I’m not sure if this is a short report because of the amount of time I was there (48 hours) or because I really only saw one casino (Beau Rivage) or because the amount of the poker being played there is short.

Usually when you conjure up thoughts about Mississippi you think about some of the best Pot Limit Omaha games in the country. So when I walked into the Poker Room at the Beau I expected huge pots and great action. All I found was a 4/8 Limit Hold’em game and two levels of No Limit 1/2 and 2/5. I was told that there was other poker in a few other casinos, but the size and limits were similar. I guess you still need to go to Tunica to get great PLO action.

Don’t get me wrong the games were great and the action was good. The dealers were well trained and the Poker Room was a mini Bellagio design. In fact the whole hotel made me feel like I was at the Bellagio Las Vegas. It is a Steve Wynn design and it shows. The Buffet was interesting in that the selection was of course southern, which to me meant two things Catfish and Fried!!

Every time I visit the South I think to myself, I’d quit poker all together if they’d just give me the Lard Concession for the South!! I mean everything is fried the fish, eggs, pork chops, chicken, steak, chickensteak and the AIR!!! This is not a very healthy area and you can see it in the people. I’m usually not one to generalize, but it seems as though they’re all overweight and they all smoke. In Miss. You better like your women uh shall I say built for comfort. I guess that’s why they call it Southern Comfort (and maybe why you drink a lot of it)

It was the 1st time I was in a hurricane ravaged area and I have to tell you it affects you in so many ways. You can’t help but ask questions about the storm and it seems like they can’t help but talk about it.

When asking how many people have returned, the answer is less than you’d expect, and when you ask why, the answer is usually insurance. It seems that because of the future paths of hurricanes the hurricane insurance has gone through the roof, so even where people try to rebuild, they can’t because the price of insurance is too high; this was very sad to me.

I was driving along the coast and I was seeing a few houses built back up and these are all across from the beach. I asked my friend if many people go swimming in the warm waters of the Gulf. “They used to he said, but now it’s too dangerous”. When I asked why, he explained that after the storm, when people returned they didn’t find a big pile of mangled house or all their belongings in a heap where their house used to stand, what they found was barren land. Where’d it all go I asked? He explained that when the water surged 35 feet and then receded it took everything with it, so out there buried in the water is busted up houses, rusting cars and broken boats along with the lives and dreams of thousands. It is a very sad story indeed.

I hope to go back to Biloxi and to get a chance to stay awhile, visit Gulfport while there as well. They are a very nice, proud and humble people and we should all visit and help the economy and while doing so, sneak in a little poker.

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