the name outright in 2013. The rights to use the name for casinos were sold by Caesars in October 2020 to Twin River Worldwide Holdings, which then changed its own name to Bally's Corporation and said that it would rename most of its properties under the Bally's brand. In a related transaction, Bally's Corporation acquired Bally's Atlantic City from Caesars. In January 2022, Caesars announced that Bally's Las Vegas, which they retained, would be rebranded as
1666-579: A matter of some dispute. After George W. Bush 's ties to Rainwater, a fellow member of the group that owned the Texas Rangers baseball team, became a campaign issue in the 1994 race for governor because of Rainwater's involvement in gambling, Kirkland head Joel Kirschbaum described Rainwater's interest in the company as "passive". But a later lawsuit by Bally Gaming alleged that United admitted downplaying Rainwater's level of control because Major League Baseball frowned on team owners being involved in
1785-617: A revenue-participation bonus instead of being sold outright to casinos. The game initially launched with a Betty Boop theme, and later added variants based on Blondie and Popeye . This period also saw the introduction of the EVO VIDEO game platform and the EVO 3, which was created in partnership with Microsoft . The company began seeking buyers for its slot route and casino operations in late 1999, to narrow its focus on gaming technology. After six months, no acceptable bids were received for
1904-505: A rich southern biota , including birds such as ibises and egrets , many species of tree frogs —such as the state-recognized American green tree frog —and fish such as sturgeon and paddlefish . More elevated areas, particularly in the north, contain a wide variety of ecosystems such as tallgrass prairie , longleaf pine forest and wet savannas ; these support an exceptionally large number of plant species, including many species of terrestrial orchids and carnivorous plants . Over half
2023-606: A special envoy to Napoleon, to assist in obtaining New Orleans for the United States. Jefferson also raised the authorized expenditure to $ 10 million. However, on April 11, 1803, French foreign minister Talleyrand surprised Livingston by asking how much the United States was prepared to pay for the entirety of Louisiana, not just New Orleans and the surrounding area (as Livingston's instructions covered). Monroe agreed with Livingston that Napoleon might withdraw this offer at any time (leaving them with no ability to obtain
2142-521: A subsidiary manufacturing video slot machines and other casino equipment. Bally Total Fitness, burdened with debt from over-expansion and declining revenues after the 2008 recession , began selling off its clubs in the 2010s. Sales of large numbers of clubs to LA Fitness in 2011, Blast Fitness in 2012, and 24 Hour Fitness in 2014, along with closures of other clubs saw the chain dwindle. The last Bally Total Fitness club closed in October 2016. The Bally Total Fitness name had been used under license for
2261-530: A war or the loss of a single American life, and set a precedent for the purchase of territory. It opened the way for the eventual expansion of the United States across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. Shortly after the United States took possession, the area was divided into two territories along the 33rd parallel north on March 26, 1804, thereby organizing the Territory of Orleans to the south and
2380-642: Is a Latin suffix that can refer to "information relating to a particular individual, subject, or place." Thus, roughly, Louis + ana carries the idea of "related to Louis." Once part of the French colonial empire , the Louisiana Territory stretched from present-day Mobile Bay to just north of the present-day Canada–United States border , including a small part of what are now the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan . The area of Louisiana
2499-550: Is estimated to have had a population of more than 20,000. The Plaquemine culture is considered ancestral to the historic Natchez and Taensa peoples, whose descendants encountered Europeans in the colonial era. By 1000 in the northwestern part of the state, the Fourche Maline culture had evolved into the Caddoan Mississippian culture. The Caddoan Mississippians occupied a large territory, including what
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#17327838645942618-981: Is now eastern Oklahoma, western Arkansas, northeast Texas , and northwest Louisiana. Archaeological evidence has demonstrated that the cultural continuity is unbroken from prehistory to the present. The Caddo and related Caddo-language speakers in prehistoric times and at first European contact were the direct ancestors of the modern Caddo Nation of Oklahoma of today. Significant Caddoan Mississippian archaeological sites in Louisiana include Belcher Mound Site in Caddo Parish and Gahagan Mounds Site in Red River Parish. Many current place names in Louisiana, including Atchafalaya , Natchitouches (now spelled Natchitoches ), Caddo, Houma , Tangipahoa , and Avoyel (as Avoyelles ), are transliterations of those used in various Native American languages. The first European explorers to visit Louisiana came in 1528 when
2737-559: Is strong evidence of a growing cultural and political complexity. Many Coles Creek sites were erected over earlier Woodland period mortuary mounds. Scholars have speculated that emerging elites were symbolically and physically appropriating dead ancestors to emphasize and project their own authority. The Mississippian period in Louisiana was when the Plaquemine and the Caddoan Mississippian cultures developed, and
2856-585: Is the place of origin of the Mound Builders culture during the Middle Archaic period , in the 4th millennium BC . The sites of Caney and Frenchman's Bend have been securely dated to 5600–5000 BP (about 3700–3100 BC), demonstrating that seasonal hunter-gatherers from around this time organized to build complex earthwork constructions in what is now northern Louisiana. The Watson Brake site near present-day Monroe has an eleven-mound complex; it
2975-524: Is the state's capital, and New Orleans , a French Louisiana region, is its largest city with a population of about 383,000 people. Louisiana has a coastline with the Gulf of Mexico to the south; a large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River . Much of Louisiana's lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh and swamp . These contain
3094-611: The Atari 2600 , and had far fewer games, it was unsuccessful despite a loyal following. By the mid-1980s, Bally again had a strong balance sheet and began buying other businesses, including the Six Flags amusement park chain in 1982, the Health and Tennis Corporation of America (which became Bally Total Fitness ) in 1983, and Scientific Games, a lottery terminal company, in 1986. That year, they also purchased several casinos, including
3213-683: The Du Maine and the Aurore , arrived in New Orleans carrying more than 500 black slaves coming from Africa. Previous slaves in Louisiana had been transported from French colonies in the West Indies. By the end of 1721, New Orleans counted 1,256 inhabitants, of whom about half were slaves. In 1724, the French government issued a law called the Code Noir ("Black Code" in English) which regulated
3332-789: The Horseshoe Las Vegas following a renovation. Bally's Corporation reached a 10-year naming rights agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group to rebrand the Fox Sports Network group of regional sports networks , which Sinclair had recently acquired, as Bally Sports , beginning in 2021. Former subsidiary Bally Wulff remains a gaming and vending equipment manufacturer in Germany, with additional operations in Spain. French gambling equipment distributor Bally France and Japanese arcade distributor Bally Pond also still use
3451-630: The Moffitt Royal Commission in New South Wales, Australia, during an investigation of criminal activities between the US and Australia, O'Donnell admitted that Genovese Mafia boss Gerardo Catena once owned shares in Bally, but claimed to have bought him out. He also denied knowing Chicago mobster Joseph Dan Testa, even though Australian police described Testa "as a representative of Bally who visited Australia." The company opened
3570-590: The New York Stock Exchange , trading under the ticker symbol “AGI”. The effort to divest non-core assets resumed in July 2003, with agreements to sell United Coin for $ 127 million to Century Gaming, the largest slot route operator in Montana, Bally Wulff for $ 16.5 million to German company Orlando Management, and Alliance's 49 percent share in the Louisiana video poker operation to New Orleans–based Gentilly Gaming. In December, Alliance agreed to sell
3689-474: The Park Place Casino & Hotel on December 29, 1979. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Midway was renamed Bally/Midway when it was consolidated with Bally's legacy pinball business. It became a primary source of income for Bally as an early arcade video game maker, obtaining licenses for three of the all-time most popular video games: Space Invaders , Pac-Man , and Ms. Pac-Man . In
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3808-414: The 'Slot Floor Technology Awards' as well as earning two spots in the annual ‘Top 20 Most Innovative Gaming Technology Products' awards. In August 2014, Bally agreed to be acquired by Scientific Games (now Light & Wonder), maker of lottery and sports betting equipment, for $ 3.3 billion plus $ 1.8 billion in assumed debt. The acquisition was completed on November 21, 2014. Today, Bally constitutes one of
3927-643: The Acadians, who became the ancestors of Louisiana's Cajuns . Spanish Canary Islanders, called Isleños , emigrated from the Canary Islands of Spain to Louisiana under the Spanish crown between 1778 and 1783. In 1800, France's Napoleon Bonaparte reacquired Louisiana from Spain in the Treaty of San Ildefonso , an arrangement kept secret for two years. Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville brought
4046-540: The Bally logo, though have no current relation to any other business with the name. Louisiana Louisiana (French: Louisiane [lwizjan] ; Spanish: Luisiana [lwiˈsjana] ; Louisiana Creole : Lwizyàn ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States . It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to
4165-659: The Crown's transfer of the Illinois Country 's governance from Canada to Louisiana—may have featured the broadest definition of Louisiana: all land claimed by France south of the Great Lakes between the Rocky Mountains and the Alleghenies . A generation later, trade conflicts between Canada and Louisiana led to a more defined boundary between the French colonies; in 1745, Louisiana governor general Vaudreuil set
4284-591: The Double Eagle project after its development partner ran into financing difficulty, and withdrew from the Chaparral project because of its own financing problems. By the winter, it was missing payments to its creditors, but a debt restructuring was achieved in September 1991. United closed Miss Lucy's Casino in February 1992. In 1992, United Gaming expanded to Louisiana , where video poker had been legalized
4403-460: The New Orleans casino. In March 1994, United bought 90 percent of USA Gaming of Native America, which had gaming development agreements with four Indian tribes. In June, United formed a joint venture with Casino Magic to build and operate a casino at Camptown Greyhound Racing in Frontenac, Kansas . In July, United agreed with Lone Star Casino Corp. to invest $ 15 million for a 50 percent stake in
4522-845: The Pine Hills Casino to be built in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi . Some plans did not pan out. In August, the River City Casino group withdrew its bid after receiving low marks from a local evaluation panel. The company announced plans in September to wind down some of its smaller operations, closing the Trolley Stop in December 1995, ending the Mizpah Hotel lease in April 1996, and selling the taverns it had acquired in
4641-494: The Rail City and Rainbow casinos. An agreement was reached to sell United Coin to a pair of Iowa riverboat casino operators for $ 118 million, but Alliance backed out of the sale a year later because of increased profits at the subsidiary. Bally took the publicly traded company from the brink of NASDAQ delisting in 2000 to record revenues and profits just two years later. On December 12, 2002, Alliance Gaming moved from NASDAQ to
4760-499: The Rail City casino to Sands Regent for $ 38 million. Meanwhile, Alliance considered acquiring Multimedia Games, a leading maker of Class II machines for Indian casinos and bingo halls, but the asking price was too high. Instead, the company in 2004 acquired Sierra Design Group for $ 165 million, giving it a strong entry into the markets for Class II machines, video lottery terminals , and centrally linked progressive machines for Washington state. Determining that its Evo platform lacked
4879-618: The Seven Years' War (generally referred to in North America as the French and Indian War ). This included the lands along the Gulf Coast and north of Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River, which became known as British West Florida. The rest of Louisiana west of the Mississippi, as well as the "isle of New Orleans", had become a colony of Spain by the Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762) . The transfer of power on either side of
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4998-609: The Spanish "cimarron", meaning which means "fierce" or "unruly." In the late 18th century, the last Spanish governor of the Louisiana territory wrote: Truly, it is impossible for lower Louisiana to get along without slaves and with the use of slaves, the colony had been making great strides toward prosperity and wealth. When the United States purchased Louisiana in 1803, it was soon accepted that slaves could be brought to Louisiana as easily as they were brought to neighboring Mississippi , though it violated U.S. law to do so. Despite demands by United States Rep. James Hillhouse and by
5117-546: The United States acquired the territory in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, France and Spain jockeyed for control of New Orleans and the lands west of the Mississippi. In the 1720s, German immigrants settled along the Mississippi River, in a region referred to as the German Coast . France ceded most of its territory east of the Mississippi to Great Britain in 1763, in the aftermath of Britain's victory in
5236-403: The United States, was disturbed by Napoleon's plans to re-establish French colonies in North America. With the possession of New Orleans, Napoleon could close the Mississippi to U.S. commerce at any time. Jefferson authorized Robert R. Livingston , U.S. minister to France, to negotiate for the purchase of the city of New Orleans, portions of the east bank of the Mississippi, and free navigation of
5355-577: The United States. The payment was made in United States bonds , which Napoleon sold at face value to the Dutch firm of Hope and Company , and the British banking house of Baring , at a discount of 87 + 1 ⁄ 2 per each $ 100 unit. As a result, France received only $ 8,831,250 in cash for Louisiana. English banker Alexander Baring conferred with Marbois in Paris, shuttled to the United States to pick up
5474-478: The United States. The closure of this vital port to the United States caused anger and consternation. Commerce in the west was virtually blockaded. Historians believe the revocation of the right of deposit was prompted by abuses by the Americans, particularly smuggling, and not by French intrigues as was believed at the time. President Jefferson ignored public pressure for war with France, and appointed James Monroe
5593-715: The Upper South or transported to New Orleans and other coastal markets by ship in the coastwise slave trade . After sales in New Orleans, steamboats operating on the Mississippi transported slaves upstream to markets or plantation destinations at Natchez and Memphis. Unusually for a slave-state, Louisiana harbored escaped Filipino slaves from the Manila Galleons . The members of the Filipino community were then commonly referred to as Manila men, or Manilamen, and later Tagalas , as they were free when they created
5712-468: The Upper South to the Deep South, two thirds of them in the slave trade. Others were transported by their owners as slaveholders moved west for new lands. With changing agriculture in the Upper South as planters shifted from tobacco to less labor-intensive mixed agriculture, planters had excess laborers. Many sold slaves to traders to take to the Deep South. Slaves were driven by traders overland from
5831-572: The West Indies, Germany, and Ireland. It experienced an agricultural boom, particularly in cotton and sugarcane, which were cultivated primarily by slaves from Africa. As a slave state, Louisiana was one of the original seven members of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War . Louisiana's unique French heritage is reflected in its toponyms, dialects, customs, demographics, and legal system. Relative to
5950-425: The address of Bally's Atlantic City. In 1999, Park Place bought Caesars World , and in 2003 changed its name to Caesars Entertainment. It was acquired in 2005 by Harrah's Entertainment , which took the name Caesars Entertainment Corp in 2010, and was eventually acquired in 2020 by Eldorado Resorts to become the current Caesars Entertainment . Many casinos and businesses worldwide have used the Bally name and logo in
6069-458: The biggest slave market in the United States, which contributed greatly to the economy of the city and of the state. New Orleans had become one of the wealthiest cities, and the third largest city, in the nation. The ban on the African slave trade and importation of slaves had increased demand in the domestic market. During the decades after the American Revolutionary War, more than one million enslaved African Americans underwent forced migration from
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#17327838645946188-406: The bonds, took them to Britain, and returned to France with the money—which Napoleon used to wage war against Baring's own country. When news of the purchase reached the United States, Jefferson was surprised. He had authorized the expenditure of $ 10 million for a port city, and instead received treaties committing the government to spend $ 15 million on a land package which would double
6307-404: The casino owner to have complete control over every aspect of the casino, including game functionality, attributes, revenue, and payout of winnings. Bally Manufacturing Bally Manufacturing , later renamed Bally Entertainment , was an American company that began as a pinball and slot machine manufacturer, and later expanded into casinos, video games, health clubs, and theme parks. It
6426-402: The city. Anglo-American officials initially made attempts to keep out the additional Creoles of color , but the Louisiana Creoles wanted to increase the Creole population: more than half of the refugees eventually settled in Louisiana, and the majority remained in New Orleans . Pierre Clément de Laussat ( Governor , 1803) said: "Saint-Domingue was, of all our colonies in the Antilles,
6545-429: The company merged with Omega Enterprises, a manufacturer of video slot machines through its Cal Omega subsidiary, in a " reverse acquisition ". Gaming & Technology acquired Omega's assets, and Omega's shareholders received 72.5% of the company's stock. One of Omega's owners, Alfred Wilms, was named CEO of the combined company. By 1986, machine sales were in a slump, and slot route operations accounted for 80 percent of
6664-579: The company to make pinball games, taking its name from its first game, "Ballyhoo". The Chicago -based company quickly became a leading pinball maker. In the late 1930s, Moloney began making gambling equipment, and had great success developing and improving the mechanical slot machines that were the core of the nascent gaming industry. After manufacturing munitions and airplane parts during World War II , Bally Manufacturing Corporation continued producing innovations in flipperless pinball machines, bingo machines, payout machines and console slot machines through
6783-659: The company's "revitalization and redefinition". Alliance began seeking ways to apply its marketing strength in the equipment business. Company executives felt there was a market opportunity in new riverboat and Indian casinos, where a slot maker could compete for "shelf space" without having to convince casino managers to switch from machines built by IGT , the market leader with a 70 percent share. CEO Steve Greathouse felt that machines could be made more fun, more interactive, and therefore more profitable, in contrast with IGT, whose executives believed that slot gamblers were "not playing to be entertained". Starting from scratch against such
6902-484: The company's biggest seller and the most successful product launch in the company's history. Bally also introduced several new gaming platforms, including the V20 upright, the dual-screen V20/20 video slot, the S9E reel-spinner and the CineVision wide-screen video gaming device. As of July 2009, more than 550 casinos worldwide utilize Bally systems products running on more than 400,000 slot machines. In 2006, Alliance changed its name to Bally Technologies, Inc., discontinuing
7021-418: The company's public disclosure, and trading in the stock was suspended for 10 days. The SEC investigation ended in 1983 with no further action against the company, while Solomon personally agreed to an injunction against any further securities violations, rather than fighting charges that he illegally sold stock in the company between 1975 and 1980 to raise money for its gaming ventures. A management shake-up in
7140-415: The core brands of Light & Wonder. Bally Technologies is focused on the casino gaming industry, specifically slot machines. Acquisitions of such companies as Casino Marketplace, MindPlay and Advanced Casino Systems Corporation (ACSC) enabled Bally to grow. In terms of computing software infrastructure, the Legacy Unix SDS slot system is still the industry standard. The company’s past acquisitions include
7259-419: The course of slot route operations. In December, the company decided, after performing due diligence , not to make an offer for the Diamond Jo. With Kirkland's backing in place, analysts expected the company to execute a major merger. United was cited as a possible suitor to buy Casino Magic, Caesars World , or Circus Circus. In December 1994, United changed its name to Alliance Gaming Corporation, to reflect
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#17327838645947378-402: The culture, the Atchafalaya Basin Mounds in St. Mary Parish, the Fitzhugh Mounds in Madison Parish, the Scott Place Mounds in Union Parish, and the Sims site in St. Charles Parish. Plaquemine culture was contemporaneous with the Middle Mississippian culture that is represented by its largest settlement, the Cahokia site in Illinois east of St. Louis, Missouri . At its peak Cahokia
7497-436: The desired New Orleans area), and that approval from President Jefferson might take months, so Livingston and Monroe decided to open negotiations immediately. By April 30, they closed a deal for the purchase of the entire Louisiana territory of 828,000 square miles (2,100,000 km ) for sixty million Francs (approximately $ 15 million). Part of this sum, $ 3.5 million, was used to forgive debts owed by France to
7616-406: The east. Of the 50 U.S. states , it ranks 20th in land area and the 25th in population , with roughly 4.6 million residents. Reflecting its French heritage , Louisiana is the only U.S. state with political subdivisions termed parishes , which are equivalent to counties , making it one of only two U.S. states not subdivided into counties (the other being Alaska and its boroughs ). Baton Rouge
7735-453: The firm's revenue, so the Cal Omega plant in Carlsbad, California was closed. The company changed its name again in 1988, to United Gaming Inc. , acknowledging United Coin as its principal asset. In 1989, United outlined a plan to become a major casino operator. It opened a $ 40 million line of credit to finance the construction of five mini-casinos. It partnered with the developer of the under-construction Chaparral Casino to build and operate
7854-497: The first platform mounds at ritual centers were constructed for the developing hereditary political and religious leadership. By 400 the Late Woodland period had begun with the Baytown culture , Troyville culture , and Coastal Troyville during the Baytown period and were succeeded by the Coles Creek cultures . Where the Baytown peoples built dispersed settlements, the Troyville people instead continued building major earthwork centers. Population increased dramatically and there
7973-399: The first people in the area of Louisiana to make large amounts of pottery. These cultures lasted until 200 AD. The Middle Woodland period started in Louisiana with the Marksville culture in the southern and eastern part of the state, reaching across the Mississippi River to the east around Natchez, and the Fourche Maline culture in the northwestern part of the state. The Marksville culture
8092-480: The first two African slaves to Louisiana in 1708, transporting them from a French colony in the West Indies. In 1709, French financier Antoine Crozat obtained a monopoly of commerce in La Louisiane , which extended from the Gulf of Mexico to what is now Illinois . According to historian Hugh Thomas , "that concession allowed him to bring in a cargo of blacks from Africa every year". Starting in 1719, traders began to import slaves in higher numbers; two French ships,
8211-424: The form of an SEC investigation, alleging inadequate financial disclosure and sale of unregistered stock. Under scrutiny from the Nevada Gaming Commission , Solomon was forced to step down as chairman, as a condition of licensing for the casino. Three new directors were added in November to the company's board as part of a settlement under discussion with the SEC, but by March 1981, regulators still had questions about
8330-414: The gaming industry. Within months of the Kirkland investment, United partnered in a bid for a gaming license in Evansville, Indiana , to build the River City Casino, was in discussions to acquire a stake in the under-development Diamond Jo Casino in Dubuque, Iowa , agreed to buy a 45 percent stake in the under-construction Rainbow Casino in Vicksburg, Mississippi , and agreed to invest $ 20 million for
8449-403: The horsepower to produce satisfying video games, Bally re-engineered its entire line of video and reel-spinning slot machines. Alpha, its new platform based on Sierra's operating system, dramatically improved Bally's entire portfolio of games, leading to the release of Hot Shot Progressives, a new series of video and reel machines. Overtaking the Blazing 7s line, Hot Shot Progressives quickly became
8568-474: The influence of New England Federalists in national affairs. President Jefferson was an enthusiastic supporter of westward expansion, and held firm in his support for the treaty. Despite Federalist objections, the U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana treaty on October 20, 1803. By statute enacted on October 31, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson was authorized to take possession of the territories ceded by France and provide for initial governance. A transfer ceremony
8687-475: The interaction of whites (blancs) and blacks (noirs) in its colony of Louisiana (which was much larger than the current state of Louisiana). After the Sale of Louisiana , French Law survived in the Louisiana, such as the prohibition and outlaw of any cruel punishment. Fugitive slaves, called maroons , could easily hide in the backcountry of the bayous and survive in small settlements. The word "maroon" comes from
8806-528: The islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe to the French. Napoleon looked upon Louisiana as a depot for these sugar islands, and as a buffer to U.S. settlement. In October 1801 he sent a large military force to take back Saint-Domingue, then under control of Toussaint Louverture after the Haitian Revolution . When the army led by Napoleon's brother-in-law Leclerc was defeated, Napoleon decided to sell Louisiana. Thomas Jefferson , third president of
8925-437: The late 1950s. They also designed and manufactured vending machines and established a coffee vending service. Additionally, they made a brief venture into the music business with their own record label, Bally Records . Moloney died in 1958, and the company briefly floundered. With the financial failure of its parent company, Bally was bought out by a group of investors in 1963. Throughout the 1960s, Bally continued to dominate
9044-486: The late 1970s, Bally/Midway also made an entry into the growing home video-game market with the Bally Professional Arcade . It had advanced features for the time, including 256 colors and the ability to play 4-voice music. It shipped with a cartridge that let users do a limited amount of BASIC programming and save their programs on cassette tape. However, because it cost more than its main competitor,
9163-477: The maze of ownership, division spin-offs and licensing agreements. Williams, after acquiring the Bally/Midway amusement games unit, continued to use the Bally name for pinball games until Williams's parent company WMS Industries ceased pinball production in 1999, having spun off the video game unit as Midway Games the previous year. WMS Industries has licensed companies to use the intellectual properties and
9282-553: The modern state of Louisiana. The French settlement had two purposes: to establish trade with the Spanish in Texas via the Old San Antonio Road, and to deter Spanish advances into Louisiana. The settlement soon became a flourishing river port and crossroads, giving rise to vast cotton kingdoms along the river that were worked by imported African slaves. Over time, planters developed large plantations and built fine homes in
9401-687: The next month through Rainwater, who discussed possibilities including a three-way merger with Autotote , a maker of lottery and pari-mutuel wagering technology. In June 1995, with Bally already considering a buyout offer from WMS Industries , Alliance made an unsolicited offer of $ 210 million in cash, stock, and assumed debt. Days later, Bally's board of directors accepted WMS's offer of $ 120 million in stock, conditioned on Bally selling its German subsidiary, Bally Wulff, for at least $ 55 million. Bally called Alliance's offer "illusory and highly conditional" on financing, and said that WMS stock would give shareholders more long-term value than Alliance stock, and that
9520-647: The northern and eastern bounds of his domain as the Wabash valley up to the mouth of the Vermilion River (near present-day Danville, Illinois ); from there, northwest to le Rocher on the Illinois River , and from there west to the mouth of the Rock River (at present day Rock Island, Illinois ). Thus, Vincennes and Peoria were the limit of Louisiana's reach; the outposts at Ouiatenon (on
9639-419: The now-defunct firm Honeyframe Cashmaster of Telford , England, and Micro Clever Consulting (MCC) of Nice , France. Those two firms made casino-management software. Bally MultiConnect (BMC) is a distributed enterprise-wide slot management system designed for multi-property casino firms. This enables centralized accounting and analysis, thereby providing a single view of the entire gaming operation. This enables
9758-637: The oldest settlement of Asians in the United States in the village of Saint Malo, Louisiana , the inhabitants of which, even joined the United States in the War of 1812 against the British Empire while they were being led by the French-American Jean Lafitte . Spanish occupation of Louisiana lasted from 1769 to 1800. Beginning in the 1790s, waves of immigration took place from Saint-Domingue as refugees poured over following
9877-513: The one whose mentality and customs influenced Louisiana the most." When the United States won its independence from Great Britain in 1783, one of its major concerns was having a European power on its western boundary, and the need for unrestricted access to the Mississippi River. As American settlers pushed west, they found that the Appalachian Mountains provided a barrier to shipping goods eastward. The easiest way to ship produce
9996-806: The original MGM Grand Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip (subsequently rebranded Bally's Las Vegas and now the Horseshoe Las Vegas ); the MGM Grand in Reno (now Grand Sierra Resort ); and the Golden Nugget Atlantic City, rebranded Bally's Grand (most recently the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel ). The expansion quickly took its toll on the company's finances, and Bally was soon forced to sell off several divisions, including Six Flags in 1987, Bally/Midway, which
10115-559: The pamphleteer Thomas Paine to enforce existing federal law against slavery in the newly acquired territory, slavery prevailed because it was the source of great profits and the lowest-cost labor. At the start of the 19th century, Louisiana was a small producer of sugar with a relatively small number of slaves, compared to Saint-Domingue and the West Indies. It soon thereafter became a major sugar producer as new settlers arrived to develop plantations. William C. C. Claiborne , Louisiana's first United States governor, said African slave labor
10234-590: The peoples adopted extensive maize agriculture, cultivating different strains of the plant by saving seeds, selecting for certain characteristics, etc. The Plaquemine culture in the lower Mississippi River Valley in western Mississippi and eastern Louisiana began in 1200 and continued to about 1600. Examples in Louisiana include the Medora site , the archaeological type site for the culture in West Baton Rouge Parish whose characteristics helped define
10353-585: The pressure for Anglicization , and in 1921, English was shortly made the sole language of instruction in Louisiana schools before a policy of multilingualism was revived in 1974. Louisiana has never had an official language, and the state constitution enumerates "the right of the people to preserve, foster, and promote their respective historic, linguistic, and cultural origins." Based on national averages, Louisiana frequently ranks low among U.S. states in terms of health, education, and development, with high rates of poverty and homicide . In 2018, Louisiana
10472-890: The property's casino and dining facilities, and with another developer on the planned Double Eagle hotel and casino. It leased the casino at the Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah, Nevada , bought the Plantation Casino in Sparks, Nevada for $ 9.5 million, and opened two small casinos in Downtown Las Vegas , Miss Lucy's and the Trolley Stop. Wilms pumped more money into the company, investing $ 10 million in June 1990 to raise his ownership stake to 54 percent. The company began restructuring its operations in summer 1990. It abandoned
10591-447: The rest of the southern U.S., Louisiana is multilingual and multicultural, reflecting an admixture of Louisiana French ( Cajun , Creole ), Spanish , French Canadian , Acadian , Saint-Domingue Creole , Native American , and West African cultures (generally the descendants of slaves stolen in the 18th century); more recent migrants include Filipinos and Vietnamese. In the post–Civil War environment , Anglo-Americans increased
10710-471: The rights to remanufacture existing Bally and Williams pinball machines. Since 2014, the license has been held by Planetary Pinball Supply. Alliance Gaming, which bought Bally Gaming International in 1996, changed its name to Bally Technologies in 2006. It was purchased in 2014 by Scientific Games, which had also acquired WMS Industries the prior year. The company, which changed its name to Light & Wonder in 2022, continues to use Bally Technologies as
10829-429: The river for U.S. commerce. Livingston was authorized to pay up to $ 2 million. An official transfer of Louisiana to French ownership had not yet taken place, and Napoleon's deal with the Spanish was a poorly kept secret on the frontier. On October 18, 1802, however, Juan Ventura Morales, acting intendant of Louisiana, made public the intention of Spain to revoke the right of deposit at New Orleans for all cargo from
10948-555: The river would be delayed until later in the decade. In 1765, during Spanish rule, several thousand Acadians from the French colony of Acadia (now Nova Scotia , New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island ) made their way to Louisiana after having been expelled from Acadia by the British government after the French and Indian War. They settled chiefly in the southwestern Louisiana region now called Acadiana . The governor Luis de Unzaga y Amézaga , eager to gain more settlers, welcomed
11067-557: The size of the country. Jefferson's political opponents in the Federalist Party argued the Louisiana purchase was a worthless desert, and that the U.S. constitution did not provide for the acquisition of new land or negotiating treaties without the consent of the federal legislature. What really worried the opposition was the new states which would inevitably be carved from the Louisiana territory, strengthening western and southern interests in U.S. Congress , and further reducing
11186-435: The slot machine industry, cornering over 90% of the worldwide market by the end of the decade. In 1964, Bally introduced the first electromechanical slot machine, Money Honey . It became a publicly traded company , and in 1969 acquired Midway Manufacturing , an amusement game company from Schiller Park, Illinois . The company expanded internationally in 1974 when it acquired German company Guenter Wulff-Apparatebau, which
11305-478: The state is forested. Louisiana is situated at the confluence of the Mississippi river system and the Gulf of Mexico. Its location and biodiversity attracted various indigenous groups thousands of years before Europeans arrived in the 17th century. Louisiana has eighteen Native American tribes—the most of any southern state—of which four are federally recognized and ten are state-recognized. The French claimed
11424-561: The state. The city of modern–day Epps developed near it. The Poverty Point culture may have reached its peak around 1500 BC, making it the first complex culture, and possibly the first tribal culture in North America. It lasted until approximately 700 BC. The Poverty Point culture was followed by the Tchefuncte and Lake Cormorant cultures of the Tchula period , local manifestations of Early Woodland period . The Tchefuncte culture were
11543-481: The territory in 1682, and it became the political, commercial, and population center of the larger colony of New France . From 1762 to 1801 Louisiana was under Spanish rule, briefly returning to French rule before being sold by Napoleon to the U.S. in 1803. It was admitted to the Union in 1812 as the 18th state. Following statehood, Louisiana saw an influx of settlers from the eastern U.S. as well as immigrants from
11662-456: The upper Wabash near present-day Lafayette, Indiana ), Chicago, Fort Miamis (near present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana ), and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin , operated as dependencies of Canada. The settlement of Natchitoches (along the Red River in present-day northwest Louisiana) was established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis , making it the oldest permanent European settlement in
11781-468: The use of Bally Gaming and Systems as a subsidiary, to present a unified identity. In 2007, Bally Technologies celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Bally trademark with a series of special customer events in Atlantic City, Las Vegas, and Chicago. Also, the company commissioned Christian Marfels, author of the book Bally - The World's Game Maker to write an updated second edition, a copy of which
11900-575: The wake of the SEC probe saw C. Richard Iannone installed as president in 1981. According to Iannone, he was told the company "won't last six months", but he cut expenses and restructured debt, effecting a turnaround by 1983. The company changed its name to Gaming and Technology Inc. in March 1983 to better reflect its focus. The Colorado Belle, described as unprofitable, was sold the following year to Circus Circus Enterprises for $ 4 million. On January 1, 1985,
12019-503: The year before. In August, it began operation of 600 machines at two race tracks, the New Orleans Fair Grounds and Jefferson Downs, and their eight off-track betting parlors. United also planned to install 1,000 machines at bars and truck stops in the state. In 1993, United Gaming and Wilms reached an agreement with Kirkland-Fort Worth Investment Partners, a group affiliated with Texas investor Richard Rainwater , for
12138-438: Was acquired by Hilton Hotels in 1996. Its brand name, and mid-20th century pinball and slot machine logo, are still used by several businesses with various acquired trademark rights, most notably slot machine maker Bally Technologies and casino operator Bally's Corporation . The Bally Manufacturing Corporation was founded by Raymond Moloney on January 10, 1932, when Bally's original parent, Lion Manufacturing, established
12257-426: Was acquired by longtime pinball and video game rival Williams Electronics in 1988, and Aladdin's Castle chain of video arcades, in 1989; Aladdin's Castle was later sold to Namco in 1993 and became part of Namco Cybertainment. In 1990, Bally came under new management as its largest shareholder, Arthur Goldberg, was appointed chairman and began a restructuring process. To pay down debts, German subsidiary Bally Wulff
12376-484: Was built about 5400 BP (3500 BC). These discoveries overturned previous assumptions in archaeology that such complex mounds were built only by cultures of more settled peoples who were dependent on maize cultivation. The Hedgepeth Site in Lincoln Parish is more recent, dated to 5200–4500 BP (3300–2600 BC). Nearly 2,000 years later, Poverty Point was built; it is the largest and best-known Late Archaic site in
12495-483: Was completed in January 1996, with Bally Total Fitness becoming a separate company. In June 1996, Bally Entertainment agreed to be acquired by Hilton Hotels Corporation . The sale was completed on December 18, 1996 for $ 3 billion ($ 2 billion in stock plus $ 1 billion in assumed debt). Two years later, Hilton's casino division, including the former Bally properties, was spun off as Park Place Entertainment , named for
12614-510: Was completed on June 18, 1996. Bally was organized as three divisions within Alliance Gaming: Bally Gaming, which made slot machines, Bally Systems, which made casino accounting and management systems, and Bally Wulff. Bally Gaming and Systems were combined into a single unit in 1998. In 1999, Bally launched Thrillions, a wide-area progressive jackpot system, as part of a strategy to focus on games to be installed on
12733-403: Was founded in 1699 by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville , a French military officer from New France . By then the French had also built a small fort at the mouth of the Mississippi at a settlement they named La Balise (or La Balize) , " seamark " in French. By 1721, they built a 62-foot (19 m) wooden lighthouse-type structure here to guide ships on the river. A royal ordinance of 1722—following
12852-504: Was founded in 1968 by Jack Solomon and Alvin Snaper, entrepreneurs who held patents in fields including medicine, optics, and electronics. The company's stock was publicly offered the next year. Its first 12 years were spent in the development stage. It boasted a portfolio of over 80 patents, but generated considerable publicity for five in particular: an ultrasonic fluidic fuel system for combustion engines, an ultrasonic endodontics device,
12971-548: Was given to every Bally employee. In 2008, Bally acquired CoolSign, a multi-media management tool, from Planar. On the games side, in 2008 and 2009, Bally released a number of new gaming products, including its new Digital Tower Series, whose games feature dynamic, interactive and animated top-box displays. Additionally, in 2009 the company released its new "Jumbo" cabinets, which measure nearly eight feet high by over three feet wide. In late 2009, Bally displayed their new Pro Series V22/22 upright and Pro Series Slant Top slot featuring
13090-422: Was held in New Orleans on November 29, 1803. Since the Louisiana territory had never officially been turned over to the French, the Spanish took down their flag, and the French raised theirs. The following day, General James Wilkinson accepted possession of New Orleans for the United States. The Louisiana Territory, purchased for less than three cents an acre, doubled the size of the United States overnight, without
13209-409: Was moved to Robinsonville in 1995 and became part of a joint venture with Lady Luck Gaming . In 1994, the company changed its name to Bally Entertainment, to reflect its focus on the casino business and the fact that it no longer had any manufacturing operations. It also announced that the health club business would be spun off to shareholders, to further narrow its focus on casinos. The spin-off
13328-690: Was named after the Marksville Prehistoric Indian Site in Avoyelles Parish . These cultures were contemporaneous with the Hopewell cultures of present-day Ohio and Illinois , and participated in the Hopewell Exchange Network. Trade with peoples to the southwest brought the bow and arrow . The first burial mounds were built at this time. Political power began to be consolidated, as
13447-565: Was needed because white laborers "cannot be had in this unhealthy climate." Hugh Thomas wrote that Claiborne was unable to enforce the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade, which the U.S. and Great Britain enacted in 1807. The United States continued to protect the domestic slave trade, including the coastwise trade—the transport of slaves by ship along the Atlantic Coast and to New Orleans and other Gulf ports. By 1840, New Orleans had
13566-437: Was ranked as the least healthy state in the country, with high levels of drug-related deaths . It also has had the highest homicide rate in the United States since at least the 1990s. Louisiana was named after Louis XIV , King of France from 1643 to 1715. When René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the territory drained by the Mississippi River for France, he named it La Louisiane . The suffix –ana (or –ane)
13685-508: Was renamed Bally Wulff. In the late 1970s, Bally entered the casino ownership business when New Jersey legalized gambling in Atlantic City . The effort moved forward even though the company was temporarily unable to attain a permanent license for the completed casino. During this period, company head William T. O'Donnell was forced to resign because of alleged links to organized crime, which he strenuously denied. When questioned by
13804-463: Was settled by French colonists from Illinois. Initially, Mobile and then Biloxi served as the capital of La Louisiane. Recognizing the importance of the Mississippi River to trade and military interests, and wanting to protect the capital from severe coastal storms, France developed New Orleans from 1722 as the seat of civilian and military authority south of the Great Lakes. From then until
13923-531: Was spun off into an independent company in 1991. Scientific Games, exercise equipment maker Life Fitness , and the Reno casino were sold in 1993. The slot machine manufacturing division was spun off as Bally Gaming International, ending the company's involvement in manufacturing. The company opened Bally's Saloon & Gambling Hall , a riverboat casino in Mhoon Landing, Mississippi in December 1993. It
14042-476: Was suspended and later fired for violating a department policy against officers working for video poker companies, and for his connection to Frank Caracci, a nightclub owner tied to the New Orleans crime family . A week after the scandal broke, the company pulled out of its deal with Capital Gaming; United said the timing was coincidental, but a Capital Gaming insider said the situation could impact licensing of
14161-558: Was to use a flatboat to float it down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to the port of New Orleans, where goods could be put on ocean-going vessels. The problem with this route was that the Spanish owned both sides of the Mississippi below Natchez . Napoleon's ambitions in Louisiana involved the creation of a new empire centered on the Caribbean sugar trade . By the terms of the Treaty of Amiens of 1802, Great Britain returned control of
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