Card Gambling...

One thing I've noticed over the years is the proliferation of legalized gambling. Casinos seem to be popping up all over the country, often in surprising places.

I'm not a gambler. I have tried it before, and it quickly gets boring. However, a lot of people do enjoy gambling, as evidenced by casino parking lots -- they are typically full, regardless of what part of the country they are in.

I do stop at casinos occasionally, which often have made nice provisions for truck parking. I especially enjoy what I consider to be the "real" casinos in Nevada as opposed to the "wannabe" casinos in other states. The casinos in Nevada tend to have better food and nicer, more glitzy buildings.

When selecting a casino to stop at, always go for the nicer-looking ones. Nicer Nevada casinos tend to subsidize their restaurant food prices with the gambling proceeds in order to attract more potential gamblers. As a rule, most Nevada casinos tend to have excellent food.

Apart from the food, I enjoy the way the bigger Nevada casinos look inside. Some of the casino interiors are absolutely spectacular to look at.

Casino building design is a very deliberate science. Once you walk away from the entrance, there are no windows and no clocks. Unless you have a watch or walk to one of the exits, there's no way to tell what time it is.

Of course, there are hidden cameras everywhere. Casino security is monitoring everything that goes on. They also go to incredible lengths to account for all of the money that passes through the system. In large casinos, there are people who's job is to do nothing but count money around the clock.

The card gambling tables are particular areas of interest for security. Their cameras can zoom right in so they can monitor every bit of card gambling table action to make sure that no one is breaking the rules, including both the card gambling customer and the casino card dealer. If they suspect that something is going on, they can instantly send someone from casino security in to intervene.

In particular, casinos don't want so-called "card counters" in their casinos. If someone is branded as a card counter, they are typically banned for life from the casino. Major casinos in Las Vegas exchange lists of banned gamblers. Banned gamblers will frequently try to put themselves into a disguise in order to be able to make it back in so they can resume their card counting.

If the police are called in, large casinos also have what amounts to their own temporary "jails" where they hold people until the police can come and pick them up.

Casinos as a business model really aren't good for society in general -- they tend to bring the worst out in people. I would be happy if casinos were mostly contained to Nevada. The casinos that are popping up in other states, along with state-sponsored lotteries, are bad ideas that essentially prey on the populace.

That's my take.

TOM