Prisoner of Tunica
By Gay Burch

My first encounter of the tournament trip was a bad one, meeting one of our "favorite" players (I won't even give him the courtesy of mentioning his name - it's SG - yes, that's the one) at the Houston Airport, trying to bamboozle the help there for whichever favors I'm not sure.

I guess I should have gotten a further message when I found out that we had to pay $42 round trip, or as some others did it, $25 each way for the "Tunica Trolley" from the airport to the Gold Strike (GS).

Registration went very smoothly, with us being taken to the police department in Tunica in the hotel van, photographed and fingerprinted then back to the Gold Strike and given our credentials quickly. The manager of Human Resources, Rex, was wonderful, answering all our questions and just being Mr. Nice Guy all during the tournament. As were all of the other employees of the GS and the Horseshoe (Shoe), right from the bosses, Ken Lambert, Jr., Pat Walker, Jimmy, Anita, to the waitresses, cashiers, and the workers in the casino and Employee Dining Room (EDR).

Most of us stayed at the Holiday Inn who advised us there was no shuttle service back and forth to work. However, after a lot of phone calls it was arranged that two absolutely charming and helpful gentlemen, Calvert in the mornings and Kenny in the evenings, would shuttle us at regular hours. Thank heavens for the most of us who did not have our own cars there. They were not allowed to take us anywhere else, however, ergo the title of this story.

My roommate Joey found us a laundry across the highway at another hotel, so we snuck over a few times to do our wash, then Kenny would unlock our hotel's own laundry in the evenings so we could use it.

The first few days started innocently enough with what we and they all hoped would be a wonderful tournament. Thank heavens for the 3% (really 2.1% for the dealers and .9% for the staff) taken from the tournament fees; still the toke envelopes were not large at all. Several of us tried to get our return tickets changed to an immediate return, and in my case, American Airlines advised me it would cost an additional $566.42 (yes, you're seeing correctly) PLUS the $75 changing ticket charge. A prisoner in Tunica.

A lot of the dealers were craps, blackjack, and roulette dealers from the GS and the Shoe, never having dealt poker before. It WAS funny, them telling the stories about our "favorites" giving them such a hard time when they made mistakes. Most make more money at their own jobs, and vowed that "no way" would they be volunteering their services to work the poker tourney again. All of our "favorite" players were there, each day I'd see more and more; there were a lot of side games for them, and by the end of the tourney the losers were not a happy group.

The EDR was nice; too close (for me to slip into on my break), but everything was fried. I know, it's a southern thing. No soup, no fruit. The fried food, fried catfish, chicken, chicken fried steak, pork chops, corn bread, shrimp were wonderfully tasty, but I'm sure they have to be the worst thing for one's diet. The vegetables were great also, however, swimming in sauces or butter.

Mississippi is a beautiful green state, I'm sure, but we never got to see any of it since we had no car, and it rained almost every day. The locals said that was highly unusual and not good since the ground was too wet to plant the cotton seeds. So we were all hoping for the sun. Even the swimming pool at the Holiday couldn't be opened because of the rain and cold. The closest movie house was 26 miles away, and some of us got to use the computer once or twice at the Tunica library (12 miles away) when we could beg or borrow a ride.

Did you know (we didn't) that all the drinks are free at all the bars in all of the hotels? How unusual. Now THERE'S a job one might strive for. Imagine the tips the bartender would make every day. Also found out that there are no unions in the hotels. Maids (excuse me, here in Las Vegas they're "guest room attendants") in MS start at $6.75 per hour and cocktails start at $7.15. All toke-paying positions range much lower than the US standard minimum of $5.15, dealers making $4 per hour and some waiters/waitresses making $2 per hour basic wage. I know, they keep telling me the costs of living are lower there, but that's not in Tunica proper or Robinsonville where the hotels actually are.

Jack McClellan asked me how things were going after the first week, and I had to answer truthfully: Considering it was costing us approximately $50 per day to be there (airfare, hotels, shuttles, tokes, etc.) it was not looking well. He was correct in telling me it would get better as the tournament fees went up. Who knows how much I made. I'm still waiting for my final envelopes and my paycheck so I can add it all up, and then I'll know for sure.

One dealer per satellite, usually those who came in at 9:00 AM. Many of the dealers were unhappy about the selection of the "satellite dealer" choices, not being them (or me).

Over three weeks away from home is a tough thing. I missed talking to my daughter in Los Angeles on the telephone every day, I missed my sisters and brother in Las Vegas, my friends, my garden, my computer, my bed, and most of all, my "castle." I did feel like a Prisoner of Tunica. The bus would take us to work every day, then take us back to the hotel every night, then we were locked in (by choice, of course) in our rooms until the next morning when the bus would take us again to work. Even the occasional foray to other casinos and even once to Beale Street, the home of blues music didn't take away from the boredom of it all.

Did it end up happily and profitable? Yes. Was it a good tournament? Yes, and will get bigger and better each year.

Would I do it again? Don't know - won't know - can't know until next time.