What gamblers want?

I live in Northwest Mississippi and most of the time when I tell people the name of my small town, they inform they don't have a clue where it is located. I then explain that I'm 32 miles south of Memphis and 25 miles east of Tunica. Tunica-- everyone has heard of gamblers paradise. Since I've been here, I've seen a lot of commercials for the casinos, but my favorite is the Horseshoe. In sixty seconds or less, different "gamblers" tell viewers what they love about this casino and at the end, a voice tells us that they have what gamblers want. How inviting is that?

The Mississippi Library Association held its annual conference in Tunica October 25-27, but not at the Horseshoe, it was at the Grand Casino and Resort. The excitement was in the air, the conference was cancelled last year because of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I was excited because this would be my first MLA conference and I looked forward to networking and meeting new people. I hadn't been to Tunica since I first moved to MS in July 2006, but I knew that the casinos are not actually in Tunica, they are in Robinsonville (about 10 miles), they are in Tunica county. Anyway, as I drove down highway 61 my mood was bright eventhough it was rainy and wet. Because I assumed that the casinos were all in one area, I didn't bother to print driving directions, so when I began to panic I had to call to get the exact directions to the Grand. I made my turn on Grand Parkway and nothing could have prepared me for the "grandness" that awaited. I admit, I hadn't been to a casino in eight years and I was pleasantly surprised. First of all, it was a resort in every sense of the word. Not only were there two hotels, there was a convention center, a golf course and even a kids quest. The driver of the shuttle bus informed us that the kids quest is where they train the kids. The casino itself sits off on a hill and has all the magnificence of a castle (pictured below).

So I attended my workshops that morning and was starving by 12:00 p.m. I didn't want to drive anywhere, so I hopped on the shuttle and headed over to the casino in search of lunch. Upon entering, I was in awe of the activity! The bright lights, the ching, ching, ching of the slot machines, the cheers, the cursing...wow! Anyway, I finally found a nice little joint in the back of the casino and as I settled in to enjoy my fresh cooked catfish, I read a sign on the wall. It informed readers that the Grand was the spot and at the bottom of the sign there was a number for Gamblers Anonymous, how ironic.

Friday, the conference ended at 12:00 and one of the presenters informed us she was off to play. She was from Atlanta and had been looking forward to her chance to win some dough. Her enthusiasm rubbed off on me and I found myself casing the casino in search for the winning slot machine. I sat down at a nickel machine with the theme of supermarket sweep-- too complicated. I then made my way to a quarter slot machine and loaded my five bucks in-- 20 quarters. I played for five minutes and all my quarters were gone, so I loaded another five bucks in the machine and actually won eighty quarters ($20), but like most gamblers I played it back plus ten dollars more. I was $20 in the hole in less than thirty minutes! I left that place quick, fast and in a hurry. I have vowed to NEVER go to another casino. The need to win is so great that you find yourself sliding in bill after bill. I laugh now, but at the time all I could think about was the pair of shoes I could've bought one of my kids.