HEARD IT ON THE RIVER - Rudi Schiffer's Mississippi River gambling report

SOUTHLAND PARK GAMING & RACING is in the midst of a massive $10 million renovation and feeling the pressure of the completing work on the new STARTING GATE EVENT CENTER for a good reason. The Governor’s Conference on Tourism is slated for the week of March 3, but TROY KEEPING, the GM now wearing a hard hat, assures me the facility will be ready before that. Trust Troy. Concurrently, more gaming space is being constructed as well as a new Players Reward booth, which should be ready about the same time. Then Phase II  will see construction on the new lounge in the old event center space. The new look is expected to be completed in May.
MIKE SCHIFFER, a gaming industry pit pro, has joined me on the GOODTIMES RADIO SHOW as co-host and producer. He brings a lot of hands-on experience in gambling to the show and is most welcome. You can hear us at 730YAHOOSPORTS.COM live audio streaming every Friday night from 6-8 pm and again on Saturdays from 6-8 a.m. The show is also archived at Audiovegas.com and is now in its 19th consecutive year as the longest running live casino  gambling format in the country, if not the whole dang world. Give Mike a call on the show at (901) 522-9730.
 There is still time to enter the HOT HANDS II blackjack tournament at the FITZ, but the competition just got stiffer as I have decided to give the event a second crack after being humiliated in the first tournament. Why do I put  myself under scornful scrutiny, there are $20,000 reasons why. Yup, that’s the first place money and its all CASH. Register on Feb. 24 from 5 to 8 p.m. or the next morning from 8-10 a.m. You qualify for a free room, but call (866) 351-2515 to make reservations.
At SAM’S TOWN, you can get into the $50,000 buy-in slot tournament for only $200. It takes place Feb. 24-25 and includes a two night hotel stay. Registration is Feb. 24. Call (800) 946-0711 and mention code E212ST2.
 You can go for the green, some $50,000 of it, on March 15-17 in the blackjack tournament at GOLD STRIKE. The entry fee is $100 and registration takes place Friday, March 15 from 5-8 p.m. with late registration the next morning. Play begins at 10 on the 16th with finals on Sunday. Poker players will be flooding the ball room at Gold Strike when the DELTA GOLD CLASSIC kicks off March 23 through April 2. For reservations, call(888) 245-7529, ext 1136. In the meantime, play SCRATCH IT RICH for your share of up to $2,000,000 in freeplay and prizes with 900 total winners. Drawings every Wednesday and Saturday from 6-10 p.m.
Speaking of poker, the poker room at the Isle of Capri Casino Hotel Lula is reopening this Saturday. A grand opening is set for a week later, Saturday, March 3, when the room will host a free $2,500 Texas Hold’em Tournament. See the story in this issue of Jackpot!
If you haven’t checked it out already, you should. I’m talking about the new GATEWAY TO THE BLUES VISITORS CENTER on Highway 61. It’s located in a turn-of-the-century wood-frame train depot. It was moved from Dundee, Miss. and renovated to become the new center. Atop the depot is the new “Gateway to the Blues” sign. The red, white and blue sign is the same shape as a Highway 61 road sign. The visitor center is just the beginning. Preparations are already underway for an adjoining museum. Check out the story on the front page of this issue.
March 17 can be a lucky day, even if you’re not Irish, at Bally’s with its $25,000 POT OF GOLD giveaway. Start earning entries now and you would one of 25 winners of cash or free slot play. On March 31, Bally’s is holding a FREE $20,000 slot tournament from 2 to 8 p.m.
Everybody who is a serious wine drinker wished they had the knowledge of a sommelier and now you can. On a recent dining experience at the new PHILLIP M’s restaurant in SILVER STAR CASINO at Pearl River Resort, Sommelier Scott Sutherland proudly showed us his new toy that makes his job much easier. He has an iPad programmed with CELLAR TRACKER that organizes the inventory there. The app searches the inventory by price, region, varietals, drinkability, rating or alphabetically. You can even write in your own rating. It allows diners to make educated decisions about their selections. It is cool. See the complete review of Phillip M’s elsewhere in this issue.
The $10,000 CASH DROP continues on Saturdays at HOLLYWOOD this month when every 30 minute between 6 p.m. and midnight just five correct answers stand between you and $10,000. Earn entries daily with 5X entries on Fridays.
Chief Phyllis Anderson is making things happen for the Choctaws even though she has only been in office about five months. She e recently hosted Congressional representatives and briefed them on tribal projects, use of federal funding awards and the expanding needs of the 10,000-member tribe. The Mississippi delegation viewed the Choctaw Health Center, Choctaw TechPark and the Beaver Dam  road project. It was also announced that the Choctaws have received federal grants totaling over $2 million to fund the construction of a new transit maintenance facility and enhance the Choctaw Transit Authority Service.
 Want to take a vacation closer to home and reachable by automobiles? Get a free copy of TRUE SOUTH, the new official Mississippi Tour Guide. Go to www.visitmississippi.org or call (888) SEE-MISS for a hard copy.
   LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULER
 Listen for the latest casino news on the GOODTIMES radio show every Friday night from 6-8 on 730 YAYHOO! SPORTS & GAMBLING AM, Memphis.

Mike Schiffer rejoins the Goodtimes Radio Show

Mike & Rudi

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Mike Schiffer has rejoined his dad, Rudi Schiffer, to be co-host of the 19-year-old GoodTimes Radio Show, the longest running live casino format show in the country.

Mike is a veteran of the gaming business and brings 12 years of experience in the pits to the show. Goodtimes is aired Friday nights on 730 AM YAHOO SPORTS & GAMBLING, Memphis.

“He brings a nice balance to the show from hands-on experience at Lady Luck, Harrah’s, the Grand and most recently at Horseshoe,” said Rudi. “He will also take the show to a higher level with segments that he introduces, such as a segment on poker. I m delighted to work with him again.”

Mike is an avid poker, golf and hockey player and resides with his son, Ashton, in East Memphis. The show is also rebroadcast Saturdays from 6-8 AM and broadcast live streaming audio at www.730YAHOOSPORTS.COM and is also archived at audio Vegas.com.

Choctaws honor late Chief Phillip Martin with restaurant reopening at Pearl River Resort

by Rudi Schiffer
CHOCTAW — Chief Phillip Martin was a powerful chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaws serving as tribal chief for 28 years. The Choctaws honored him last month with the reopening of Phillip M’s restaurant in the Silver Star Hotel & Casino at Pearl River Resort.
During a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the reopening, recently elected Chief Phyllis Anderson, a longtime admirer of Martin, said she had made the decision to change the name of the restaurant back to Phillip M’s, the original name that dates back to its opening in 1994.

“It was the right thing to do for our tribal members and it is a wise business decision,” said Anderson. To a crowd of more than 30 media members and dozens of guests, she said the name change recognizes the works of Martin and, “the name should remain the same permanently from here forward.”

She added, “Chief Martin left a long and enduring legacy and that’s what today is about…our Choctaw people.”

Chief Phyllis Anderson, second from the left, honors the late Chief Phillp Martin at the reopening of Phillip M’s at Pearl River Resort. She presented a portrait of Chief Martin to members of the Martin family.

Anderson recalled July 4, 1994, when the tribe, under Martin, opened the Silver Star Hotel & Casino with Phillip M’s as its flagship restaurant. “That day was a milestone achievement for our tribe that set our path once and for all toward true Choctaw self-destination.”

Since its opening, the restaurant was known throughout the South for its excellent chefs and staff, comfortable-but-classy atmosphere and first-class cuisine. Phillip M’s always featured a celebrated wine cellar known by wine aficionados as one of the best in the state. The new décor of the room reflects the original restaurant, as Martin knew it. With the reopening comes the reintroduction of several menu items that were popular not only with the late chief, a frequent visitor, but also with guests from all over the country.

In an interview some years ago, a magazine reporter asked Martin how often he dined at the restaurant. Martin told the reporter, ”Every chance I get… at least a couple times a week. …that’s what it’s all about… Good food and good games.”

During the ceremony, Martin’s family was introduced and honored with a special portrait of him. 

Plenty of action on tap at Mississippi casinos in February

Rudi Schiffer interviews Chief Phylis Anderson

Heard it on the River
by Rudi Schiffer
CRAPLESS CRAPS is making a comeback at the Fitz CASINO & HOTEL Tunica and with a name like that, it is bound to attract players, some who know the game, and others who ask…what the heck is this game? “We kept getting requests to bring it back and finally we decided it would be a good idea and to make it even more attractive we have set a low $3.00 minimum bet,” said Adolph Lepre, vice president of table games.
The game, it is believed, was started in Las Vegas by the colorful Bob Stupac, the former owner of the Stratosphere Casino. Players like it because it is impossible to lose a pass bet by crapping out on the come out roll. Any number besides a 7 becomes the point on the numbers 2,3,11 and 12. Of course you might ask, won’t I lose on a sure winner with the 11? You do give up that but you get the benefit of no crap outs on the other three numbers.  The game also offers free odds of 6:1 on the 2 and 12, and 3:1 on the 3 and 11. Your Place bets are $5 on the 2,3,11 and 12. The 2 and 12 pay 11:2. The 3 and 11 pay 11:4 .
 “What it all boils down to this is a modified version of a regular crap game,” said Lepre. “You do not lose on the come-out roll when the shooter tosses a 2,3, or 12, Instead, it automatically becomes the point, just as 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 do on a standard game. You also do not win if the shooter throws a natural 11. It too becomes the point.”
The SILVER STAR HOTEL & CASINO has brought a familiar and great name to its high-end restaurant and it is now back to PHILLIP M’s, a legacy to the great Chief Phillip Martin who passed away a year ago almost to the day that the Pearl River Resort restaurant was named for him again. New Chief Phyllis Anderson said it was a “wise business decision.” A more complete feature story and a sidebar on Chief Martin are in this issue. On Feb. 25, Grammy award winner soul diva, PATTI LABELLE, will perform at Silver Star HOTEL & CASINO. Call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000.
More on Pearl River Resort, where the new marketing and advertising team sez its new day as they previewed a branding campaign to a large gathering of employees. The main theme “WE ARE PEARL RIVER RESORT-VEGAS WITH SWEET TEA” translates into a message that invites guests to the resort to experience all the gaming that a mecca like Vegas has to offer. Of course, if you don’t get it yet, duh, the Sweet Tea is so southern and represents true southern charm, which you won’t find in Vegas or ACC and certainly not in Macau. And that’s the essence of this great overnight destination resort that includes the fabulous DANCING RABBIT GOLF CLUB, two championship courses in an Augusta National-like setting, two casino-hotels and the GEYSER FALLS WATERPARK, not to mention the newly-reopened PHILLIP M’S award-winning restaurant. The new campaign came with the new talent in-house, GERRARD COOK, advertising and PR director, and CHAD McKENNEY, advertising manager.
SOUTHLAND PARK GAMING & RACING in West Memphis has a new promotion that I have never heard of in the 20 years I’ve been involved in the business as a reporter and that is the $100,000 YOU’RE HIRED promo. It runs through Feb. 25 and those chosen will have a chance to win a weekly salary of the job picked in free play and cash. Check it out at SOUTHLAND PARK.COM for more info.
How about this…if you smoke, chew or wear a nicotine patch, you cannot work for Penn National’s two new casinos in Columbus and Toledo, Ohio. That goes for some 3,200 positions there. The casinos are smoke free anyway because of a state ban. It should be noted that 29 states have passed laws making it illegal to refuse to hire smokers. Interesting move.
 Fitz runs a regular blackjack tournament on Friday nights with a low $20 buy-in for $2,000 in cash for first place win but is also bringing back for a second time its HOT HANDS tournament with a $150 buy-in with THREE optional re-buys. The event will be held Feb. 24-25 and includes a free room with your entry fee. BOBBY WOMACK is in concert at the FITZ on Feb.  17 and 18 and you can buy a VIP package for front row seating and meet and greet pass only at the Gift Shop.
HOLLYWOOD CASINO is inviting you to play in the lowest limit blackjack game in town as it has introduced blackjack for just $1 per hand at selected tables. Also new on the floor, BONUS CRAPS with the option to place three additional side bets with high payouts. You can now also play PROGRESSIVE THREE CARD poker here. Also this month, you play $10,000 CASH DROP every 30 minutes on Saturdays from 6 p.m. to midnight. If your name is drawn and you can answer multiple choice trivia questions, you can be a winner. Sounds like fun.
Play Punch-A-Prize at Sam’s Town Hotel & Gambling Hall and win your share of $30,000 Slot Dollars in February. Guests will have a chance to play Punch-A-Prize at the Sam’s Town’s Punch-A-Prize Board, which will be located in the Atrium, on Saturday, Feb. 18.
RESORTS CASINO is home to the Real Deal Giveaway on Saturday, Feb. 11. The casino will give away one F-150 truck and 20 people will win $1,000 in free slot play. Drawings are from 6 p.m. to midnight.
On Saturday, Feb. 18, BALLY’S CASINO will give away a new Ford Escape in The Great Escape Giveaway. There will be one winner of an Escape and 20 winners of $1,000 in free play. Drawings are from 6 p.m. to midnight.
The new High Limit Slot Room at Gold Strike CASINO RESORT has 100 machines with denoms running from $5 to $100, not to mention 26 progressives with some going all the way up to $250,000.

 “Taxes could be worse…suppose we had to pay on what we think we’re worth.”

 LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULER

 Listen for the latest casino news on the GOODTIMES radio show every Friday night from 6-8 on 730 YAYHOO! SPORTS & GAMBLING AM, Memphis.