[Dejibo]

Went to the casino! was so excited until...we got there. Everywhere we went it was smokey, and thick with throngs of hacking, coughing, throat hole smoking, cigarette puffing folks. Even on our penthouse floor the hallways reeked of it! We dont smoke and we dont like the way it makes others smell, let alone the way it makes US smell when we have to walk thru it to get to the other side.

The room was wonderful! except...it smelled! now its a non smoking room, but if you walk anywhere in that place you are quickly thick in it, and covered by it, and whomever had the room before us clearly didnt shower before they hit the bed. ICK ICK ICK! I called housekeeping who came and remade the bed including new mattress pads, and blankets. it still smelled when we laid down, so i had new pillows sent up. HUGE bathroom, huge tub, but very slow drain. I hate the feeling of standing ankle deep in my own shower water in a hotel. ICK!

Finally both are dressed and ready. Went to put my purse in the safe and its broken. ugh! locked it into my suitcase, and hoped for the best. I have a small wallet I take with me, so I dont have to carry that heavy thing. We walked thru smokers room after smokers room to get to the restaurant area. Then outside the eating areas are tables and chairs designed for the smokers who refuse to eat in a non smoking restaurant. We enjoyed our AC private table, with a view of the main walk thru, till we realized just how sad some of those folks were. 90 y/o ladies bent over their walkers, being dragged by their hubbies to hit the slots! clutching their handbags as if their last penny lived there. Folks who were tired, worn, broken, and desperate wandering aimlessly, and young skinny girls sucking on their b/f on the way to whatever slice of heaven they were searching for. We felt so badly for so many that clearly didnt have any business being in a place where you are almost assured to LOSE your money! This is not a place of gains! Its a place of loss. We saw very few folks that looked as if they could afford to loose thier SSDI check into some slot machine.

It was shocking to us both, and we felt almost overwhelmed by the gravity of it all. We over heard one woman with MS who clearly had zero money to give away, and yet she comes each month to try to win enough money to get that scooter she wants. If she just put aside half the money she gambles, in about six months she could buy that scooter! it really upset me.

Went back to the room, and talked a long time to each other about our blessings. About being thankful, and about how lucky we both are. It was getting dark so we went to the stargazer lounge where you must be privately invited to go. no poor/sick/sad folks to be seen from any view. it was the top floor of the hotel, and security at the door. You cant see who is in there till after you get well behind the partition. no smoking there, except the poker room. passing around expensive cigars and congratulting each other we decided to not stop there. we played some of the private slots that had MUCH better odds of winning. I slide in a $100 voucher and it wasnt long till I was at $500. Back down to $300 and back up to $600. The machines were clean, in good repair, and with the wave of a finger you could get the drink of your choice or food without cost. We chit chatted with celebrities, and other well knowns, but we felt ... like we just didnt like the way it was all set up. The poor were hidden from view. The mess of downstairs was left far behind.

We decided to call it an early night. WEnt back to our stinky room, and talked. turned off the lights at 10 and tried hard to sleep. Sleep wouldnt come deeply for either us of. Sirens heard outside, stinky mattess, thoughts swirling in our heads, I finally got up and got a clean towel out of my suitcase and laid it across the pillow which helped. We got up at 5, had breakfast, enjoyed the abandoned smokers areas where they had better machines. Dropped another voucher in the machine for about an hour, and decided...this is not where we want to be. Lets get out of here! This is not the place I remember from all those years ago. Cashed out my vouchers and called for the Valet to bring up the car. checked out and headed for home.

We stepped thru the door, stripped off our clothes, and took our naked bums to the showers. Scrubbed off the stink, and then I did a few loads of laundry. It was a nice distraction for a bit, but then it caused us to look at so many things that we didnt need to see. I wanted to help that woman who wanted a scooter so badly, but DH said "if you give her the money for the scooter, dont you think she will say "if I have this money for the scooter, if I gamble it I can get a BETTER scooter!" ?? I thought he had a point. She spent zero money on clothes, or other things to take care of herself, yet she always found the money to gamble. its a sickness, and perhaps she would even sell that scooter to feed the beast a month down the line. I stuck my money in my bag.

btw, ALL the money I won at the Casino is going to some charity. havent picked one yet, but 100% is being donated.

I wont be going back there. it was sad, smelly, and heart breaking. Thanks for sharing my story.

[TXBatman]

I had a similar experience when we had a work meeting at a casino hotel in a midwest state. The folks suggesting it as a location built it up as a really nice place, but my impression was that it was a dark, smoky, stinky, trap set up to hook people who had no business gambling with the little money they had. It was a national chain place and the rooms were fine, but the casino floor smelled like a smoke filled restroom. I couldn't stand the smell for long enough to want to try any gambling. It was depressing to see the old couples side by side at the slot machines gambling their savings away without saying a word to each other.

[Erin524]

I've been to the casinos across the river (I'm in Omaha. There are casinos just across the river in Council Bluffs)

Usually, we (boyfriend and me) go to the casinos just to eat in the buffet. I cant remember now if the hotels area has smoking areas anymore. I think IA finally got a smoking ban in restaurants, but I cant remember if it includes the hotels that have casinos. The last couple of times I was there, I dont remember the restaurant areas being especially smoky.

The casinos tho...ewww! I hate cigarette smoke. Yuck! The riverboat casinos are the nastiest. Because the smell of the river combined with cigarette smoke is nasty.

I think the riverboat casinos are probably closed right now because the Missouri river is flooding. (thank you Army Corps of Engineers for mismanaging that) Kind of hoping the river pulls the riverboats loose and takes them away. (the hotels would be ok...probably)

I'm not planning on visiting the casinos for quite awhile, at least until the river stops flooding because I have a serious phobia of the Missouri river when it floods, and this is the worst flooding I've ever seen.

I have a relative who had a gambling problem. This is probably why when I go to the casinos, I make sure to only take enough cash money with me to buy dinner and then maybe have $5 or $10 to go play the slots. I try to never spend more on playing the slots than I would to go see a movie. I have a credit card, but I've never had it set up so that I can do cash advances on it. There is no way I want to ever end up a gambling addict like my relative. (as far as I know, the relative finally quit. But I've never confirmed that. I just hope that relative doesnt gamble anymore)

[SallyC]

I like to gamble, but have never been to a casino and don't think I would like to go, either. I used to play poker and black jack with friends and was very lucky.

I think there should be a legal limit, as to the amount you are able to gamble of your own money.....especially for those with limited incomes.. There should be some control!!!

[Erin524]

I think the thing is having some self control.

If I take basically what would amount to movie money for me ($20 or less) and I end up winning more than my original $20. That's the time to cash out and leave.

If I lose my $20, that's also a hint that I need to leave.

If I find myself thinking about wanting to call my credit card company to get a cash advance, that's also the time to leave. It's a good thing I probably only see the casinos about once a year.

[Debbie D]

It was interesting what you took from this experience, Dej...you and DH were very aware of what blessings you have in your life after seeing the desperation and addiction.

Our nation is becoming two cultures...those who have, and those who think, magically, that they will also be the haves if they only gamble enough...it is a sad, sad world...

[Dejibo]

We knew we were blessed long before we walked into that place. I was raised on a reservation, and know personally the way the BIA works (bureau of indian affairs) which governs the land that the natives live on. I was raised in such stark poverty and hunger that it sometimes amazes me that I got any nutrition in my little body at all. If it were not for free lunches and free breakfast at school, I would have literally starved to death. I was unhappy when the weekends came because there was no food. Now the reservations have these massive casinos and some of them are using the money to make good advantage of it, and others have been mismanaged to the point of shame. I was a welcomed guest as a sister native and was treated to some of the finest they had to show. I remember going to that reservation just to play bingo and they used that bingo game as a way to stay afloat.

I have had the gift of discernment for many years. Maybe it was the way I was raised (then why doesnt my sister or brothers have it?) or maybe it was that I cared, and rolled up my sleeves to become part of the solution and not just part of the shouting crowds screaming about how unfair it all was, and shreiking about who was going to change it. I assumed if it was going to be changed, it would be US that changed it.

Going back to any rez tugged at my heart strings, because what used to be native owned, native run, and native managed is now sprinkled with commercialized products, stores, and items. you cant buy a real blanket there anymore, but you can buy a woolen blanket from pendleton. You cant buy a native made dream catcher, but you can buy a mass produced one. Made my heart hurt.

I have decided to donate the winnings to the local soup kitchen that serves many homeless in summer, winter and mud season here. NH is not the place you want to be homeless in the winter time. They do amazing work here, and I have ladled up more than a few gallons of soup in that kitchen personally. I thought it would be only fitting that it go to help many instead of helping only one.

Thanks for your thoughts on my trip. it really did open up my head, and my eyes, and my heart. I prayed for a distraction from my own sorrow, and I should have known the old adage of "be careful what you ask for, you just might get it." now I know I need to get back to the soup kitchen. I can ladle up soup even if I am blind.

[Jodylee]

I've only been to a casino once and that was enough for me . I am not a gambler except for the occasional lottery ticket for fun.

I'm a smoker (only outside) and I couldn't stand the stench of the place.

I have a friend with a gambling problem, it is just so sad. She gets a kind of drug addict look on her face when she gambles. If she keeps herself away from places with poker machines, slots etc. she is just fine. When she gets too stressed she turns to gambling. It's like any other addiction I guess.