Soft-spoken Ferrucci retires with legacy of help for St. Tammany
By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – Whether you are a fan of casinos or not, John Ferrucci is going to be missed by Slidell and St. Tammany Parish.
The original general manager at the Silver Slipper Casino & Hotel, hired in 2005, will officially resign his position there on April 11, 2025, stepping aside as the 74-year-old begins sto enjoy retirement. But the impact he had in supporting St. Tammany charity groups, non-profits, special fundraisers and business events is something that will not be easily forgotten.
For 20 years heading the Silver Slipper operation, Ferrucci created strong bonds with the St. Tammany Parish business and community world, as well as his own local Hancock County region, which proved to be a win-win for the success of his own casino, but also for each region that has benefitted greatly from the generosity shown by the G.M.
To do that, he didn’t rely just on lots of media advertising but made a personal connection to the business world in Slidell and St. Tammany, as well as providing tremendous support for hundreds of non-profit organizations and charity events. It proved to be key to making a name for the Slipper, even though it has one of the least favorable locations on the coast of any casino.
“We knew St. Tammany was important to us and that’s why I knew we had to make a sincere, personal connection, helping support a lot of events and groups,” he said. “There is no doubt that it has been beneficial for us, and for them.”
By the time Ferrucci came to the Slipper he had a wealth of gaming experience. After getting into the business in 1980 in Atlantic City as a dealer, it would be the start to an impressive ascent in the business that landed him in many top casino positions from the Bahamas to the Northeast to Mississippi.
A surprise to most will be the fact that Ferrucci, although a regionally well-known celebrity figure because of his trademark radio commercials, was actually a public-school teacher for seven years in New Jersey, earning a Master’s Degree in Education in 1975. But Ferrucci was like most, looking for a way to improve his financial situation, which ended up starting when he heard from a fellow teacher who went to school to become a casino dealer.
“He was making $15,000 a year as a teacher, and $30,000 a year as a dealer,” Ferrucci said. “So, I went to casino school myself and in 1980 quit teaching because I could do so much better dealing cards.”
Ferrucci was working at Caesar’s in Atlantic City and was featured in the Atlantic City Press as “The Most Educated Blackjack Dealer in Atlantic City.” After transferring to Harrah’s Casino, management saw more talent in him than dealing at the tables and began to promote him to management positions. In 1984, Atlantic City Magazine ran a feature and called him “one of 84 people to watch.”
That prediction was right on the mark as he was recruited by Carnival Cruise to manage a Bahamas casino, which turned out to be the first step in a long run of top management positions back in the States.
To get him back to the mainland after working in the Bahamas, Ferrucci remembers a special night that gave him a taste of what life could be on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
“An executive with the Grand Casino was trying to lure me back here and flew to the Bahamas to have dinner with me. We sat through a three-and-a-half-hour dinner with three waiters, four chefs, and a maître d’—they asked me ‘what do you want?’ and then would cook anything. We went through three bottles of wine and then the guy said, ‘this is the lifestyle you could have in Mississippi.”
Ferrucci also saw great potential in the emergence of the Mississippi market.
“I had been in Atlantic City and Vegas, but Mississippi was just getting started and I could feel the same exciting vibe here—I knew I wanted to be a part of it,” he said.
Along with the Slipper, Ferrucci has worked at six Gulf Coast casinos, but could never have imagined the unexpected challenge when he was ready to open the Slipper riverboat casino in 2005.
Originally planned as one of the lawfully-required casino boats on water along the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005 and changed everything, opening the door for the Slipper to take advantage of a newly-passed law, letting the casino companies build on land as long as they met certain guidelines.
“We ended up being the first land-based casino in Mississippi,” Ferrucci said.
Knowing there was an extra challenge when the Slipper opened in November 2006, since it was not on the main highway to Biloxi, Ferrucci said, “we knew most St. Tammany people wouldn’t go to New Orleans, so we came up with several catchy slogans on our ads.”
He hired a coast performer to write the now famous jingle, “Come on down to the Silver Slipper,” and also used the line, “we’re closer than you think” to recruit the St. Tammany players.
“Knowing where we were located, I always wanted our place to be better than anywhere else, and that meant customer service, or the buffet, or in whatever way we could do it. And really important was to never compromise and always take care of our employees.”
The Slipper buffet has regularly been named the “Best Buffet on the Coast” among all the bigger casinos near Biloxi, and he said the numbers prove that out.
“Most casinos have 30 to 40 percent of their guests eat there. At the Slipper we have 60 percent of our guests who come through our door on any given day, eat at one of our restaurants,” he noted.
Another big boost to build the support was when he hired former Saints QB Bobby Hebert and NFL talent expert Mike Detillier to host a Monday night sports show at his casino.
“The first time I heard them on the air I wanted to get them here. Since then, they’ve been doing the show here every Monday night almost since we opened,” he said. “They certainly helped build our name recognition.”
While gaming is a controversial topic, with some loving it and others not seeing gambling as a way to spend their money, Ferrucci is the first to agree that it isn’t for everyone.
“The way I see it everyone has the same option—it’s your money and your choice. If you are going to come and not enjoy the experience, then I say don’t come. But so many senior citizens love this as a way to have a diversion in their life—camaraderie with others, have a good meal and have some fun. But it’s a choice everyone has to make,” he added.
Ferrucci said he seldom plays at the casinos locally since he is well known but does play when he is on vacation. If he wants to play in the area, “I always call the GM first and tell him I’m coming in.”
Ferrucci will be heading onto new adventures in the coming months but has a great appreciation for the St. Tammany market that helped the Slipper become successful. However, that same appreciation has to be felt by hundreds of organizations and business groups in Louisiana who received more than $100,000 a year from the Slipper in sponsorships and donations.
“Half of our customers come from Louisiana, and they account for 70 percent of our revenue,” he said. “That’s why we have tried to give back as much as possible. I probably get 50 requests a month for donations or sponsorships, and I can’t say yes to them all. But we have tried to give back to the communities that have supported us, and I feel like we did the best we could.”
Ferrucci lives on the Gulf Coast with his wife Bridget, now married 24 years, and they have a happily married daughter, and a 10-year-old grandson.
Angi Truebner-Webb is now heading the operation at the Slipper as the General Manager after spending many years with the corporate organization and having worked at the Slipper previously in the past.