Wow. Wife and I drove to Tunica for our first trip there on Friday morning and just returned (Sun. late afternoon). It was a whirlwind tour but we managed to do all of the casinos for a few hours each. We stayed at a non-gaming hotel because it was half the price on weekends. We weren%26#39;t sure what to expect from the Best Western Tunica Resorts property, but we were very pleasantly surprised. Our room was clean, the free morning breakfast was adequate to get our morning started and the people working there could not have been friendlier. Overall it was a place we would recommend and stay at again.
Started off Friday early afternoon at Bally%26#39;s. It was OK but one of our least favorite. The place was not very active at all. Granted, it was a Friday at one in the afternoon, but they really needed some bodies in there playing. And the whole Barn/Farm motif was kind of goofy. Also, the drinks were really bad = powdered, cheapy margarita mix and scotch that could have choked a mule. Good news is that wife won a good bit playing five dollar black jack. Down side is that it paid 6/5, but she had fun and came out ahead.
From Bally%26#39;s we drove less than a mile to a casino cluster incuding the Sheraton, the Horseshoe and the Gold Strike. Sheraton was OK, but underwhelming- sort of your plain label variety casino. Made a few bucks there and headed to the Horseshoe right next door. This place was hoppin%26#39; and turned out to be our favorite. Actually looked like it could have been a Vegas property. It was packed and everyone was sort of rowdy and having fun. Casino decor reminded me sort of Golden Nugget in DT Vegas - not modern, but classy. The two best things about this place were that wife won big here at BJ, playing the ten dollar shoe game with the three card poker side bet, which paid 9/1. She got it several times, though she only played the side bet ($5) every third or fourth hand, as it is commonly known as a ';sucker bet';. The other great thing was how accommodating they were here. After only an hour or so at the tables our first trip there, they comped us two Friday night seafood buffets. The buffet is normally 25 a person and was fantastic. Very classy for a buffet and the variety and food prep were excellent. Loved the Horseshoe so much, went back Sat. night for four hours and won some more. Excellent drink service and good stuff.
From HS, we wandered next door to the Gold Strike, an MGM property. The hotel part looked very classy. The casino was large and busy, but with the low ceiling and no flash, it was just OK. Won a little here, but didn%26#39;t stay more than an hour or two. The shops and restaurants in the Gold Strike looked a lot nicer than at other casino properties, but since we didn%26#39;t stay there, we spent very little time in them.
Finally, to wind up the first day, we headed over to the brand new, stand-alone Harrah%26#39;s property. It was all by itself away from the other casinos but not terribly far away. You could see the lights from afar, as this is the largest and glitziest of all the Tunica properties. It was spectacular inside and out. Inside it was ultra mod, sort of like a combination of the Palms and Planet Hollywood. Big fancy (expensive) bar in te center of the main casino floor and colored lighted artsy columns throughout the casino. Very flashy. Bad news was most table games were fifteen and up. Found one ten dollar table and made a few bucks before finally retiring back to the Best Western. Whew, what a day. My gal played at five casinos and won a bit at all of them.
Sat. morning, we decided to go to the other cluster of casinos which were about four miles straight down the street from our hotel. This cluster has Hollywood casino and Resorts Casino (the old Harrah%26#39;s) on one side of the street and Sam%26#39;s Town Casino complex on the other side. We started by using the two for one ACG (American Casino Guide) coupon for the Hollywood%26#39;s Epic buffet. We used it for lunch and it saved us nine bucks. The buffet was not a large one and we were a bit skeptical, but for nine bucks for two, we tried it. It was not fancy, but all of the food was well prepared and we were more than happy with it. Then went into the Casino proper at Hollywood. It is very cool, if you like Elvis and movie memorabalia. They actually had the original Bat Mobile from Batman, a car in Elvis%26#39; movie Spinout and the scale model of the Titanic used in the movie right on the casino floor, along with other things like some of Tom Hank%26#39;s props from Forrest Gump and George C. Scott%26#39;s uniform from Patton. We loved this part of the casino. HOWEVER, two downers at Hollywood. First, Casino is very smoky. They really had poor ventilation. Second, this was the first of six casinos where my wife lost. Boo.
Wandered next door to Resorts. Felt sorry for these folks, as the place is super plain Jane and it was nearly empty on a Saturday afternoon. Also, wife%26#39;s losing streak continued here, so we got out of there pretty fast. Drove across the street to Sam%26#39;s Town, which was really hoppin%26#39;. Lots of casino play on this large floor and we loved that this was the only property that had five dollar, six deck, HAND SHUFFLED, shoe games. Spent about three hours here and did nicely.
Went home early evening just to relax for an hour before heading out Sat. night to the Horseshoe, where we closed out our trip to Tunica. Stayed there four or five hours. Band was fun, black jack was great, wife made a killing on twenty bucks and all was good. God, I love this place.
Final notes = our first trip to Tunica was fun and profitable, BUT, if you have never been, realize two things about Tunica. It is in the boonies. I mean, right next door to all of the Casinos are large cottonfields and farm land. There is NOTHING to do in this town, except gamble. All restaurants, bar a few chain fast food joints are casino restaurants. Also, know that you really do need a car, as the properties can be anywhere from next door to each other or as much as five miles away. Will we go back??? Maybe, as a cheap substitute for a Vegas fix, but never for more than two days at a time. Tunica is what it is= farmland with casinos. We have no regrets and we now know what to expect if we go again.
just back - trip report
Thanks for the Tr will keep that in mind I am going 1st time in 2 weeks. I have heard good and bad. Sound like your wife did OK how about you? I have never heard about Resorts I guess that%26#39;s why.
LIG
just back - trip report
I enjoyed reading your TR. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for posting! I%26#39;m planning our first roadtrip for a week in November. So it%26#39;s fair to say Tunica is in the sticks, boondocks. . . : )
Also planning for golf and day trips to Memphis and/or Clarksdale. Definitely hitting the Horseshoe!
Hey glad you had a good time, and we pretty much have the same opinions! I actually liked Harrah%26#39;s the best this last trip, and Mr. Ducky said he played at a $5 Pai Gow there but thinks the BJ was $10 (we were there on a Mon/Tues trip this time)
I am glad to see the hotel turned out to be ok for you, and I am sure your report will be helpful to others :)
The Tunica/Memphis area is always fun for us but agree that a couple days is plenty.
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