Sam’s Town Tunica Casino to Close November 10

• Boyd Gaming cites two decades of falling market demand
• Sam’s Town once anchored Tunica’s booming casino industry
• Arkansas competition reshaped regional gambling and visitor traffic

Sam’s Town Tunica is to close on November 10, its owner Boyd Gaming announced Thursday, citing two decades of declining demand.

A spokesperson for Boyd confirmed that employees were informed of the planned closure on Thursday. The announcement has fueled concerns over job losses in a community still reeling from previous closures. Sam’s Town has been the area’s largest casino since Harrah’s Tunica shut down in 2014.

Although precise employment figures haven’t been disclosed, properties of this size typically employ around 700 workers.

This was not an easy decision for our company. However, demand throughout the northwest Mississippi market has declined significantly over the past 20 years, with several of Tunica’s original casinos closing since 2014,” Boyd said in a statement.

“Our decision to close Sam’s Town is a result of these market conditions and follows our best efforts to adjust the business to address lower demand. These decisions are by far the most difficult we have to make as a company, and we regret that this was necessary,” it added.

Right-Sizing

Like Reno and Atlantic City before it, Tunica is in the process of “right-sizing” itself as it adjusts to a smaller market – a side effect of increased competition in neighboring states, notably Arkansas.

In 2018, Arkansas voters passed a constitutional amendment that permitted full-scale commercial casino operations in select counties.

Sam’s Town will be the fourth casino to have closed in Tunica since 2014. These include Harrah’s, which was once the largest casino resort between Atlantic City and Las Vegas. It was followed by Resorts Casino Tunica and the Roadhouse, both in 2019, the year Southland became a full-fledged casino.

Sam’s Town’s Boomtown Years

Built to mimic a Western frontier town, Sam’s Town was the first casino owned by Boyd outside of Nevada. Like other Tunica casinos, it qualified as a “riverboat” operation because its gaming floor sits on barges floating in a man-made basin connected to the Mississippi River, in accordance with state law.

Sam’s Town’s closure leaves Tunica’s once-booming casino strip with just five properties fighting for a smaller pool of customers.