Coastal Traveler - Winter 2008 - (Page 32)

At the blackjack tables on the floor of Harrah’s Lake Tahoe Casino, men and women look on with focused gazes as dealers in shiny vests spread cards on the felt. Hundreds of glittering slot machines cast a sickly glow over the multi-colored carpet as patrons push buttons and watch reels spin. Frequent players, dubbed “Diamond” members, spread chips across roulette boards, stacking money high on the outside bets. Waitresses come by to refresh their drinks as soon as they are empty. “If you like gambling, but are inhibited because you don’t have enough money, if you drink the right amount it can reduce your inhibitions,” said Brian Knutson, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Stanford. “People want to be in that state. It’s fun to be excited, and not worried.” According to Knutson, alcohol facilitates gambling in two ways. First, it reduces inhibitions, and second, it stimulates the reward circuitry in the brain. Alcohol releases neuro-chemicals like dopamine that increase the attractiveness of risk-taking endeavors. Certain people might need a bigger reward to get excited. Some people get stimulated playing bingo, while it may take high limit, high-risk games to give others a sense of excitement. Studies show that people with histories of drug and alcohol abuse may have a higher risk of becoming addicted to gambling, because drugs and alcohol play a part in dulling certain neurotransmitters. Once these receptors have been affected, it takes more to get them charged. This phenomenon may explain the high rollers, players who wager large amounts of money on single games. It may also explain why Gaby, a waitress at the Montbleu Resort Casino and Spa, has seen local homeless people playing the slots and losing what little money they have. She often sees people come in with their belongings and sit at the machines for hours, drinking. The drive to Lake Tahoe is alternately numbing and mindblowing. From San Francisco, East 80 stretches for almost 100 miles through gray car lots, suburban developments, and Starbucks-laden strip malls. When the freeway breaks off into 50 East, the first three-quarters of the drive is spent in much the same way. But slowly the shopping centers and gas stations give way to small roadside restaurants and general stores selling tire chains. The highway becomes a black ribbon lined with spruce, and a sky full of stars supplements headlights on the windy stretches that climb towards the water. It’s easy to understand why Highway 50 was termed “the loneliest road in America.” In 1844, while searching for the mythical “Buenaventura River,” American explorer John C. Fremont discovered a large lake nestled in the Sierra Nevada. The site had been an Indian gathering place for centuries, but it wasn’t until Fremont christened it “Lake Bigler” that it began to get nationwide recognition, although the original Indian name, Tahoe, was the one that stuck. During the California Gold Rush, people flocked to Tahoe in such great numbers that a road originally called Bonanza Road (now known as Highway 50) was forged across the mountains. Silver and timber sustained the area’s economy in the 1800’s until the forests became depleted, and at the turn of the century tourism became a profitable market. In 1944, Harvey’s Wagon Wheel Saloon and Gambling Hall opened, and was followed by Harrah’s Lake Club (now Harvey’s Lake Tahoe) in 1955. Three years later came Harrah’s Stateline Club, home to the famous South Shore Room, a venue that was frequented by performers like Sammy Davis Junior, Wayne Newton, and Frank Sinatra. When Bill Harrah built a hotel around the club in 1971, it earned the first five-star diamond rating in casino history. The luxurious establishment featured rooms with fully stocked bars and bathrooms equipped with televisions and phones. Today the casinos bear remnants of the past. Glass chandeliers and dark wood paneling echo the forties, though there is a Starbucks in every hotel. Anyone who works in South Lake Tahoe will tell you that autumn is the slowest time of the year. In the summer the town is a sprawling Mecca of water sport fanatics, and in winter the slopes draw skiers from all across the country. But the fall months are an in-between time when many visitors are more interested in hiking than gambling. Ebony, a waitress who has been working in the casinos for over two decades, believes the focus in South Lake Tahoe is not as centered on gaming as it was in years past. “It’s nothing like it used to be,” she said. “With all the Indian casinos and online stuff, gambling is just everywhere, and we all wish we could bring back the glory days.” According to a 1998 General Accounting Office Report, Indian casinos across the country generate the same amount of revenue as all the casinos in Atlantic City, and half of the amount of Nevada’s casinos. Over the past twenty years, Indian gaming has become a $4 billion industry. Additionally, online gambling, though technically illegal, is a huge draw for people who don’t need to leave their homes to experience risktaking thrills. A 2006 New York Times article reported that 8 million Americans engage in internet gambling,, spending an estimated $6 billion a year. When Ebony worked at Caesar’s, before Columbia Sussex bought the property and turned it into the Montbleu Resort Casino and Spa, she and the other cocktail waitresses were referred to as “goddesses.” The casino was so busy and so profitable that the women had people to help them get dressed in their costumes, and to escort them onto the floor. She waited on “lots of famous people,” and made what she described as large amounts of cash. But lower profit margins have ushered in changes in the gaming world. Most of the casinos on Blue Avenue seem to have made adjustments in recent years to accommodate the changing climate by focusing attention on other forms of nightlife, like clubs and shows. On Friday and Saturday nights the bars are often packed as crowds move from one spot to the other. In the parking lot of the Montbleu, a sign on the marquis above the entrance boasts of a Lingerie Night in the Opal Room, when ladies drink for free. The promotion is an attempt to draw new customers to the hotel and ideally, to the tables. Columbia Sussex spent millions to renovate the casino floor, restaurants, and bar to create a more modern feel. The hotel was marketing to a younger, hip demographic, but the scope has been widened because the money was not coming in. Now the demographic is changing to include middle-aged and senior guests (the company currently offers senior discounts.) In Las Vegas, attractions like roller coasters and big name shows have become almost as much of a draw as the gambling. The Fashion Show mall, a 60,000 square foot shopping center now one of the city’s main attractions. The mall boasts giant television screens, an 80-foot runway for fashion shows, and a snow machine to simulate storms. Less than one-quarter of the money spent by visitors in 2003 was spent on the casino floors. “In the past, I would have to say the gamblers just wanted to gamble,” said a spokesperson for the Montbleu. “These days they also want to be entertained.” 32 coastaltraveler winter

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Coastal Traveler - Winter 2008

Coastal Traveler - Winter 2008 Contents Coastal Hotel Coastal Adventure Coastal Gambler Coastal Rider Coastal Skier Coastal Art Santa Barbara Pismop & Avila San Luis Obispo Big Sur Carmel Monterey Santa Cruz San Francisco Sausalito Mill Valley Stinson Beach Bolinas Olema Point Reyes Station San Geronimo Fairfax Iverness Marshall, Tomales Sebastopol Petaluma Sonoma Coast Redwood Coast Napa Map

Coastal Traveler - Winter 2008

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