I really enjoyed the poker room at the Sam's Town Gambling Hall. It was quite the pleasant surprise as the locals don't really prefer the card room there, which is great for me since the competition was a little softer. Maybe the locals try to keep folks at the Horseshoe so that they don't have to keep looking for a good game. For what it's worth, the game at the Horseshoe is so tough that I think I'll definitely be going back to Sam's Town on my next Tunica trip.

The room was well spaced out and very clean. The chairs were comfortable and the 1 and 10 seats had wheels to allow you to move around the dealer better (at least the 2 tables that I sat at did.) The felt was a green, suede leather, the cards would stick to it a little more, but that was easily overlooked. I talked to Gary who informed me that they carried 2 Shuffle Masters in the room, though I didn't get to play with any during my 8 hours there.

The service staff was awesome. They got us seated at the 11am Saturday tourney very quickly, (we swung in 5 minutes before the tourney started.) Also, once I was out of the tourney, I requested a seat at a $1/2 NL game and was shown my seat immediately by a very nice young lady and was also walked over to the cashier's desk to buy my chips. The lovely young lady then escorted me back to my seat and made sure that I didn't need anything else before she moved on. There were some minor skirmishes between some players but the floor seemed to handle the situation very efficiently.

There were at least 2 waitresses in the poker room while I was there and getting a fresh Red Bull was absolutely no problem. They offered free hot dogs at ST and man were those some big franks, one of the best hot dogs I have ever had, seriously. I didn't notice if anyone was eating at the table, but I assume that you would be able to.

I was able to sit down at a table immediately, though upon talking to the staff, when they have a waiting list, it is on paper and not done electronically. They said that you could absolutely call ahead to reserve your seat! I sat $1/2 NL for about 3 hours before I had to get up and rail my buddy BJJIII. He eventually chopped the tourney for a big win! I will interject that the structure for the 11am Saturday tourney is very good for the players. The blinds start at 25/50, the stacks are 4k each and the blinds go up every 30 minutes.

If you have a players card, which you can get downstairs just outside of the poker room, you can earn $2.50 per hour. That seems to be an extraordinary rate, especially since my local card room offers $1/hr and that goes very far when you also have a friend who's earning comps as well. I'm not sure what the price of food is there, but $2.50 sounds great for food comps!!!

I have played at the room a total of 2 times and both times I have been there I have enjoyed it. I usually either play at the GoldStrike or the Horseshoe,but from now on Sams Town will be a poker room that will get some of my business when I go back to Tunica.

The poker room itself was very spacious. The tables and chairs were not dirty and some of the chairs had wheels on them. I have never seen a poker table chair with wheels on them. I guess there is a reason for it, but I dont know what it would be. They had recently added a few tournament tables in an area outside the poker room that was blocked off by ropes. The only annoyance that I had was that the restroom was a little far from the tables.

The dealers themselves seemed pretty professional and knowledgeable. Most of these dealers are older and are talkative to the players who are not involved in the hand. These dealers keep the game going at a good pace. None of the tables that I saw were equipped with Shufflemasters. I think every poker room should have Shufflemasters on all tables.

The only drink I got was from the bar and it was quick and easy. The free hotdogs they offered in the poker room were wonderful. I only wish they would have had some chili or cheese to put on the hotdogs. Hey but what do you expect, they were free. Everything taste better when it is free.

I walked into Sams Town 5 minutes before a tourney started and I went directly to the brush and I was seated with 2 or 3 minutes to go before the tourney started. I never sat at any cash games while I was at Sams Town, but they looked good. The Poker Room Manager Paul was very professional and he ran a very good tourney. A++++ for Paul.

I was told that they offered $2.50/hr, which I think is oustanding. I never looked into the BBJP, but the tables had a BBJP drop, so I am sure they had a BBJP. I am sure the BBJP is no where near the size of the Gold Strike 's or the Horseshoe's.