Gambling in Shreveport-Bossier City

The Horseshoe Casino in Bossier City sits amongst a couple of casino hotels in the Shreveport-Bossier City area. I usually stay at Sam’s Town hotel (formerly Harrah’s) and had never even looked at the Horseshoe. I had assumed that it was no different than all of the other hotels. Harrah’s recently purchased the Horseshoe Casinos, and because Harrah’s Louisiana Downs doesn’t have their own hotel, they will sometimes put their guests up at the Horseshoe. That is how I came to stay there.

The Horseshoe hotel blew away my expectations. It has 606 suites that are luxuriously decorated. The rooms are large, and have a sitting area with a sofa, chair, coffee table, desk, and TV. The king-size bed has high quality bedding with extralarge soft pillows. I was concerned that the bed would be too soft for my bad back, but instead it was the most comfortable I have ever slept in. It even beats the dream beds of hotels like the Westin. There is an armoire in front of the bed that houses a second TV, coffeemaker, and small fridge.

The bathroom is exquisite, decorated with marble. It's a good size and holds an extralarge bathtub/shower. A wall, but no door, separates the toilet part. It has a hair dryer and a third (yes, I said third) TV. The bath products include conditioning shampoo, lotion, bath gel, mouthwash, a vanity kit, and the often-ignored shower cap.

They have a number of shops on the main level offering clothes, gifts, cigars, and jewelry for those players wanting to spend their winnings. It also holds four restaurants. The casino itself is just a short walk from the lobby. There is a parking garage attached. The hotel offers a shuttle bus to Harrah’s Louisiana Downs, leaving every hour. The Horseshoe also has a full-service spa that I did not visit.

I was pleased with the service throughout the hotel. The front desk staff was particularly helpful with questions and requests. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Horseshoe, but wished I had a friend with me who could appreciate this beautiful room.

Less than a year ago, Sam’s Town Casino purchased Harrah’s Casino in Shreveport, Louisiana. Harrah’s bought Louisiana Downs Horse Track in Bossier City and added slot machines. I have stayed at this hotel under both owners. With the ownership transfer, nothing in the hotel changed except the name on the bath products.

The rooms at the hotel are upscale with nice furnishings and a large bathroom. The bathroom has an oversized tub, a separate vanity area and a privacy door for the toilet. The room has a good-sized TV and armoire, a round table with chairs, and a desk. The bed is comfortable with nice sheets.

I had the opportunity to visit the Rose Spa twice while at the hotel. I thought the spa was top rate. Before my massage and wax, I filled out a health questionnaire. I was then led to a dressing room where I was given a robe, towels, and sandals. My personal belongings were left in a secured locker. I waited in a comfortable lounge with a TV, magazines, pretzels, and refrigerator filled with bottled water.

The deep tissue massage was fantastic. She continually asked me about pressure and areas I wanted treated. I requested she work on my bad back only, and amazingly, she discovered where a lot of my pain was coming from. I've had three massages in the last month and nobody was able to discover that. The room was comfortable and I was very relaxed and content.

My wax was great. Without going into detail, the aesthetician was very professional and informative. I was very pleased with the results. After my treatment, I took a shower in the spa. They had a sauna, showers, and toilets. In the showers, they supplied the shampoo and shower gel. Near the sinks, they had a bunch of hair dryers, hair products, mouthwash, and even a curling iron that was hot. I was constantly offered water and coffee before and after my treatments.

They offer a full menu of treatments at the spa, including five different massages, nail and body treatments, waxing, tinting, skin care and facial treatments, and personal training. The exercise room adjoined the spa and had a large assortment of machines.

The casino is a close walk to the hotel. The gift shop carries clothing, gifts, soda, snacks, and toiletry items. There is a buffet, café, coffee shop, and great steakhouse. Room service was accommodating with my special food requests and timely with their service. The front desk staff is pleasant, but not overly friendly. Parking is free in the lot.

At the Horseshoe Casino, there are four restaurants. All of them seemed great, but everyone spoke of the fabulous steaks at the Oak Creek Café. Wanting to stick to my Atkins diet, I thought I’d try it out.

The restaurant was wide open, with a lot of tables and a few booths. You could watch people walking to and from the casino wherever you sat. The lounge next door offers entertainment in the evening that you can enjoy while dining. It was very cold in there, so I was glad that I had a sweater.

They serve American cuisine. I saw an assortment of beef, sandwiches, and countrystyle chicken-fried steak. The menu is similar to what you’d find at a Bennigan’s restaurant. It's open 24 hours a day, and for those late-night gamblers, they offer a steak-and-potato dinner at 11pm for $7.95.

My meal began with a salad, which was accompanied by a basket of rolls. The salad had iceberg lettuce with a good .5-inch of water in the bottom. One of the cucumbers was bad. I believe the rolls had a bit of honey on the top. I couldn’t tell exactly, as they were so hard, it was difficult to bite into them. Next I had a rib-eye steak with grilled shrimp. The steak was a perfect medium, but was way too salty. The shrimp was a special request, as they usually serve fried shrimp with this meal. However, my broiled shrimp were also way too salty. It was covered with spices with a slight kick, similar to Lawry’s Seasoning Salt. Usually, I add salt to my food; however, this time, I didn’t need to. I could barely put any of the food in my mouth. I even tried to remove some of the salt with a napkin, but that didn’t make much of a difference.

With a disappointing meal thus far and still an empty stomach, I decided to forget the Atkins diet and ordered carrot cake. Fortunately, that was good. I filled my stomach with half of this large piece of cake. I hear their strawberry shortcake is also a favorite.

I know you're thinking I should have sent the food back, but my meal was being comped by the casino, and I figured for a free meal, I really shouldn’t complain. I did however speak to the manager before leaving and told him my complaints. He was very courteous and offered to accommodate me with another meal. I was pleased that they were willing to make things right, and that he thanked me for speaking up. I was also satisfied with the server I had. Perhaps my experience was a fluke, because I spoke with many happy customers. Next time I’m in town, I’m going to give them another shot.

The Horseshoe Casino is a standard riverboat casino in Bossier City, Louisiana. It has three floors filled with 1,600 slot machines and table games like Blackjack, Craps, Mini-Baccarat, and more. I spent my time playing a little of everything.

Bossier City and Shreveport have a number of casinos, so competition is pretty tough. I have played at Sam’s Town and Harrah’s Louisiana Downs in the area, and in my opinion, I think your money is best spent at the Horseshoe. In my experience, my money lasted longer and had better returns on the slot machines at this casino.

I was there on a weekend, and was pleased that it wasn’t overcrowded and that I could usually play the slot machines that I wanted. However, the table games were usually crowded, in particular the 3-card poker. I heard that they were adding more 3-card poker tables at some point.

The casino has an assortment of new, but mostly older, slot machines. It was fun to see the old Jeopardy games that you rarely see anymore. As for new games, they had a few here and there but not many. There are plenty of video poker and video keno machines. The high-limit room had a good assortment of games and denominations, including $5, $10, $25, and $100 machines. The good thing was that they were paying off, as bells were going off all the time. The best addition is the paper ticket. Instead of getting paid in coins and getting your hands filthy, the machine prints a ticket that can be redeemed at the cashier or inserted into another machine.

The service was mixed. The dealers at the table were very helpful teaching me how to play 3-card poker. The beverage servers were friendly and pretty accessible. I usually didn’t have to wait long to find a server. The staff at the player’s club was very courteous, efficient, and accommodating. However, I was disappointed with a few of the cashiers. I was met with an unfriendly attitude on two or three occasions. Also, I thought they could improve in cleanliness. The area between the slot machines was filled with trash and overflowing ashtrays.

Jack’s Club on the third floor is a lounge for high rollers. It has comfortable chairs and overlooks the river. They have a nice variety of food, and it was kept well stocked. The staff service was good, and I appreciated the quietness of the room.

While at the casino, sign up for a player’s club card. You earn points when you insert your card in the slot machine and play table games. You can earn free meals, room discounts, special invitations, and cash back that day.