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Takin’ a Gamble at Sam’s Town Hotel and Casino in Shreveport, Louisiana

When the idea of stopping for a night in Shreveport, Louisiana came up in the conversation, let’s just say I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea. Don’t get me wrong, I love a mini vacation anywhere I can get one, but I guess Shreveport never quite made it to the top of the list of places I had in mind.

We decided to stop over in lieu of driving the full eight hours home from visiting family in Mississippi. We figured that Shreveport, being a halfway point, would be a great respite in an otherwise pretty dull car ride from Mississippi to Texas. Not to mention it would give Chris the opportunity to continue on his quest for lady luck at the Blackjack tables.

“...it would give Chris the opportunity to continue on his quest for lady luck at the Blackjack tables. ”

Chris booked a room at Sam’s Riverboat Casino for the night. I read the reviews of the place, and again was not expecting anything great. I did however take the reviews with a grain of salt, especially when one of the reviews complained that the casino smelled of smoke. Imagine that, a casino smelled like smoke. Apparently that reviewer had never actually been to a casino before.

We arrived at the hotel around three in the afternoon and checked in. Our room was actually quite large, in mid range hotel standards anyway. The main part of the room had everything you would expect in a hotel room: king sized bed, chair, ottoman, dresser, and T.V. We had a great view of the Red River and the city, but the best part of the room was the bathroom! Call me weird if you want to, but I always check out the bathroom first. It’s the bathroom that really determines whether I like a hotel room or not and it’s the bathrooms in hotels that I remember most. I actually feel weird writing that, but it is what it is as they say.

Anyway, this bathroom was almost perfect. It had of course the usual tub/shower, sink, and counter, but the toilet was in a separate “water closet” and, get this, I had my own vanity to put on my makeup with…my own lighted mirror! Okay, so the mirror didn’t work; I said almost perfect. If I’m being honest, there was some evidence of age in the place like a broken tile by the bathtub, but I could totally overlook all of those things for my own makeup vanity. I didn’t have to maneuver around Chris once while we were there!

So interestingly enough, this was one of the rare occasions that we didn’t plan out a daily itinerary…we were actually just going to wing it! The first thing we did of course was to get our bearings and scope the place out. We headed to get a look at the pool first. Not great, but not bad. It was a pool and there was sun; however, there were also a lot of kids in the pool, and I mean A LOT! We stayed for a few minutes and watched as two young boys, one in pajama bottoms, continued to jump out of the pool, run full speed to a table about thirty feet away, suck down a drink, run full speed back to the pool, and jump back in only to repeat the same procedure about eight more times. The parents, obviously blind to the dangers of said activity, were instead, loudly yelling about the dangers of getting their own hair wet. It turns out we decided not to spend any time at the pool!

We then headed to the casinos, three floors of dizzying neon lights, mazes of slot machines, table games, and jackpot hopefuls. And guess what, that reviewer was right, it did smell like smoke!

“I started with a dirty martini –nope, not my signature drink. ”

As a side note, it was on the way to this casino that I decided I needed a signature drink and that I would try a few out since, well, drinks being free and all! I started with a dirty martini –nope, not my signature drink.

I digress. It was at this point we decided to get something to eat before settling into a nice game of Blackjack.

The restaurant options are limited at Sam’s; there’s a café with great looking desserts, a buffet, a steakhouse, and then there’s Smokey Joe’s Café. We opted for the latter. Although the restaurant looks like it definitely belongs in a casino, the food made up for the lack of ambience. We ordered fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and good old fashioned sweet tea and it was delicious, southern cookin’. So good in fact, we ate there again in the wee hours of the morning after we had been at the casino awhile and those signature drink options kept coming.

“ They played everything from Spice Girls to Bruno Mars to Beastie Boys.”

Needless to say, we found ourselves a cozy little nook in the casino with a Blackjack table, a great group of loud, trash talking (mostly Chris), fun people and settled in for the long haul. We had some great dealers, but Roberto was the absolute best. He laughed and joked with the table, helped us out when we weren’t paying attention (oops!), and was just a happy, friendly guy that liked his job.

What I haven’t talked about yet is the bar in the main area of the hotel. This is important because this is where I ended up when I got bored of being at the table and it was SO MUCH FUN! Two cover bands were playing the night we were there and they were both really fun to watch. They played everything from Spice Girls to Bruno Mars to Beastie Boys. There was a small dance floor and plenty of seating for people to drink and watch the band. Couples were dancing, people were dancing by themselves, one girl was dancing with a blow up doll; everyone was just having fun. Chris joined me toward the end of the evening; we stayed for a few more songs, grabbed a pizza from Smokey Joe’s and called it a night. A great ending to a great mini vacation…although I never did find my signature drink!

Well, Shreveport is by no means Vegas and if that’s the vibe you’re looking for than this is not the place for you. You will not find dancing girls, the servers and dealers are not playboy bunnies, and the majority of the clientele have some years on them. However, if you are looking for a weekend getaway or a fun couple’s weekend, this place is perfect. Chris and I had so much fun at Sam’s Riverboat Casino and we will definitely be back!