Shreveport LA

I'm considering a trip to Shreveport LA. I've been visiting Las Vegas for 20+ years and have stayed in many different hotels on the strip and downtown, but I've never been to a casino in Louisiana. I'm wondering how the hotel/casinos in Shreveport compare in quality to those in Las Vegas. Are they most similar to downtown, low-end strip, mid-level strip? Thanks.

Quote: SaTx247

I'm wondering how the hotel/casinos in Shreveport compare in quality to those in Las Vegas. Are they most similar to downtown, low-end strip, mid-level strip? Thanks.

I would say it ranges from low-end strip to mid-level strip in the larger non-Vegas gambling areas and that the smaller non-Vegas areas can really be some lower level places but often the spirit is there.

Everyone goes around saying "its not Vegas" but then of course everyone knew that already. The restaurants will be fewer, the buffets will not be as large or impressive, the wines will not be as plentiful or as impressive, the spas will be smaller and the services more limited with fewer specials. The dealers will not be quite that experienced but they will be okay. The rate of play may even be a pleasant surprise. The supervisors will not be quite so skillful. The overall experience will be an impression of "less" in every department but "adequate".

I live in central Texas and drive to this location for the past decade. I'll make 3-10 visits here per year. My last visit 1 week ago was over the New Years Eve weekend. A host gave me free room and invites to their NYE dinner and party.

Shreveport/Bossier current has 5 riverboat casinos in downtown and a racetrack on the east side of town (very nice race track). 2 boats on the west side of the river (Shreveport) and 3 on the east side (Bossier City). You can walk, drive, taxi, or shuttle between the 5 casinos. A 2-mile walk will get you into each of the 5 casino floors. There is a 6th casino license that was just issued. It's the last license for the state of Louisiana and the plan is to build a 6th casino on the east side, due to open at the end of 2013. The planned name is Margaritaville casino. All 5 boats have 3 decks (floors) and are in the 30K sqft range. Same size casino floor space as LV Strip Harrahs. The boats don't move except up and down with river level. It's too small a river for the boats to cruise.

BJ and Craps odds are better than anything you will find in LV today. At one point in time, Horseshoe had (to the best of my knowledge) the #1 best BJ table in the entire world. It was so liberal that the odds were +0.15% in the players favor. 2 years ago Harrahs got rid of that table. It was single deck, rule of 6 penetration, S17, DAS, DOA, no LS, no RSA, 5 spots, $25-500. The best BJ is now double deck S17, DOA, DAS, no LS, no RSA (Diamond Jacks and Horseshoe). Boomtown has double deck, but H17. Shoes at Samstown have LS; shoes at Horseshoe and El Dorado have RSA.

Craps odds are 10x, 20x, and 3 with 100x. Baccarat is often only $5, even on weekends; and the bet spreads are up to 1000x. Horseshoe runs Bacc at $10-10k and $25-25k. Don't bother with VP here; I find it rather poor. Live poker rooms at Horseshoe and El Dorado. Almost entirely Texas holdem (limit and no-limit; no pot limit). Seldom any other game.

Comps are rather easy, especially if you are green chip bettor. Quality of the hotels is good. Buffets are good, but IMHO seriously overpriced. Note, I always get it comped so the price isn't an issue for me. Steakhouses are very good, but also overpriced. Same thing, I usually get comps. I've only tried 3 of the 5 steakhouses.

Dealers are friendly. No toke hustling. The only place I've ever witnessed pit heat is Horseshoe. Break ins are usually only on during the weekdays (far less attendance). The main draw to this location is Dallas (3 hours to the west) and the locals from east Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. The Shreveport area has over 300k population, so it's not as small a town as most people think.




(1) Samstown (Boyd) (Harrahs sold this 3 years ago when they bought Horseshoe).
pro:
* BJ 6 deck S17 with LS
* free Bacc tournament once a month. Less frequently, but also free BJ tournaments for rated players.
* The hotel rooms here remind me of Rio in LV (I haven't been to Rio in about 6 years so use 2005 Rio as a benchmark).
* They will also run a crapless-craps (if you like that).
* Free slot play for new players.
* BBQ joint is good the 2 times I've tried it.
con:
* Buffet (IMHO, 5th place of the 5). Meals are good here at the correct time (Lunch at noon is ok, but at 3pm is old and dry). Most of the other buffets have moved to the newer style of small trays so they don't sit out all day getting old and dry. Samstown is the only one left with the old style.
* Valet is not free. Only one that's not free. The self parking garage is about 200 feet from the valet so why don't bother.

(2) El Dorado (was Hollywood until Penn gaming sold it 2 years ago)
* This is the only hotel I've not stayed in, so I can't give an opinion. But those I've talked with says it's good.
pro:
* Baccarat now has a 4th table.
* BJ 6 deck has RSA
* This place seems to be the new "in" place for the 20 somethings from Dallas. At least that's my personal impression.
* As of today, I'd give them the #1 buffet ranking. I had them at #2, but Harrahs just re-did Horseshoe's buffet (reopened on Christmas day, and it's a step down IMO). I played one shoe of $5 Bacc (my bet size average was $30) and they gave me a free buffet.
* Harrahs is making Horseshoe worse (IMO) and I think a lot of the table action is moving here from Horseshoe.
* They expose burn cards on Bacc.
* High ceiling here help the smoke handling.
con:
* Big craps tables. I prefer smaller tables for (attempted) controlled shooting.

(3) Horseshoe (was Jack Binion's until he sold to Harrahs 3 years ago)
pro:
* Best hotel rooms and staff. Hotel would complete with Mirage for rooms. Except, no swimming pool. Hotel is the biggest in town, 660 rooms.
* double deck BJ. 6 deck shoes have RSA.
* Best craps anywhere. 100x odds with very high limits (don't know how long Harrahs will let this continue). Reasonable table length with nice sold surface for control shooters.
* I played 1/2 a bacc shoe ($10-10k table) on the way out of town over the holidays. My bet size averaged $40. They gave me a $20 comp to the snack bar for a to-go lunch.
* Only place in town with midi-Bacc. They had the only big bacc table in Louisiana, but took it out to put in 2 midi table 2 years ago.
con:
* Was (IMO) one of the best table game casinos in the world. Jack Binion created an A+ location here. Harrahs is slowly turning it into a B+ location. It's still good, but no longer "the best".
* Harrah's has done away with the $5 policy of Jack. Binion ALWAYS had at least 1 $5 BJ and 1 $5 craps table open at ALL times. No matter the crowds. Harrah's has started to increase minimums up on weekends and busy times. This WAS the busiest place for table games, but Harrahs is chancing money over to El Dorado instead.

(4) Boomtown (Pinnacle gaming) (changed names from Casino Magic 4 years ago).
pro:
* BJ double deck is H17 $25 min. 6 deck shoes are now H17 too at $5 min. Both changed from S17 to H17 in the past 2 years.
* $5 bacc, even on busy weekends. Down to only 1 bacc table. Plays the faster Bacc in town. Usually 1 hour per shoe. Some of the other place (ie. midi games) sometimes have 3+ hour shoes.
* Pinnacle will track your play and automatically add money to your account for meals. I haven't had to ask the pit for a comp in a couple of years. When I did ask, comps were easy for a green chip bettor. A $5 red bettor needs to put in more time.
* Buffet and steakhouse are good, but overpriced. Since I'm comped I don't notice that.
* A green chip players can get assigned a host.
con:
* Only 190 room hotel. Warning, if you are arriving late, call the hotel front desk to tell them it's a late arrival. You can't trust the reservation notes of a late arrival being honored by the front desk. I speak from first hand (bad) experience.
* Smoke handling is poor. Especially on the first and third floors (machines only). Tables are on floor 2 and smoke handling is better there, but not good in my opinion.
* New craps tables (I don't like). Too long and too bouncy.

(5) Diamond Jacks (was Isle of Capri until sold 5 years ago)
pro:
* BJ. They run 3 double deck H17 games. One hand held pitch ($25 min) and 2 $10 min double deck, face up, from a shoe. They hand shuffle instead of the machine shuffle.
* This hotel is the least consistent on quality. Some times it's first rate, and some times the staff does a poor job. Such as only one set of towels in a room. All rooms have a large whirlpool tub. They used to all have 3 TVs, now only 2 TVs (if that really matters).
* Good steakhouse. Buffet is good, but it was better about 5 years ago.
con:
* no more Bacc here (only place in town to get rid of this game). It's a busy game at the other 4 casinos.
* Smoke handling here is the worst. Because of the recession it doesn't seem as bad as say 4-5 years ago. That's because their attendance is down the most in town.

My opinion (best first):
Buffets: El Dorado, Horseshoe, DJ, Boomtown, Samstown
Steakhouse: Horseshoe, DJ, Boomtown
Rooms: Horseshoe, Samstown, Boomtown, DJ
Dealers: Horseshoe, Samstown, El Dorado, Boomtown, DJ
comps: Boomtown, Horseshoe, Samstown, El Dorado, DJ
least pit heat: Boomtown, DJ, El Dorado, Samstown, Horseshoe
slots: (I don't play)
VP: (none I'd recommend here)
live poker: Horseshoe, El Dorado, (Boomtowns poker is gone)
BJ: DJ, Boomtown, Samstown, El Dorado, Horseshoe(only real heat in town is here)
Bacc: Horseshoe, Boomtown, El Dorado, Samstown
Craps: Horseshoe, DJ, Boomtown, Samstown, El Dorado
Spa (wife says): DJ, Boomtown (haven't tried the others yet)
Odd ball table games (war, or new carnival games): El Dorado

Quote: casinomegamall

I think online gambling is better than play in casino. Las Vegas is best place for gambling but i thought playing online is best option.

http://www.casinomegamall.com/ is the newest best place for online gambling.

This thread is about Shreveport not online gambling. In your profile you list your age as 20, which is a violation of original Forum rule #2 that you obviously didn't read.

delete

Thank you to "fulkgl" for such a helpful reply.

Thanks for the info on Shreveport, "fulkgl"...it is very timely as I am planning a trip that way later this month...

Quote: fulkgl

(3) Horseshoe (was Jack Binion's until he sold to Harrahs 3 years ago)
pro:
* Best hotel rooms and staff. Hotel would complete with Mirage for rooms. Except, no swimming pool. Hotel is the biggest in town, 660 rooms.
* double deck BJ. 6 deck shoes have RSA.
* Best craps anywhere. 100x odds with very high limits (don't know how long Harrahs will let this continue). Reasonable table length with nice sold surface for control shooters.
* I played 1/2 a bacc shoe ($10-10k table) on the way out of town over the holidays. My bet size averaged $40. They gave me a $20 comp to the snack bar for a to-go lunch.
* Only place in town with midi-Bacc. They had the only big bacc table in Louisiana, but took it out to put in 2 midi table 2 years ago.
con:
* Was (IMO) one of the best table game casinos in the world. Jack Binion created an A+ location here. Harrahs is slowly turning it into a B+ location. It's still good, but no longer "the best".
* Harrah's has done away with the $5 policy of Jack. Binion ALWAYS had at least 1 $5 BJ and 1 $5 craps table open at ALL times. No matter the crowds. Harrah's has started to increase minimums up on weekends and busy times. This WAS the busiest place for table games, but Harrahs is chancing money over to El Dorado instead.

Thanks for the very detailed report. I've always wondered how gaming was in LA. I am an advocate for Horseshoe; in my opinion, it's the best of the Harrah's "brands." I'm not surprised that they changed some of the BJ rules, but don't expect the 100x odds on craps to change. That's a signature of that brand, and they fought to get it implemented in Iowa and Mississippi. Horseshoe does try to get a slightly higher quality gambler to protect the image. It doesn't surprise me they raise table mins to accomplish this. It's sad, because that doesn't necessarily equate, but the perception is totally there, especially in non-Vegas or non-Atlantic City casinos.