This Ain't Vegas

Not to get into all the debate over Ray Rice and his weak punishment for assaulting his fiancee at a casino in New Jersey, but have you noticed that casino business up there in Atlantic City is not exactly booming?

The Revel

As a matter of fact, the Revel Casino-Hotel, the site of Ray's indiscretions, was supposed to be on the proverbial auction block this week, but at the last minute, several "Credible offers" to purchase it seemed to crop up.  That leaves two other casinos that might close down by the end of this year - the Showboat Casino Hotel, and the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino.  Donald Trump, man of great modesty, is suddenly embarrassed to have his name on the Trump Plaza, and is suing to have it removed.  From a business he invested in, when things were looking good for that business.

I have to tell you, I've been in exactly one (1) casino in my life, and that was because we heard the buffet at Maryland's Hollywood Casino in luxurious Perryville was pretty good.  It was!  But you have to walk through rows and rows of people playing slot machines and other gambling devices, and if any of them were having a good time feeding money into those machines, they surely hid it well.  I don't see it as fun, but my tastes and choices often run counter to the popular.  

I don't know how the casino business in Maryland is doing. I know they're just about to open another huge pleasure palace down near the ballparks in Baltimore, and the one at the Arundel Mills Mall seems to be packed all the time - so much so that the people who hang around the attached parking garage to wait for winners to emerge with their pockets full of twenties so that they can hold them up at gunpoint are having a hard time finding parking, and often have to park at satellite locations and get bused in.

The television commercials show young, zesty, lusty people tossing dice and playing cards, raking in chips, sipping the finest liquors and just having one Big Night Out, and I wish them the best, for all concerned.  Up in New Jersey, the Atlantic City boom seems to be ending, and I'd hate to see that happen here before it even really begins.