Well, they did a great job of re-opening the Beau Rivage. You would have sworn that there never was a hurricane Katrina. Everything is back exactly as it was. They brought in a new barge, made it more permanent, and reinstalled the slots, tables, flooring, etc. so it looks identical. Most of the promenade shops are still sport "coming soon" signs. Every detail from the flooring to the iron work in places from the coffee shop to the ice cream shop was put back as it was. They must have kept detailed records of the original suppliers. Really amazing.

The poker room was added in the back left of the casino. Looks identical to their original poker room - nice tables, plenty of room, adjustable chairs (no wheels though). They're automated now, so the dealers swipe your players card on the tables. The $1-$2 NL Hold'em games are time rather than rake at $6 per 30 minutes. Treva from the Grand Casino now runs the poker room and many of the Grand dealers are at the Beau now. The cocktail waitresses look almost identical to Wynn Las Vegas with bronze colored uniforms and subdued makeup. Since the Beau is the "class of the south" they obviously got their pick of waitresses as almost all of them are knockouts. If you're lucky enough to play in the poker room and Kathy asks, "What can I get y'all to drink?" try not to stare and say "milk". The comp is a $15 meal ticket for 5 hours of play.

The buffet is larger and much better with lamb chops, fillet, snow and king crab legs, and New Orleans BBQ shrimp in the line up. The staff is very accommodating too (gotta love the south for that at least). My wife used the spa and pool and both are back as they were prior to the hurricane.

With all of the other casinos being either dumps or having to awkwardly turn their meeting rooms into a casino the Beau Rivage will continue to dominant the competition. We both had a great time, and flopping quad 5s to get called $280 all-in by a guy with the nut flush didn’t hurt either.