LADY LUCK, BOYD VIE IN MISSISSIPPI

TUNICA, Miss. -- Cape Girardeau isn't the only place Lady Luck and Boyd Gaming Corp. have locked horns in an effort to expand their Las Vegas operations into America's emerging gambling market.

In Mississippi, Lady Luck already operates three casinos with three more on the way. Boyd Gaming will operate two casinos there.

The companies will go head to head competing for gambling customers in Tunica County, a small, rural area situated about 30 miles south of Memphis, Tenn.

In Tunica, Lady Luck has operated its 22,000-square-foot casino since September. Boyd Gaming is slated to open its $106 million Sam's Town Tunica in May.

Wilson Carroll, who left a position as a casino regulator with the Mississippi attorney general's office to become general manager of Lady Luck Tunica, said more than a dozen casinos are expected to eventually operate in the county.

"The Tunica market is growing exponentially," Carroll said. "It's the fastest growing market in the state and in the casino industry. Lady Luck's got off to a great start in September and is still rolling along."

Maunty Collins, who heads up Boyd's gambling operations outside Las Vegas, Nev., said: "The evolution of gaming in Mississippi is moving very rapidly. What we're building in Tunica will accelerate that even more."

Lady Luck, with a philosophy of being early arrivals in new gaming jurisdictions, leads the industry in the number of casinos either operating or being built outside Las Vegas.

"We get in fast with a quality product, which enables us to be successful in the long run," Carroll said.

Boyd Gaming on the other hand has focused on those markets company officials believe will be prosperous.

Although the company has an agreement with the Choctaw Indian Tribe to operate its casino planned for Philadelphia, Miss., Boyd will put most of its eggs in the Tunica-Memphis basket, Collins said.

Sam's Town Tunica will be the largest casino and entertainment complex in Mississippi, with nearly 400,000 square feet.

The casino alone includes 90,000 square feet of space -- about the same as Boyd's Stardust casino in Vegas. A 200-room hotel, four restaurants, a 1,500-seat theater, six bars, a dance hall and a western store also are included in Sam's Town Tunica.

"We're giving amenities no one else is in Tunica or anywhere else in Mississippi are," Collins said. "We believe Tunica is going to be the next Las Vegas, and we're already talking about adding motel rooms and restaurants in the future."

Decorated in a 1950s style "Viva Las Vegas" flair, Lady Luck Tunica includes two restaurants, two bars, and a small casino. Lady Luck's capacity is about 1,500 people, while Sam's Town will be able to accommodate up to 10,000.

Ironically, the situation is reversed in Cape Girardeau, where Boyd Gaming was the early arrival -- emerging more than a year ago to work with local residents to get riverboat gambling passed.

As the first and only game in town, Boyd Gaming essentially proposed a parking garage and riverboat casino at a total cost of about $37 million. The proposal has since expanded and now is estimated to cost more than $50 million.

But that expansion came after Lady Luck arrived at Cape Girardeau with an interest in developing a riverboat in the city's south end.

When the $58 million plan was unveiled, it included not only a riverboat casino, but a 100-acre development with a 200-room hotel, a golf course, museum, and other attractions.

Boyd officials have said they don't believe the Cape Girardeau gambling market will support a hotel.

Lady Luck officials have countered that they hope to make Cape Girardeau a destination resort that would draw customers who might otherwise not come to the area.

That's not the approach they took in Tunica, where Memphis customers already were coming in droves.

"The number one goal is to build a facility that fits in with the community," Carroll said of the northwest Mississippi project. "It shouldn't dominate the community."

But, he said, Mississippi doesn't have the restrictions on competition that are part of Missouri's gaming law.

"I think the important thing to remember is Lady Luck in Las Vegas has competed with the brand name casinos very successfully for 40 years," Carroll said. "The philosophy is to duplicate the same system to succeed in the emerging gaming jurisdictions."

Both casinos also are civic minded and committed to supporting the nearby community.

Tunica Mayor Bobby Williams said Splash and Lady Luck -- the first two casinos in Tunica County -- donated $100,000 each to the city in addition to the $10,000 the companies donate monthly.

The company also is quick to respond to community needs, Williams said.

"All the casinos have been community minded, and Lady Luck is right at the top," he said. "When you have needs, they all pitch in."

In the aftermath of a recent devastating ice storm, for example, Yates Construction -- the company building Sam's Town -- donated time and equipment to help the city clear and remove downed tree limbs. "We couldn't have done it without them," Williams said.

Boyd Gaming plans to build a medical clinic to serve the area, and the company also made a $50,000 contribution to the Memphis in May festival this year.

"We're going to be big players in the community in terms of our being a good corporate citizen," vowed Collins.