• The Southland Conference Tournament starts Tuesday, March 9 and wraps up Saturday, March 13 with all tourney games being played at the Merrell Center in Katy, TX
• Abilene Christian and regular season champion Nicholls State are the tourney favorites
• See the odds, seeds, bracket, and tournament preview, below

1. Southland Poker Tournaments
2. Southland Poster
3. Southland Greyhound Park Poker Room
4. Southland Gambling
5. Southland Power Edger
6. Southland Powersports

The Southland Conference gets underway with first round play Tuesday, March 9, and wraps up Saturday, March 13, with the championship game. All games will be played at the Merrell Center in Katy, TX.

Southland Park Gaming and Racing is located at 1550 North Ingram Boulevard, in West Memphis, Arkansas. The racino features 55,000 square feet of gaming including more than 1,900 electronic. In 1936, Binion established a network of private dice games at several Dallas hotels, including the Southland Hotel in downtown Dallas. This came to be known as the Southland Syndicate. Games Offered: Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Poker, Let it Ride, Three Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold 'em, Mississippi Stud, Buffets: B- $11.99 (Sat) L- $12.99/$14.99 (Tues. Southland Park does offer a poker room, which features electronic games and is relatively small. They offer both cash games and tournament style games. Tournaments run here just about everyday, and sometimes twice or more per day. The official athletics website for Southland Conference.

Abilene Christian and regular-season champion Nicholls State are the prohibitive favorites, as Sam Houston State is the only other program in the tournament that finished with an overall and league mark over .500. (Stephen F. Austin did as well, but the program is serving a postseason ban and will not compete.)

2021 Southland Tournament Odds

Team (Seed)	Odds
Abilene Christian (2)	-175
Nicholls State (1)	+225
Sam Houston State (3)	+350
New Orleans (5)	+2500
Northwestern State (4)	+2500
Lamar (6)	+5000
McNeese State (9)	+6000
Houston Baptist (10)	+10000
Incarnate Word (7)	+10000
SE Louisiana (8)	+10000

Odds as of March 8th.

Southland Poker Tournaments

Going Out in Style

This will likely be Abilene Christian’s last appearance in the Southland Tournament, as the program is joining the WAC as soon next season. ACU, Lamar, Sam Houston State, and Stephen F. Austin — aka “The Texas Four” — are petitioning the WAC Board of Directors for entry to their new home as early as July 1, 2021.

Regardless of when the Wildcats go, the program would like nothing more than to win the conference tourney this season as favorites and go out in style.

Our guys put in the work this year and the conference recognized [email protected] – 1st team
Joe Pleasant – 2nd [email protected] – 3rd team / [email protected][email protected] all-defense#GoWildcats https://t.co/7gIWMdiv5W

— Abilene Christian Basketball (@ACU_MBB) March 8, 2021

The Wildcats are led by senior center Kolton Kohl, who was named to the All-Southland First-Team Monday. Kohl is averaging a team-leading 12.1 points per game and also grabs 4.7 boards per contest. The San Angelo native had 19 games scoring in double figures and shot 55% from the field this season. Joining Kohl on the ACU postseason honor roll were Joe Pleasant, who earned all-conference Second-Team honors, along with a trio of players — Coryon Mason, Damien Daniels and Reggie Miller — who were named to the All-Defense team.

Finishing with a 21-4 record overall and 13-2 league mark, head coach Joe Golding’s squad is rated No. 93 by KenPom, the only Southland team to crack the top-100. The ‘Cats are also in the top-10 in three efficiency categories: defensive turnover percentage (27.1%, the best in the country), defensive non-steal turnover percentage (14.4%, good for 2nd), and defensive steal percentage (12.8%, good for the 6th). The Wildcats also went 13-0 at home this season.

While ACU is a legit favorite in Katy, there’s a couple other teams that could easily win the title.

Nicholls and Doing it

All third-year head coach Austin Claunch did this year was lead Nicholls State to its second regular-season league title in four years (and its first outright championship since 1998) while going 17-6 overall and posting a 14-2 league mark.

AND THE WINS JUST KEEP ON COMING!

The Colonels tie a program record w/ THREE @SouthlandSports All-Conference selections, as @JTG_03 locks in a spot on the first team while @ballhard_3 & @Ziggynahh earn third-team honors…MASSIVE congrats to our men, well deserved!#NvsEveryone pic.twitter.com/sFsLKtAY4M

— Nicholls MBB (@Nicholls_MBB) March 8, 2021

The Red & Gray are headlined by senior guard Ty Gordon, who leads the team in points and assists per game (14.9 and 3.7, respectively) Gordon was named to the all-conference first-team for his efforts during the 2020-21 campaign. The Troy transfer was also named Southland’s Newcomer of the Year. Joining Gordon in postseason honors were a pair of third-team selections in senior guard Kevin Johnson and redshirt junior forward Najee Garvin.

The tourney’s top-seed is active on the defensive front, rating in the top-50 in both offensive steal percentage (7.0%, good for 14th_ and offensive block percentage (7.0%, good for 47th). Like ACU — which played and lost to No. 18 Arkansas and No. 21 Texas Tech — Nicholls faced a pair of highly-rated KenPom programs as well this season. The Colonels were defeated by No. 28 LSU and No. 76 St. Mary’s

With talent on the sideline and on its roster, Nicholls could cut down the nets in Katy.

Sleeping Demons

If you’re looking for a dark horse in a field short on parity, the Northwestern State Demons might be attractive. Head coach Mike McConathy’s team went 10-17 overall, but were 9-7 in league play to earn the tourney’s No. 4 seed.

Junior guard Trenton Massner earned all-conference second-team honors while averaging 12.9 points per game and shot nearly 50% from the field on the season.

Plus, if you’re looking for a tournament-tested resume, the Demons have one. The programs scheduled five top-100 teams on KenPom, including a pair of outings to No. 1 Gonzaga. Northwestern State lost them all, but you have to figure that non-conference slate paid dividends. At +2500, the Demons are worth an investment wager.

This tournament appears to be either ACU’s or Nicholls’ to lose. I’ll go with the top-seeded Colonels in this spot, if only for the added value at +225.

Southland Park is one of two casinos in Arkansas which is located in West Memphis. It was initially opened in 1956 as a greyhound racing track, making it one of the oldest in the United States. It has set many attendance and wagering records for greyhound racing throughout its history, and the course is still wildly popular today. Though the racetrack is not as prestigious as the thoroughbred course at the Oaklawn Park track in Hot Springs, it does still have its draws.
Like Oaklawn Park, Southland was not able to offer any casino games until 2005 when new legislature was passed enabling electronic machines, though actual renovations were not completed until 2006. After this legislature was passed, the renovation added the large casino floor that is present today which now features a variety of electronic games. Just a few years ago, their gaming offerings were expanded once again to include live table games. Their casino is now host to popular games like blackjack, slots, video poker, three card poker, virtual roulette and more.

Casino at Southland Park

The casino at Southland Park features over 1,700 electronic games spread out over a 55,000 square foot gaming floor which includes everything from video poker and slot machines to virtual table games. Their offering of games, as well as the gaming floor size are both relatively small when compared to other large casino resorts. The slot machine varieties here are pretty standard as well, and include IGT and Bally machines among others. They also have a fairly sizable video poker parlor with dozens and dozens of machines (though the exact number is not available). Electronic table games include craps and roulette.
One unique feature of the electronic machines at Southland Park is their “RDY2WIN” jackpot game which is present on many machines throughout the gaming floor. This gives you a chance to win one of two jackpots on any spin through marked machines. These machines will be clearly designated throughout the casino and you do not need a player’s card to be eligible. The two available jackpots include the “fast” and “big” jackpots which are approx. $100 and $5,000 respectively. See video below for more info:

Southland Poster

Though I have never personally been to Southland Park, when we compared it to other popular casino resorts it does not stack up too great. One of the many draw-backs, among other things, is its small gaming floor and limited table game offering. When you add this to the fact that they do not offer an on-site hotel/resort, it makes other options more attractive. It can, however, be a fun place to visit if you happen to he in the area.

High Limit Room at Southland Park

The High Limit Room at Southland Park is relatively new and includes a variety of popular slot machines. The denominations available on machines within the high limit room are fairly low when compared to other cities like Las Vegas, ranging from $5 to $25. This should be enough to meet your needs, unless you are a big slots player. The high limit room currently has dozens of popular machines like Wheel of Fortune, Top Dollar and Double Diamond among others. It does not have any live card games like blackjack however.

Poker Room at Southland Park

Southland Park does offer a poker room, which features electronic games and is relatively small. They offer both cash games and tournament style games. Tournaments run here just about everyday, and sometimes twice or more per day. The poker room has just 6 tables and is smoke-free which is convenient if you do not smoke. You generally do not need to call ahead to reserve a seat.

Racetrack at Southland Park

Southland Greyhound Park Poker Room

The Greyhound Racetrack at Southland is among the largest and most storied within the United States. Opening more than 60 years ago, there is a lot of history here and the track features year-round racing. On the premises, you’ll find over 25 buildings capable of holding upwards of 2,000 greyhounds. This makes it one of the largest such facilities in the world.
Each year, over 6,000 races are held here, meaning that you can watch live races essentially everyday. The racetrack is over 65,000 square feet, which is larger than even the casino. The stadium is capable of holding more than 20,000 people, and simulcast wagering is available as well.

Restaurants and Bars at Southland Park

Southland Park’s dining options are somewhat limited, though they are generally high-quality. All-in-all the casino and racetrack offer one buffet, one cafe and two restaurants. In addition to these options, they also offer several racing concessions at the track. This is somewhat small, especially if you are accustomed to options offered in places like Atlantic City or Las Vegas. Below we have outlined each of the food options here:

• – Sammy Hagars Red Rocker Bar & Grill
• – Bourbon Street Steakhouse & Grill
• – World Market Buffet
• – Quinn & Ella’s Cafe

Southland Gambling

Though they do serve alcohol with little limitations, you’ll notice that there is not many bars here. They do have waiters and waitresses which will serve you while playing. Drinks are generally free, though tipping is pretty standard.

Southland Power Edger

Hotels at Southland Park

Southland Powersports

Much like the other casinos in Arkansas, Southland Park does not have an on-site hotel. They do have a player’s program however, which can give you discounts on hotel stays in the area among other things. If playing here, you should enroll in the player’s program so that you can receive these discounts if you plan to visit often. Though Southland does not offer a resort or hotel, they do have a few amenities that are not available at other Arkansas casinos. This includes a 400-seat event center and a 150-seat nightclub.