TUNICA COUNTY, Miss —
In Thursday’s Ransom Note: Tunica's turnaround.
From recessions to once in a century floods to a pandemic, casinos in Tunica needed some good news and they got it this past Memorial Day weekend.
Operators telling the Sun Herald newspaper in Mississippi that pent up demand was more than they expected. Hotel rooms and restaurants were full, and the casino floors were busy too. Gross revenue -- which is the amount the casino gets after paying out winnings to gamblers-- for the weekend was almost $34 million statewide. That's five million more than Memorial Day weekend last year.
It's also pretty impressive considering the tight restrictions. Earlier we showed you some of them. Casino floors can't be more than 50% occupied, social distancing requirements implemented from the slots to the tables, employees told to wear masks and have their temperatures checked.
That doesn't mean health officials aren't worried. Large gatherings indoors are considered the riskiest behavior. We'll know in a couple of weeks if it worked.