Southland Park Gaming and Racing

Southland Casino Racing
	Southland Park Gaming and Racing (2008)
Location	West Memphis, Arkansas
Coordinates	35°09′49″N90°09′38″W / 35.163704°N 90.160417°W Coordinates: 35°09′49″N90°09′38″W / 35.163704°N 90.160417°W
Owned by	Delaware North
Date opened	1956
	Official website

Last updated July 31, 2019

Southland Casino Racing, formally Southland Park Gaming and Racing, is a casino, buffet, and greyhound racetrack in West Memphis, Arkansas. Over 400 greyhound races take place at the Park each year. Simulcast thoroughbred and greyhound races from other tracks around the United States are also offered. After years of low attendance, Southland Park has regained popularity because neighboring casinos in Tunica, Mississippi experienced devastating floods 2011. In 2014, it was announced that Southland was to undergo a nearly $38 million dollar expansion and renovation. It is one of the most visited attractions in Arkansas and the city of West Memphis.

A casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. The industry that deals in casinos is called the gaming industry. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions. There is much debate over whether the social and economic consequences of casino gambling outweigh the initial revenue that may be generated. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertainment events, such as stand-up comedy, concerts, and sporting events.

A buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners serve themselves. A form of service à la française, buffets are offered at various places including hotels, restaurants, and many social events. Buffet restaurants normally offer all-you-can-eat food for a set price, but some measure prices by weight or by number of dishes. Buffets usually have some hot dishes, so the term cold buffet has been developed to describe formats lacking hot food. Hot or cold buffets usually involve dishware and utensils, but a finger buffet is an array of foods that are designed to be small and easily consumed only by hand, such as cupcakes, slices of pizza, foods on cocktail sticks, etc.

West Memphis is the largest city in Crittenden County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 26,245 at the 2010 census, ranking it as the state's 18th largest city, behind Bella Vista. It is part of the Memphis metropolitan area, and is located directly across the Mississippi River from Memphis, Tennessee.

History

Southland Park began as a dog racing track in 1956. At its opening in 1956, Southland became Arkansas’s only greyhound racetrack, following in the tradition of the earlier Riverside Kennel Club, which was the first greyhound track in West Memphis. Riverside had been located at the Arkansas end of the Mississippi River bridge between West Memphis and Memphis, Tennessee, and proved to be a popular diversion. Based on that popularity, Southland was established after the demise of Riverside. Originally owned by the Upton family and other individuals, Southland was purchased by Delaware North Companies, Inc., based in Buffalo, New York, in the early 1970s.

The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system on the North American continent, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. Its source is Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota and it flows generally south for 2,320 miles (3,730 km) to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is 1,151,000 sq mi (2,980,000 km²), of which only about one percent is in Canada. The Mississippi ranks as the fourth-longest and fifteenth-largest river by discharge in the world. The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Buffalo is the second largest city in the U.S. state of New York and the largest city in Western New York. As of 2018, the population was 256,304. The city is the county seat of Erie County and a major gateway for commerce and travel across the Canada–United States border, forming part of the bi-national Buffalo Niagara Region.

Casino

The state of Arkansas does not use traditional slot machines, all games offered are "electronic games of skill" which is defined by section 10.17 of the Final Rules of the Arkansas Racing Commission Regulations for Franchise Holders Operating Electronic Games of skill as "game(s) played through any electronic device or machine that affords an opportunity for the exercise of skill or judgment where the outcome is not completely controlled by chance alone." ^[1]

Previously, the state of Arkansas did not permit live table games, but Southland Park did have electronic versions of Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Three Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold'em and Mississippi Stud; as of April 1, 2019, however, Southland has live versions of Blackjack, Craps, and other games.

Blackjack is the American variant of a globally popular banking game known as Twenty-One, whose relatives include Pontoon and Vingt-et-Un. It is a comparing card game between one or more players and a dealer, where each player in turn competes against the dealer. Players do not compete against each other. It is played with one or more decks of 52 cards, and is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. The objective of the game is to beat the dealer in one of the following ways:

Craps is a dice game in which the players make wagers on the outcome of the roll, or a series of rolls, of a pair of dice. Players may wager money against each other or a bank. Because it requires little equipment, "street craps" can be played in informal settings. While shooting craps, players may use slang terminology to place bets and actions.

Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning little wheel. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a single number, various groupings of numbers, the colors red or black, whether the number is odd or even, or if the numbers are high (19–36) or low (1–18).

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Parx Casino and Racing is a thoroughbred horse racing venue and the largest casino gaming complex in Pennsylvania. Parx is located in Bensalem Township in Bucks County, northeast of the city of Philadelphia. Owned and operated by Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, Inc., Parx features 24-hour gaming: 3,330 slot machines, 180 live table games, a poker room with 48 poker tables, live racing and simulcast action, sports betting, several dining options and bars, and the Xcite Center.

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Q Casino is a combination greyhound race track and casino (racino) located in Dubuque, Iowa. The casino is owned by the City of Dubuque, and operated by the non-profit Dubuque Racing Association, its license holder. It is a member of the Iowa Gaming Association, and shares a gaming license with the Diamond Jo Casino, also in Dubuque. Beginning operations on June 1, 1985, the track became a full-service casino following the introduction of table games in 2005.

Table game is the term used to distinguish games of chance such as blackjack, craps, roulette and baccarat that are played on a table and operated by one or more live dealers like a croupier or poker dealer, from those performed on a mechanical device like a slot machine. They are popularly played in casinos and involve some form legal gambling, but also are played privately by varying house rules.

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Wonderland Greyhound Park is a closed greyhound racing track located in Revere, Massachusetts formerly owned by the Westwood Group. It was constructed on the site of the former Wonderland Amusement Park. Wonderland opened on June 12, 1935 and formerly offered 361 races during its 100-day, April to September racing period.

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References

↑ Final Rules of the Arkansas Racing Commission Regulations for Franchise Holders Operating Electronic Games of skill

External links

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[1] Final Rules of the Arkansas Racing Commission Regulations for Franchise Holders Operating Electronic Games of skill

v t e West Memphis, Arkansas
Education	West Memphis School District Academies of West Memphis Marion School District West Memphis Christian School Arkansas State University Mid-South
Landmarks	Southland Park Gaming and Racing West Memphis Municipal Airport
History	West Memphis Three Template
This list is incomplete.