Spent the night, gambled and ate. Did the buffet, it was seafood night, and it was OK, not going to rave about it. The room was excellent, very nicely decorated however, when we checked in we were told it was a non smoking room and it smelled like smoke when we entered. Maid sprayed though and no other issues.

If you can get past the smoke and the cramped feeling of this place, you'll do okay.
The absolute loosest 8 / 5 Jacks or Better video poker over the course of two days and nights that I've ever seen. I couldn't find a 9 / 6 anywhere. The cocktail service was good as long as you tip. A buck a drink (your tip) . . . thats not a bad deal.
The blackjack tables were good. The dealers weren't bad at all. I'm not sure of the logic of having two $25 minimum tables with dealers just standing around and one $5 table that never had an empty seat, but thats not my call.

The casino is a bit cramped, and does not offer a wide variety of slots, tending more to the modern video version at the expense of Double- or Triple-Diamonds, and the other traditional machines. It could use a face life, as the carpets and other decor are showing their age. I would rather lose my monely at one of the larger, cleaner casinos in Shreveport-Bossier. I cannot rate their food establishments, having not tried any of them.

Boomtown is one of 5 casinos operating in the Shreveport/Bossier City area. The facility is average - small, due to its being on a barge, and adjacent there is a hotel (didn't stay there) and dining options. The games offered are typical - slots, various table games, craps, roulette. The dealers are friendly and generally competent.

But if you're a table games player, as I am, you'll probably be a lot happier elsewhere. Here's why.

On the double deck blackjack tables, the casino replaces the cards on the game every 2 hours. That's fine, but the ritual that they go through takes a good 10-15 minutes to complete. In virtually every other casino that I've ever been to, the cards can be switched out in a manner of about 2-3 minutes, and you'd think the casino would want to get this done as quickly as possible to keep the game going, and thereby increasing the casino's income from the game.

Yet at Boomtown, the process takes 10-15 minutes, and a lot of what is done simply does not have to be done at the table. First, the dealer has to separate the old double deck into two single decks by counting down the decks and making sure all the cards are there. (Fortunately, the dealer only needs to make 2 52-card stacks, not two complete separate decks), box the cards, put them into a plastic bag, sign/seal the bag, and give it to the pit boss. Then each deck gets examined by the dealer then shuffled. This is done for 2 pairs of double decks - one for play, and one being shuffled.

In other casinos, when the new cards are introduced, they are quickly scanned, shuffled and put into play. The process only takes 2-3 minutes and the game resumes. Why Boomtown can't do this is anybody's guess.

From the casino's standpoint, you'd think management would be looking for ways to keep the game moving. Let's say it takes 15 minutes to introduce the new cards. This is done every two hours. That's 15 minutes of downtime for every 120 minutes, or a downtime percentage of 12.5%. This is time wasted - where the casino receives no revenue. By improving the efficiency of this process, they could knock 8-9 minutes off the downtime, while still preserving the integrity of the game. In 35+ years of casino play, I've never ever seen something as inefficient as this.