Hurricane Katrina is, as I write this, devastating parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, and, as is increasingly common these days, there is a connection to gambling: casinos in the area, particuarly on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, have been hit hard, and the impact–in both the short and long run–will be felt nationally.
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Katrina closes casinos
The President resigns?
The President casino, long a mainstay in Biloxi, is closing up. It’s barge is being relocated. I’m sure that it’s a fine institution, but I had my doubts about the casino when I took a look at the carpet:
It’s so lackluster–like someone dropped a bunch of swizzle sticks on the floor. When I first saw that carpet, I knew the casino wasn’t a winner.
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Dennis’s impact
Hurricane Dennis might be wreaking havoc with Gulf Coast casinos soon, and the Mississippi Gaming Commission is ready. Even before an official shut-down order has been issued, though, Gulfport music lovers have bad news.
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Just because it’s cool
I got a player’s card here when I visited Biloxi, and I’m still getting emails with room offers, even though I didn’t play a nickel. Thanks to the magic of the web, you too can seeTreasure Bay… a pirate-themed casino resort on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Coasting back
I’m back from my conference on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and really buried by work. Still, I took the time to add some content on the right–let me know what you think.
I’ve got to say that I really liked the Gulf Coast. I got a great idea for a novel that might be my next project after Roll the Bones, and I definitely enjoyed being beachside for a while.
On the negative side, I had a really cruddy rental car with unexplained, hideous stains on all of the seats. I don’t even want to know how they got there. Also, I got carded just about every time I entered a casino. It was amusing at first, but got to be a real hassle after a while.
All told, though, it was a good time had by all. I got to see many parts of the Gulf Coast, and learned a great deal about globalization at the conference.
I also got some very encouraging news about my second book, which will no longer be called Uneasy Convictions. Email me with your title ideas, and win a mention in the acknowledgements!
Now, I’ve just got 4 article to write (2 by the end of the week), and 4 more trips in the next month. Also, there’s Roll the Bones to research and write, and the revisions on the second book.
Overextended doesn’t begin to describe where I’m at. Still, it’s better than sitting at home.
Look for an actual news update later. I’ve got some thoughts on the Westward Ho’s expansion project–as soon as I find something to link to the main story, I’ll post them.
Later in the week, look for photos of Mississippi and an additiion to the casino carpet gallery. Security was much stricter there–I got yelled at almost every time I took a picture. Still, for your web-browsing pleasure, I successfully captured images of all 12 Mississippi Gulf Coast properties. You won’t be disappointed.
Mother nature hates casinos?
That’s the irrational explanation for those who try to impose causality on random events–something that many gamblers excel at. Anyway, because of the looming threat of Hurricane Ivan, the state has closed Mississippi coast casinos. From the Sun Herald:
State regulators ordered the coast casinos shut to customers at noon Tuesday. Casino workers had until midnight to finish securing the properties and to seal the doors, said Gaming Commission spokeswoman Leigh Ann Wilkins.At 2 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Ivan was centered about 405 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and about 450 miles south of Panama City Beach. It was moving north-northwest at 9 mph.
Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway, whose city is home to most of the glitzy gambling halls, said local officials must deal with not only some 55,000 residents but at least that number of gamblers and tourists on any given day.
Eleven of the 12 casinos are in Harrison County, the middle of the three coastal counties. Hancock County, which borders Louisiana, has one. There are no casinos in Jackson County, which borders Alabama.
Gamblers continued playing slots and table games shortly before the casinos closed.
Ed Bak of Fairfield, Ohio, dropped quarters into a slot machine at the President Casino and said he wasn’t concerned about Ivan ruining his vacation.
“I don’t worry about what’s going to happen tomorrow. We can’t control it anyway,” said Bak, who traveled to the Mississippi Gulf Coast this week on a bus tour with other Midwesterners.
“When you go somewhere, you take a chance,” Bak said. “That’s Mother Nature.”
When I worked in a casino, I used to while away the hours by imagining hypotheical scenarios, as kind of a mental game. In addition to figuring out several probably fool-proof schemes for robbing the casino (thankfully, larceny is not in my heart, and this was only a thought exercise never put into action), I used to try to imagine what magnitude event it would take to force the casino close. I know that during several bad snowstorms, we stayed open. It came down to severe earthquake (not likely in New Jersey), working fire on the casino floor (small fires elsewhere not included), or a large hurricane that forced the evacuation of Absecon Island. So I guess my voyage of the mind was vindicated because Mississippi casinos in the path of a large hurricane have been closed.
I especially liked the end of the excerpt, where gamblers didn’t want to leave. This, in my experience, is to be expected. I have seen surveillance footage of an armed robbery where a security officer is shot in the face, and people sitting a slot machines not only didn’t move, but argued when told they had to. If you can keep gambling with a gunshot victim sprawled behind you, I’m guessing that a hurricane warning isn’t going to mean much.
I think I’m going to put Ed Bak’s musings on fate into my quote index:
I don’t worry about what’s going to happen tomorrow. We can’t control it anyway.
Yeah, that’s a guy who digs the ever-spinning wheel of fortune, which man is powerless to stop. Something about that attitude annoys me, because it implies a progression from resignation to a fickle fate towards total apathy and acceptance of anything. It’s like people who repeatedly drive drunk, and when asked whether they would feel bad if they hit and killed a bunch of children, just say, “No. When it’s your time, it’s your time. I wouldn’t be my fault.” These people are truly dangerous.
While I think that a certain amount of acceptance of fortune’s caprice is a good thing, just saying, “I can’t control the future, so nothing matters” is a sure ticket to an unfulfilling life.
