Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall is located in Tunica Resorts, Mississippi. Officially known as a riverboat casino because the gaming area is situated on a building built on barges that float in a pool of water linked to the nearby Mississippi River as required by state law, the resort in all other aspects resembles its Nevada sibling, except for the atrium. It includes a 1,600 seat showroom, a 1,070-room hotel, and an RV park.
History
The facility was opened on May 25, 1994,[1] by Boyd Gaming as the third casino branded as Sam's Town[a] and the first casino opened by Boyd outside of Nevada. It was built to replicate a Western town; at the time it opened it was 400,000 square feet (37,000 m2) in size with a 200-room hotel.[2]
In 2002, Boyd bought an adjacent hotel and theater owned by Isle of Capri Casinos for $7.5 million.[3][4] Sam's Town expanded into the property, adding an additional hotel tower and parking garage. As of November 2020, Sam's Town has over 700 hotel rooms in Tunica.[5]
From 1999 to 2007, Boyd sponsored the Sam's Town 250, a NASCAR Busch Series race at nearby Memphis International Raceway.[6][7]
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the hotel and casino were closed from March until May, along with multiple other hotels and casinos in the area.[8]
Notes
- ^ Sam's Town Las Vegas opened in 1979; the second Sam's Town was operated by Boyd in Laughlin, Nevada, from 1984 to 1991, and later became Laughlin River Lodge.
References
- ^ "(photo)". Clarksdale Press Register. Clarksdale, Mississippi. May 28, 1994. p. 2A. Retrieved November 7, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Singing pirates, cowboys: Can this be Tunica?". McComb Enterprise-Journal. McComb, Mississippi. AP. May 30, 1994. p. 4. Retrieved November 7, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Boyd to buy Tunica neighbor's non-gaming assets". gamingtoday.com. July 30, 2002.
- ^ "Isle selling Tunica property to Boyd, closing casino". Clarksdale Press Register. Clarksdale, Mississippi. AP. July 30, 2002. p. 1. Retrieved November 7, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Sam's Town Tunica". boydgaming.com. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
- ^ "NASCAR this week". The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tennessee. October 29, 1999. p. 24. Retrieved November 8, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "2007 Sam's Town 250". racing-reference.info. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
- ^ Garland, Max (May 20, 2020). "Tunica-area casinos release plans for a safe reopening". The Jackson Sun. Jackson, Tennessee. Memphis Commercial Appeal. p. A4. Retrieved November 7, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
