Closing Tunica casinos bumps business in West Memphis - Action News 5 - Memphis, Tennessee

Closing Tunica casinos bumps business in West Memphis

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WEST MEMPHIS, AR -

(WMC-TV) - Flooding in Tunica, Mississippi has proven good for business in West Memphis, Arkansas.

Southland Gaming and Racing is cashing in on the misfortunes of the Mississippi casinos.

"Our volumes have been increasing steadily throughout the week," said Southland Gaming and Racing President and General Manager Troy Keeping.

With all nine Tunica casinos closed due to flooding, many people are flocking to Southland.

"I go to the casinos once a week," said one visitor.  "When they closed them all down it was said.  Seeing all that water and those people out of work."

"Within the first five minutes of sitting down, I hit for $200," said visitor Michael Bowers.  "It makes for a good night."

Keeping said this was already a busy time for the casino.

"Derby weekend is one of the biggest weekends, so we were already experiencing a large bump," said Keeping.  "So we're at 100 percent staff because of what's happening in Tunica.  We got people working six days a week."

Keeping said the casino plans to add 100 slot machines in the coming weeks to try and meet demand.

"They'll be starting installation next week, and in three weeks this will bring our count to over 900 machines on the floor," he said.

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