Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, Tunica

This article is about the hotel and casino in Mississippi. For other casinos of the brand, see Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall (disambiguation).
Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall
Location Robinsonville, Mississippi 38664
Address 1477 Casino Strip Resorts Boulevard
Opening date1994
No. of rooms1,070
Total gaming space96,000 sq ft (8,900 m2)
Signature attractionsSam's Town 250 NASCAR Busch Series race
Casino typeRiverboat casino
OwnerBoyd Gaming Corporation
WebsiteSam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall

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

  1. ^ 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

  1. ^ "(photo)". Clarksdale Press Register. Clarksdale, Mississippi. May 28, 1994. p. 2A. Retrieved November 7, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ "Boyd to buy Tunica neighbor's non-gaming assets". gamingtoday.com. July 30, 2002.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ "Sam's Town Tunica". boydgaming.com. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  6. ^ "NASCAR this week". The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tennessee. October 29, 1999. p. 24. Retrieved November 8, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "2007 Sam's Town 250". racing-reference.info. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  8. ^ 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.

34°49′09″N 90°24′42″W / 34.8191°N 90.4118°W / 34.8191; -90.4118