Mods, if this doesn't belong here, please feel free to move it. I wasn't quite sure if this would be a TR or non-Vegas. Just got back from a weekend in Tunica and wanted to share some thoughts. It was my Hunny, her roomie Snoopy and myself. This trip was supposed to have happened 3 weeks ago, but we got snowed out and had to postpone. Hunny was quite disappointed, as it would have been her first comped trip. HET snail-mailed her comp rooms and $10 freeplay for any or all weekends in January for the Terrace or Veranda in Tunica. Anyway, then the snows hit and we weren't going anywhere that weekend. She got another one of the same mailers offering the same thing for any or all weekends in February. We booked and prayed for better weather. Hunny chimes in with just a few comments. This is me talking, this is Hunny. GETTING THERE The 3.5 hour from Nashville was thankfully uneventful, if not kind of boring. There's really not a lot to see between Nashville and Memphis, and most of the parts of Memphis we see while driving through are not really worth seeing. But we made it there by about 3:30 and checked in after picking up a little happiness for Hunny and myself (Capt. Morgan and Bud LIght Lime). The drive back was equally uneventful and just as boring, if not more so. Seems like the drive back always seems to take longer. HOTEL Harrahs Terrace, for those who don't know, is one of three Harrahs has at the Harrahs casino, and is one of two not attached to the casino itself. It's across the street, but still a mile-and-a-half away. There is a shuttle that runs about every 5 minutes, so it's not bad at all. They offer another shuttle from here to the Horseshoe and Roadhouse (formerly Sheraton), both also HET properties. This runs every half hour, so even without a car, one can visit 4 casinos easily. The fourth would be Gold Strike (MGM/Mirage), next to Horseshoe. The room was basic, but clean and nice...comfy mattresses and what would have been a nice view of the pool and the lake behind it, had one been open and the other had more sun shining on it. Nothing else really to say about the hotel, so I won't...except for the disco lights in the bathroom. There was somemthing wrong with the lights. If the light was turned on again shortly after it was turned off, it would flash like a strobe. The Disco Strobe in the bathroom - was fixed when we returned to the room later that afternoon. Anyone ever experienced a discoshower or discopoop? FOOD We ate twice at the Paula Deen buffet at Harrahs (dinner Friday and breakfast Sunday). Dinner Friday was seafood night, and it was quite good. It was $21.99. Rather than going into everything, I'll say the standouts were the cheeseburger meatloaf with mushroom cream sauce, fried shrimp (the breading was wonderful), the cheesy mac and the fried chicken. There was more that was good, but these items stood out. Breakfast on Sunday morning was $8.99 and it was standard breakfast fare, but it was quite tasty as well. There is an omelet station for those who wanted to wait in line at least 10 minutes for an omelet. To me it is clear that this is the best buffet in the area...hands down. Paula Deen - need i say more ?? On my slightly demented rating scale, I'll give this one 4.5 burps (out of 5). We ate breakfast at Fitzgeralds on Saturday. Once again, basic breakfast fare, but nowhere near as good as Paula's. This was $6.99 and so average, I won't even say anything more about it except that I'd rate it 2.5 burps. The Gold Strike buffet on Saturday offerred an Steak and Lobster buffet for $21.99. The lobsters were not too big, but you got a whole one. I saw several people eat nothing but that. The steak part of this was average at best (MSS on Thirsday nights is much better). Other offerings are about average. The ladies are more into seafood than am I, so their rating would be a little higher than mine. 3 burps/4 burps. I grabbed a slice of pizza at the GS food court for lunch on Saturday. It was $3 and tasted like food court pepperoni pizza. 3 burps. GAMING Mostly we did penny slots. The ones I liked best were Goldfish, Reels O'Dublin and Wizard of Oz. Goldfish was very good to me at Sam's Town and GS. There are two varieties of this game, one with reels, one video. I definitely like the video, not the reels. Reels O'Dublin I haven't seen before, but I'll play it everytime I see it from now on. It was very good to me at GS & Harrahs and just slightly good to me at Bally's (not associated with the one in LV). I used to like the Dean Martin Party Time game, but no more. Played a bonus round and got ZERO. That sucks. I'm done with Dean from now on. I still don't like slots that primarily use A, K, Q, etc. I don't know why. Maybe I feel like they just have anycharecter to them. I don't know. Blackjack...played only once, at Fitz. They have a $3 game, not sure if 3/2 or 6/5..wasn't there long enough to notice. I played a few minutes and realised it wasn't for me. They dealt from a continuous shuffler and after they had burned about a deck's worth of cards, back in the shuffler they went. Don't really like the Tunica version of Bally's...real small and not a great selection of games that I liked. Absolutely hate Hollywood Casino, for a number of reasons. Hunny, on the other hand, likes it. The newly branded Roadhouse resembles just that. They have added a mechanical bull in one corner and have scantily clad young girls ringing cowbells. On the other side of the casino floor, there are two pool tables in front of one of the bars. This place is kinda loud. I think I liked it better as the Sheraton. The only place we didn't go into was Resorts. Hunny and I got into a hold-em tourney at Hollywood. I lost a bunch of my chips on a hand where I flopped 2nd top flush and the one player to stay in the hand with me flopped top 2 pair. Of course, I couldn't bet him out of it. He hit his boat on the river and thus I lost a lot of my chips. I did quintuple up a while later when I moved all-in with AJ-off, flopping a gutshot draw and hitting the gutshot on the turn, but that still left me with about 40% of my starting chips. I lost them all on a hand when I flopped top pair from the BB and got called by someone who also flopped top pair...his A outkicked my 2. Thought it was going to be a very long weekend - dropped $100 bux first thing Friday eve ... won it back on Saturday morning - then cashed in poker tournament Saturday afternoon. Made up for the dissapointment the night before. MISC THOUGHTS Our prayers for better weather were indeed answered. After suffering for several weeks of sub-freezing weather, we were treated to a weekend with sunny skies and temps in the 60s. I like Tunica more than other non-Vegas places I have visited. There have more than one casino. I don't like places with just one like Metropolis, Jeffersonville, etc. as I just don't get a good vibe there. Saturday night on the shuttle from Horseshoe to Harrahs, the driver clipped a parked car pulling into Harrahs. Damage to the car was minimal. I sure hope he doesn't lose his job over this. We rode on his shuttle a couple of times and he was quite friendly and personable. I liked the band that played at Road House - dont know who they were - but was nice to play and hear the band also. The cowbell was a little annoying .. but watching the idiots ride the mechanical bull was entertaining. This was my first time in Tunica on a weekend. I like it better during the week. Saturday night it was so crowded everywhere that it was nearly imposible to find a machine I wanted to play. I ended up after dinner with only about $20 cash-in and then just gave up and headed back to the room and called it a relatively early night...slept well, though. Slots at Harrahs and Roadhouse allow you to order drinks right from the machines...I like that. No more waiting on a cocktail server to come by, say "cocktails" and be gone before you have a chance to say anything. My favourite casinos in Tunica, in no particular order are: Harrahs, Horseshoe and Sam's Town. The only place we didn't go into was Resorts.
I always liked Tunica as well. Not as big or as fancy as Vegas, but it's got that nice "small" feel to it. I've been to the Paula Deen buffet a few times...I agree with you..I think it is one of the best buffets in this area. Thanks for the report!
Sounds like a great trip I didn't realized it can get so cold and snowy that far down south altho probably not as cold and snowy as I get up here but still annoying ! Thanks for sharing
Nice TR - I'm going to give Tunica a try in June - Did you see a lot of the poker rooms - and which ones would you recommend? Also, does Sam's Town in Tunica resemble the one in Vegas? Is there an atrium and all? Just curious. Any info would be helpful!
Though we played the hold-em tourney at Hollywood, I really don't care for that one a lot. It's in the back corner of the casino and kinda makes me feel like I'm in a cave. I like the poker rooms at Sam's, Horseshoe and Gold Strike the best. And Sam's does not have an atrium, like the one in Vegas. GS, Horseshoe and Roadhouse are together. Harrahs is several miles away. But if you stay at any of the above, you'll have access to the Harrahs shuttle that will take you to the others. Otherwise, you're on your own, and all the other casinos are v-e-r-y spread out.