Phil Ruffin Sr. always knew this day would come: ‘Oh, hell, I never give up’

Wichita and Sedgwick County may as well have voted for casino slots a couple of decades ago when Phil Ruffin Sr. first wanted them, because the billionaire Las Vegas casino owner wasn’t going to stop trying for them — ever.

“Oh, hell, I never give up,” he said. “I knew someday I’d get it, and I got it.”

In 2023, the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission granted Ruffin a license to operate 1,000 historical horse racing machines at his former Wichita Greyhound Park near 77th Street North and Hydraulic, where guests also can place bets on live horse races nationally.

A mid-December opening date looms.

The venture is now called Gilley’s instead of Golden Circle as originally planned.

Ruffin was a longtime friend of the late Mickey Gilley and his family.

Within the Gilley’s casino will be a nightclub called Gilley’s Dance Hall and Saloon just like the juke joint that was featured in the 1980s movie “Urban Cowboy.”

Years ago, when Ruffin narrowly lost a vote for the slots, he’d planned to open a Gilley’s entertainment venue not unlike the one he has now at Treasure Island in Las Vegas.

However, at 20,000 square feet, the planned new Gilley’s will be twice that size.

“This is going to be an amazing project,” Ruffin said. “We spent a lot of money on it this time. The interior you’re going to have to see.”

He described it as a “Las Vegas casino brought to Wichita.”

There will be floor-to-ceiling digital walls for sporting events, a high-end restaurant called the Golden Circle, a racebook, a barbecue pit, arcade games, bingo, ax throwing, golf simulators, bowling, an open-air venue for festivals, rodeos and other events, a dance hall and, eventually, a pickleball venue. There will be an amusement center for children, too.

“It’s got everything,” Ruffin said.

He said everything will be much grander than what he initially had planned years ago.

“That was a very big disappointment for me,” Ruffin said of not getting slots back then. However, he said, “Everything works out well.”

So what else is he not giving up on these days?

Ruffin said things are going especially well in Wichita with his various hotel properties here, and he said he should have some forthcoming news about the 18 acres he’s developing near his Wichita Marriott by Kellogg and Webb.

“We’re working on some interesting stuff there,” Ruffin said.

The one place that isn’t doing as well? Vegas.

“It’s kind of strange,” said Ruffin, who also owns Circus Circus there. “Right now, Vegas is slow.”

He said there aren’t many visitors from Mexico and Canada currently.

So has he talked with his close friend President Trump about that?

“He knows that there’s kind of a business slowdown. It’s a travel slowdown,” Ruffin said.

“He and I have spoken. He’s very much aware of the situation,” Ruffin said. “I make suggestions. Some he takes, but mostly he doesn’t. He has enough advisers.”

At almost 90, Ruffin has plenty of business advice.

“My career is long (with) lots of twists and turns in the business,” he said. “I’ve been down the road a long, long time.”

Ruffin has some guidance for the one thing he suggests no one in business does.

“You just don’t give up.”