JACKSON, Miss. - Caesars Entertainment said Wednesday that it will close its Harrah’s casino in Tunica on June 2 and lay off as many as 1,300 workers.

Las Vegas-based Caesars also owns the adjoining Horseshoe Tunica and Tunica Roadhouse Hotel and Casino in a nearby complex. The company said employees will have preference for openings at those operations and at Caesars properties under development in Las Vegas.

The closing comes after years of decline in gambling revenue in the Tunica area, introduced by less spending because of the recession and increased competition.

Two gambling operations in Arkansas continue to grow rapidly, and Tunica’s market historically stretched into areas of Oklahoma and Missouri that now have their own casinos.

Spokesman Gary Thompson said Harrah’s is losing money, and the taxes on the property are “onerous.”

“What we do have are a number of loyal players in the market, but not enough to support three properties,” Thompson said.

The company said it would work with local authorities to find a new use for the building. Caesars acquired the property in 2005 when it merged with Harrah’s.

Harrah’s is the second casino in the Robinsonville area of Tunica County to close.

Isle of Capri closed a casino there in 2002. That casino and hotel tower still are not in use.

The announcement lays clear the consequences of a seven-year fall in gambling revenue among the county’s nine casinos. They, along with other Mississippi gambling halls, have been laying off employees and paying less in gambling taxes for years.

Tunica casinos won $1.16 billion from gamblers in the 12 months ended in September 2006, but that amount fell 38 percent to $723 million in the 12 months ended in September2013, according to figures from the Tunica Convention and Visitors Bureau.

A report from the Mississippi Department of Revenue shows statewide casino revenue of $182 million in February. Revenue at commercial casinos in Mississippi is down 3.6 percent over the past 12 months and has fallen in 18 of the past 20 months.

Some people have been lured away to new competitors in Oklahoma, Missouri and elsewhere. Some switched to expanded gambling facilities at two Arkansas racetracks, including one in West Memphis that is a shorter drive for many Tennessee patrons.

But it’s clear the recession has taken a toll, too. The number of visits from Mississippi patrons is down almost as steeply in Tunica, and the amount of money that Southland Park Gaming and Racing is winning in West Memphis is smaller than the amount of money that has disappeared out of Tunica.

Gambling revenue in Arkansas rose rose 5.7 percent to $21.1 million in February from a year earlier.

Harrah’s opened in 1996 as the Grand Casino and was conceived on a grand scale. It has its own convention center, golf course, an entertainment center for children and the most hotel rooms in the area - 1,356 in three buildings.

Whereas many earlier casinos consisted of little more than a gambling barge, Tunica Convention and Visitors Bureau Chief Executive Officer Webster Franklin said Harrah’s was conceived as a full-fledged resort.

“The overhead at Harrah’s is much more than at other casinos, I would have to believe,” he said.

Caesars, weighed down by $21 billion in debt, lost $2.9 billion in 2013 and has been emphasizing cost-cutting as it tries to refinance. It also has spun some properties into other corporate entities to improve its capital structure.

Front Section, Pages 8 on 03/27/2014