Is The Pearls' Take On Casinos Accurate?

[debrand]

I have only been in one casino and that wasn't to gamble but to watch a performer. The place did not stink and everyone was pleasant. However, I have no other experiences with casinos so I don't know if the Pearls are being accurate with their depiction.

Apparently, they really wanted to eat seafood at a certain restaurant. Because they knew it was a casino, they warned their young kids about how bad it was. Why would anyone purposely take their children somewhere that they think is bad?

But what surrprised me was their description. It sounds disgusting and I wonder if they are stretching the truth.

nogreaterjoy.org/articles/general-view/archive/2011/october/15/be-careful-little-feet-where-you-go/

So, are they stretching the truth or not?

I first thought was of a Mad Magazine I saw as a kid. Every player had the appearance of having died and fossilized while sitting in front of the machine. Most were old, hard, whorish looking women dressed in what they must have thought was sexy clothes, their thin orange hair making a fuzzy halo around their heads. I noticed a cigarette hanging from each of their thin, red, painted lips. Yikes! Was I in a nightmare? If I was, please someone wake me up! But it was real. There was little movement, only for a brief moment when they pulled the lever down.

As I stood watching I identified the odor. It was old flesh, diapers damp with pee, stale smoke, and hacking coughs bringing up cancerous smells. Surely this was just one step from hell.

We, as a family, rushed the 100 feet through the row of slot machines. I figured the kids were holding their breaths, because I sure was. We raced up the steps, then stopped, totally dismayed. Before us was another long line of slot machines, each occupied with more dreadful figures, each momentarily coming alive, like they were using their last ounce of life, to yank the arm down. The awful odor was now mixed with the smell of cooking fish. Thankfully, through the smoky gloom we could see the lights of the restaurant. We rushed past the animated corpses as if there was salvation in the restaurant.

[Buzzard]

Ive been in my share of casinos! Vegas, riverboat, connecticut, various indian reservations, overseas... I'm gonna go with NO, its not an accurate description. For the most part, people are either well dressed or in jeans. Sure, some smell like smoke but some are smoke free (YAY foxwoods!). I'd say he's describing an old story, but at $21.95 thats pretty modern pricing.

That being said, yes, people smoke. Yeah, some people wear bad makeup... so do many people in my office. Same goes for the "sexy clothes" in any bar/restaurant/mall on any given day. I've always found casino air to be very good because if it isnt you wont stay. The food is also REALLY good!

[Mythicwings]

Unfortunately I have had to experience casinos. I hate them. And the reason I hate them is that, in general, the Pearl's description is totally accurate. There a a few high-end casinos but they will still have slot machines and a lot of retired ladies sit in front of them exactly as described. It's horrible. Someone I knew who was a slot attendent told me that a woman in front of a machine had to pee, but didn't want to leave her machine, so finally just peed right there. Yeah.

Soooooo like you said...why did they go there with their kids! :o Gross.

[Mythicwings]

Ive been in my share of casinos! Vegas, riverboat, connecticut, various indian reservations, overseas... I'm gonna go with NO, its not an accurate description. For the most part, people are either well dressed or in jeans. Sure, some smell like smoke but some are smoke free (YAY foxwoods!). I'd say he's describing an old story, but at $21.95 thats pretty modern pricing.

That being said, yes, people smoke. Yeah, some people wear bad makeup... so do many people in my office. Same goes for the "sexy clothes" in any bar/restaurant/mall on any given day. I've always found casino air to be very good because if it isnt you wont stay. The food is also REALLY good!

Oh MAN I think we have seen casinos through different glasses! :D I wish I could have worn yours. But I do agree about Foxwoods - that is the most pleasant casino I've ever seen, it IS actually pleasant in general, not just at the tables. But all the slot areas that I have ever seen (minus Foxwoods and minus Monaco, and maybe one Vegas on) are gross. Really friggen hideously gross. And the air is always suffused with cigarette smoke. Did you spend all your time around the tables sections? That tends to feel more "elegant", kind of.

[Guest Anonymous]

We have a casino 20 miles from where I live and it is common knowledge that all the old retired ladies will put on their depends and spend the entire day in front of their favorite slot machine and just pee and poo to their hearts content in their diapers. They actually like it if it (the smell) keeps other people away from them because then they can play several slots at once and not worry about anyone sitting down next to them.

[FundiesInMyFamily]

I've been in every single one of the major casinos on the strip in Vegas, and most of them are NOTHING like that... a few of the older ones like the Excalibur, ect. are a little on the dumpier side but there are some brand new and really upscale ones. Bellagio is beautiful, so is Cesar's Palace, the Winn, Venitian, I could go on and on

We also have gaming up in the mountain towns here west of Denver, and since it's all locals, there are different kinds. There are tour busus that leave from the 'burbs every hour on the hour mostly filled with retiree's. Some are nicer than others, but none of the little local ones are dumps.

Now every casino I've ever been in allows smoking, but that doesn't bother me because I smoke. I love love love Vegas and try to go every couple of years, but wouldn't be caught dead in a place like the pearls are describing.

[Buzzard]

Oh MAN I think we have seen casinos through different glasses! :D I wish I could have worn yours. But I do agree about Foxwoods - that is the most pleasant casino I've ever seen, it IS actually pleasant in general, not just at the tables. But all the slot areas that I have ever seen (minus Foxwoods and minus Monaco, and maybe one Vegas on) are gross. Really friggen hideously gross. And the air is always suffused with cigarette smoke. Did you spend all your time around the tables sections? That tends to feel more "elegant", kind of.

I dont do slots. Blackjack and carribean stud are my games! That may be the rub!

[darkplumaged]

I've only been to one casino, Mandalay Bay in Vegas. It was nothing like this. The cocktail waitresses were rather scantily clad, but the atmosphere is upscale, and I don't remember seeing anyone repulsive.

The Pearls are not exactly the most honest people out there, but I'm guessing this wasn't one of the more glamorous casinos.

(I don't gamble, but I thought Vegas was fun. It's so... otherworldly.)

[NurseNell]

Unfortunately I have had to experience casinos. I hate them. And the reason I hate them is that, in general, the Pearl's description is totally accurate. There a a few high-end casinos but they will still have slot machines and a lot of retired ladies sit in front of them exactly as described. It's horrible. Someone I knew who was a slot attendent told me that a woman in front of a machine had to pee, but didn't want to leave her machine, so finally just peed right there. Yeah.

Soooooo like you said...why did they go there with their kids! :o Gross.

I agree pretty much with this. In MN there are no smoke free casinos so they reek with cigarette smoke. I go about twice/year with friends, don't stay too long.

[Mythicwings]

We have a casino 20 miles from where I live and it is common knowledge that all the old retired ladies will put on their depends and spend the entire day in front of their favorite slot machine and just pee and poo to their hearts content in their diapers. They actually like it if it (the smell) keeps other people away from them because then they can play several slots at once and not worry about anyone sitting down next to them.

:lol: :lol: :lol: Yeah - that must be the nickel section. This one time, an elderly lady died, and there ws a stampede to get her machine.

My husband did just point out that this must be an old story by the Pearls, because slot machines don't have levers anymore, it is all computerized, with stuff you touch on the screen. But of course it must be an old story anyway, since aren't all their kids grown?

[No KoolAid]

I went to a casino back in the day with my husband. Can you think 5-star, black-tie outfits and James Bond Glamor? That's what it was like. I went to a casino with my mother on a luxury cruise liner. Again, 5-star and glamorous. We met some nice people there.

One of my neighbors lost his farm, job, wife and kids due to a gambling addiction that started with a curiosity visit to a casino in Council Bluffs. So, I'm fully aware of the dangers of gambling.

[VeraAnne]

I would say the smell is more Axe body spray mixed with smoke. If youve been to a dive bar, you know the smell.

That said, they can be a lot of fun.

[Witsec7]

I went to a casino back in the day with my husband. Can you think 5-star, black-tie outfits and James Bond Glamor? That's what it was like. I went to a casino with my mother on a luxury cruise liner. Again, 5-star and glamorous. We met some nice people there.

One of my neighbors lost his farm, job, wife and kids due to a gambling addiction that started with a curiosity visit to a casino in Council Bluffs. So, I'm fully aware of the dangers of gambling.

Crockfords in London, don't know if its still there. Men in tuxes, hell I even wore fur in those daze.

[Kitty]

Dude, is the Pearls' take on ANYTHING accurate?

[debrand]

The author is written, Debi Pearl, as told by Nathan Pearl. I 'm guessing that her son told her the story and she wrote it down.

nogreaterjoy.org/articles/general-view/archive/2011/october/15/be-careful-little-feet-where-you-go/

[theologygeek]

connecticut,

Foxwoods! It's the best.

[theologygeek]

nogreaterjoy.org/articles/general-view/archive/2011/october/15/be-careful-little-feet-where-you-go/

So, are they stretching the truth or not?

The Pearls have no room to talk, considering that Michael Pearl looks like a sewer rat.

[Lillybee]

My local Indian gaming casino is fine. They even have a non smoking slot section.

The secret to avoid the worse of the people is not to go on the first of the month. Their SSI/ welfare checks will have run out.

[Guest Anonymous]

Not an accurate description of the casinos I have been in. Hell, I got married in a beautiful casino in Lake Tahoe (they had a rooftop chapel). The cigarette smoke bugs me but I suck it up and enjoy myself..love slot machines!

[DistantStar]

I could easily see Michael Pearl being that creepy old dude in a run-down casino that drunkenly tries to hit on anything with boobs.

I've been in a number and none of them have been that bad. Yeah, the smoke can be gross. There are non-smoking casinos, though I suspect they're pretty thin on the ground. And you may not want to go on the first three days of the month, when the Social Security checks come in -- tons of retirees and yes, they can be possessive over "their" machines. But I've never known about people wearing diapers and such. I won't say it never happens, but I've never noticed it.

The best casino food I've had was in New Orleans at Harrah's. Pre-Katrina, at least, they had a really good buffet. I would think it still is but I haven't been there since early 2005. And I had a source of many free buffet dinners as those were a common perk given to regulars. Yum. I can't imagine the food in a casino like the one described would be anything but hideous, no matter where it was.

[2xx1xy1JD]

I won't go to any casino that isn't smoke-free, because if smoking is allowed anywhere, the whole place will be filled with it. I guess addictive behaviors go together. In my area, half the crowd is Asian, so the physical descriptions aren't quite accurate. People do act like they are in a trance in front of slots though.

[anniebgood]

I've been to the big ones in Vegas (stayed partially comped at the Mirage) and to a lot of smaller ones outside of town and though there is smoking, the fans basically take the smoke out.

I've been to several of the Indian Casinos here in SoCal and they are as classy as the Vegas ones. Of course during the week the busses filled with retirees come for the loose slots and cheap food.

My husband has been to the seafood buffet at the Rio and he said it was one of the best buffets he's ever been to.

Perhaps the Pearls were there in the 60's when things weren't so family friendly.

[Kitchen Princess]

I have only been in one casino and that wasn't to gamble but to watch a performer. The place did not stink and everyone was pleasant. However, I have no other experiences with casinos so I don't know if the Pearls are being accurate with their depiction.

Apparently, they really wanted to eat seafood at a certain restaurant. Because they knew it was a casino, they warned their young kids about how bad it was. Why would anyone purposely take their children somewhere that they think is bad?

But what surrprised me was their description. It sounds disgusting and I wonder if they are stretching the truth.

nogreaterjoy.org/articles/general-view/archive/2011/october/15/be-careful-little-feet-where-you-go/

So, are they stretching the truth or not?

Complete fabrication. You can tell because nobody uses the levers anymore. They're all push-button!

Well, the smokey part is true.

[Kitchen Princess]

We have a Cherokee casino just 2 miles from here. It has been rebuilt and is fancy inside, and there is a buffet and a 9 story hotel now. Smokey as HELL, but it is one of my kid's favorite places to eat. I don't think the food is that good.

There is a Keetowah Casino south of here that I took my other son to when he was 19 (you have to be 21 in the others) in the middle of the night once. Very, very scary, and as described--except NO ONE is dressed scantily or sexily. They're all too poor for that.

[Lillybee]

The thing that really bothered me a lot was the expectation that there would be a half priced menu or kids would eat free idea. The world doesn't have to cater to families with kids.