Tunica Hits Hard Times

In its heyday, Tunica was one of the nation’s biggest gambling meccas, ranking third after Las Vegas and Atlantic City. But casino revenue here has plummeted in the last decade as major casino markets have exploded in dozens of cities from Chicago to New Orleans. Tunica casinos now employ about 4,000 workers, less than a third than they did at their peak.

Ref: Mississippi County Deals With Reversal of Fortune

Poor old DonDiego remembers Tunica "at its peak".  It was a fun little burg.  He still has a couple of oversize coffee cups he got from the Blue & White Restaurant where the locals had their Saturday lunch.

Times change.

I was there when the first casino, Splash, opened actually in Tunica.  Then Lady Luck and a couple others.  They truly were on the river, a navigational law applicable to casinos in MS.   Splash first charged $10 to get in, with a long line due to fire regulations allowing just so many.  They had the best buffet, REAL steaks etc.  Once the others built Splash discontinued the entry fee.   Splash had run busses from Little Rock for free and  you got the buffet with it, but soon had to start charging a small fee for the ride due to homeless people riding just to get the buffet, not gambling of course.

Eventually those all closed and the big ones opened in Robinsonville, MS, though still referred to as Tunica.  Somehow water runs under them making them legal.  I had many a wonderful time at Treasure Bay (gone), Circus Circus (which became Gold Strike) and most of all The Horseshoe which was a guaranteed winner and the best buffet, until Harrah's took over.  Well, Harrah's had it early on, but I guess when corporate big time Harrah's took it over that's when things changed.  Still OK, but not like it was.  Harrah's had several properties.   Used to go there once or twice a month (3 hour drive) until SW brought in a non-stop to Las Vegas.  They had their day.  Sorry things have gone south (no pun intended).

It's sad what's happened to Tunica.  I have an account I see a couple times a year in Memphis.....last trip we didn't even bother.

I went there three or more times a year for a five to six-year stretch.

I had my biggest win in a live poker game there $2,600 which I only got paid after a three-month wait while the gaming commission conducted an investigation. I was playing one of those automated video poker tables when I hit the bad beat jackpot according to the table. 

The casino said they weren't going to pay because it was a machine error. Someone at the table called the gaming commission and we sat there awkwardly in the middle of the casino floor doing nothing until they arrived. They arrived an hour later, took our statements and said they would conduct an investigation. A couple of weeks later I got something in the mail asking me to make my legal arguments as to why I should be paid.  I argued it wasn't a machine error but rather a simple case of the casino not understanding how the machine was programmed. 

I loved the RoadHouse back when it was the Sheraton.  They used to have the best video poker in the area. I had the best steak I ever had in my life at their steak house. Yes, the Horseshoe buffet used to be the best in the area.

Harrah's or what used to be called the Grand most of the time I went there had the nicest hotel but they had the odd setup where the Casino was across the street and you had to ride a shuttle to get to it. I think the original owners of that property built that thinking there was going to be land-based gaming at some point.

Anyway, the State of Mississippi really gave Tunica the middle finger, and that is what led to its downfall more than anything. After Katrina wiped out the Biloxi casinos, the state said they could have land-based casinos in Biloxi rather than requiring the casinos to be built on a barge that was attached to the hotels. Tunica couldn't compete with that and the other new facilities being built in nearby states that were also land-based. Combine that with what casinos are doing everywhere. (Ultra Tight Machines that chrun you out the door quickly.) and nobody wanted to drive for hours to play on ultra tight machines in musty barges with little hope of generating any comps. 

Mississippi wanted to keep getting the Tunica fees the casinos were paying to "dock" their boats near the river. 

I went to Tunica this past weekend.  Although Roadhouse doesn't officially close until the end of the month, half their casino floor was already blocked off.  At the Riverstage Bar, they were out of a local beer from Memphis!  I guess when the 31st hits, all they want to do is turn off the lights.  Thanks, Caesars, for closing yet another Tunica casino you bought.  And thanks Mississippi Gaming Commission for putting Tunica at a competitive disadvantage with gaming exploding in some of your feeder states. 

They better pray Tennessee never legalizes casinos because Memphis and Nashville are the two dominant populations keeping Tunica alive.    Its a great deal for Mississippi now because the overwhelming amount of tax revenue in Tunica casinos is brought in from people in other states.

I think Tunica is still worth a day trip if you are already planning a vacation in Memphis....but I would not make it a destination by itself

My first ever in my life Royal Flush, quarters, was at Circus Circus (where the Gold Strike is now).  I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  I don't know why but it was a hand pay, don't recall signing anything.  I think we were staying at local motels, or sometimes just drove the 3 hours back home after playing.

Later at Horseshoe I put in a c-note in a VP machine, thinking I was playing quarters.  Didn't even know the difference in VP games, this one turned out to be DDB.  First hand I hit Aces with Kicker, turned out I was on dollars so it paid 2K.  Most money I'd ever held in my hand.  We were staying at the Lady Luck Hotel which didn't yet have a casino.  When the Horseshoe suits offered us a room after I hit that jackpot I said "No thanks, we already have a room."  My husband told me what a dummy I was to turn that down.   After I learned how things worked I had all the comps I never believed possible.  Once at Horseshoe I watched John Daly, the golfer, playing a $100 slot machine pretty rapid fire.  He was drinking Cokes (this was after one of his alcoholic meltdowns).  Guards stood by to prevent onlookers from bothering him.  All this is at least 20-30 years ago, in the heyday.

A great Horseshoe memory was the Jack Binion's Steak House, a real classy place with dynamite great food, the best steaks, lobster, whatever you wanted they would fix it whether it was on the menu or not.  Exquisite service, servers in tuxes.   Not unusual to see sports and entertainment celebrities in there.  I played exclusively dollar VP, which must have counted for more back then.  Always comped, great Hosts, the best rooms.  Those were the days.  Then CET came in and the place was never the same, to say the least.  Sad.

Mark, I can’t imagine how I would have felt when they decided to contest your win! Not paid for 3 months sounds like complete bullshit and who does one complain with when it sounds they are protecting the casino! The gamin* commission failed miserably in this instance.

Oh, I was just thrilled I ultimately prevailed. The dispute was over hole cards. In a dealer dealt game, traditionally, both of your hole cards have to be in play to win the bad beat jackpot. But the automated poker tables were programmed to pay a bad beat jackpot even if you only had one hole card in play. I had one hole card in play.  In their legal arguments, they said, it was a machine error caused by a programming error because everyone knows both hole cards have to be in play.  To which, I said, the machine was functioning as it was programmed to.  I noted it lit up with jackpot bad beat and shut down instructing the users to summon the attendant, so there was no error. I said, The casino management simply wasn't aware of how the machine was programmed and it was their responsibility to be aware of how their machines are programmed.  I noted there was no signage in the casino anywhere indicating there were any additional written rules you had to comply with to win the bad beat jackpot. If I am not mistaken, I was beaten with four jacks while my opponent held a straight flush. 

Speaking of the Horseshoe, they had the most amazing Diamond Lounge that was two stories tall, and they served real high-quality food in there.  

Tunica is safe from TN legalizing gambling anytime soon.  Heck, we just got wine in grocery stores 1 1/2 years ago, but the grocery stores couldn't sell it on Sunday until this month. 

I'll add CET finally made it official they were killing Roadhouse, but it started years ago when they removed most of their VP, totally closed off the upstairs including the restaurants, continually reduced inventory of table games and slots - and finally, the whole rebranding to the Roadhouse was the plan of an idiot.  I hope their employees have jobs lined up.