Empress sold both casino properties to Horseshoe Gaming Holding Corporation in 1999. In 1996 its sister casino was opened in Hammond, Indiana, as Empress Casino Hammond. The unique Egyptian theme became the casino's hallmark. The casino made extensive use of the Egyptian theme including several pyramids on top of the entertainment complex, a large recreation of the Sphinx and faux hieroglyphics along the sides of the building. The Empress Casino opened on June 16, 1992, as a riverboat type casino in Joliet, Illinois. Using a portion of his own money, he and a group of investors created Empress Casino. Lambrecht believed that a riverboat casino in Joliet could thrive, a risky idea at the time. In the early 1990s construction company owner T.J. It was destroyed by a fire on March 20, 2009. Lambrecht, Empress Casino become one of the first riverboat casinos in Illinois.

Built in the 1990s by a group of investors headed by T.J. Penn National Gaming (2004-2009 its destruction)Īrgosy's Empress Casino (also known as Empress Casino Joliet) was a Riverboat casino and hotel located in Joliet, Illinois. Horseshoe Gaming Holding Corporation (1999-2001) It displays the casinos official logo and now belongs to a private collector. The flag pictured is currently the only one know to have survived the fire that destroyed the Empress Casino.