Tunica

You're at my place, honey.

Just south of Tunica, on the highway.

But Highway 61 is...

It's paved.

And I think I'm going to have to make some adjustments in the live poker realm, especially when I'm playing in smaller sessions and series like this.

Next week, I'm heading to Tunica for the Mississippi State Poker Championships.

I expect it to probably be the softest stop I will have all year.

It's up against Run Good and Joplin.

But let's just say that that's what your calling range is there.

How much are you willing to widen that to take the guy out, have 40 big blinds, and have everybody else at the table be a recreational player? I don't know the answer to that question.

I've got a six-hour drive Wednesday morning down to Tunica where I'm going to be thinking about this exact concept.

I'm going to be thinking about this deeper.

And so if I'm going to play crappy video poker tables, I can play them closer to where we live and still get our points in the future.

And they have multipliers, you know, in Tunica or Kansas city, um, Shreveport, those are all drivable distances for us as far as Caesars properties go.

They actually have a new Caesars property in Oklahoma.

It's a very nice casino.

Across sectors, they stressed the need for reliable markets that allow producers to capture more value from what they produce.

Testifying included Alexis Taylor, Chief Global Policy Officer at the International Fresh Produce Association, Patrick Johnson, a farmer from Tunica, Mississippi.

Carlisle Currier, president of the Colorado Farm Bureau.

Alex Buck, chairman of the board at the Plant-Based Products Council.

So true.

So let's look at the logistics of this, starting with what was supposed to be a harmless girls weekend in Tunica, Mississippi.

A classic getaway.

Exactly.

Which is a textbook example of the jarring disconnect between human expectations and immortal reality.

Sookie totally buys it, right?

Oh, Suki approaches Tunica entirely at face value.

I mean, she's a waitress from rural Louisiana, and her idea of a vacation is watching a mucho macho strongman competition.

For example, gambling has been touted as an instrument of economic development, especially for poorer areas.

In communities like Tunica, Mississippi, the arrival of large-scale gambling has had a highly visible and generally positive role, bringing with it capital investment, increased tax revenues, and enhanced public services, as well as vastly expanded employment opportunities and health care benefits for many people who formerly were without much of either.

But some argue that that prosperity is offset by negative impacts in the surrounding area, including nearby Memphis, a major source of casino patrons.

But even if the communities in the immediate area were seen to benefit, or at least not to suffer, what can be said about the impact beyond? Is California hurt, helped, or left untouched by gambling in Nevada? Some claim that Californians leave their spending money and tax dollars in Nevada and bring back a slew of economic and social costs, such as pathological gambling.

The largest concentration of casinos is in urban areas, including Clark County and Las Vegas, with 211 casinos, 30.5 million visitors in 1997, and gross casino revenues for 1997 of $6.2 billion, accounting for 79% of the Nevada market.

Atlantic City, where all of New Jersey's 14 casinos are located, with 34.07 million visitors in 1997, and gross casino revenues for 1997 of $3.9 billion, accounting for 100% of the New Jersey market.

And Tunica County, Mississippi, with 10 casinos, approximately 17.4 million visitors in 1997, and gross casino revenues for 1997 of $933.3 million, accounting for 47% of the Mississippi casino market.

For many people, casinos symbolize the gambling industry.

For example, gambling has been touted as an instrument of economic development, especially for poorer areas.

In communities like Tunica, Mississippi, the arrival of large-scale gambling has had a highly visible and generally positive role, bringing with it capital investment, increased tax revenues, and enhanced public services, as well as vastly expanded employment opportunities and health care benefits for many people who formerly were without much of either.

But some argue that that prosperity is offset by negative impacts in the surrounding area, including nearby Memphis, a major source of casino patrons.

But even if the communities in the immediate area were seen to benefit, or at least not to suffer, what can be said about the impact beyond? Is California hurt, helped, or left untouched by gambling in Nevada? Some claim that Californians leave their spending money and tax dollars in Nevada and bring back a slew of economic and social costs, such as pathological gambling.

The largest concentration of casinos is in urban areas, including Clark County and Las Vegas, with 211 casinos, 30.5 million visitors in 1997, and gross casino revenues for 1997 of $6.2 billion, accounting for 79% of the Nevada market.

Atlantic City, where all of New Jersey's 14 casinos are located, with 34.07 million visitors in 1997, and gross casino revenues for 1997 of $3.9 billion, accounting for 100% of the New Jersey market.

And Tunica County, Mississippi, with 10 casinos, approximately 17.4 million visitors in 1997, and gross casino revenues for 1997 of $933.3 million, accounting for 47% of the Mississippi casino market.

For many people, casinos symbolize the gambling industry.

Mm-hmm

... were right outside of Tunica.

Tunica's only maybe 40 miles from where I live.

And as tall as they are, they say that they travel very quickly.

Uh, more than the encounters I had could have been the same one.

Yep.

Tunica, I've been there.

K- wh- why?

Never been there.

She was more than pretty upset.

She was as upset as she was with the horseshoe in Tunica when they kicked her out.

She was that upset that she had been left out of the tournament.

And because she was upset, I was upset, and I missed it.