Absence of clocks allows time to pass unnoticed in casinos of Las Vegas

Press, 11 July 1989, Page 22

Absence of clocks allows time to pass unnoticed in casinos of Las Vegas

Story and pictures by LES BLOXHAM, travel editor, who visited Las Vegas as a guest of Continental Airlines and the Travel Industry Association of America.

Time passes unseen in Las Vegas. Clocks simply have no place in the city’s casinos where $750,000 is gambled every hour of every day of the year. “It’s all part of the psychology of gambling,” explains Don Payne, manager of the Las Vegas News Bureau and a local resident for more than 50 years. "You’ll never find a visible clock in the casinos because they don’t want customers looking up from the tables and saying ‘oh my word, it’s four in the morning— I’d better get out of here’.’’ Instead, the passage of time is punctuated by the clatter of coins spewing from slot machines and the occasional jangle of a jackpot being struck. A more subdued atmosphere exists round the tables where multi-million bets are sometimes paid, and fortunes can be made — or lost — in minutes. Don Payne recalls the day not long ago when a stranger wandered into a casino and announced he wanted to place a million dollar bet on the craps table. “He had a satchel stuffed with banknotes so the staff dutifully set about counting the money until they were satisfied the million existed. "He made one bet and he won. He walked away with two satchels and two million dollars, but the story doesn’t end there. A couple of days later he returned to again try his luck. He lost and his net gain was zero.” The casinos have closely guarded lists of their “high rollers” — big-time gamblers they will readily fly free of charge from anywhere in the world to be wined and dined as guests of the establishment. Japanese and Arabs are among the new generation of high rollers who are prepared to risk millions. Don believes that Americans have become more sophisticated gamblers in recent years. The number of suicides and gambling related crimes in

Las Vegas has dropped substantially. “It took the town time to adjust but most residents realise they just can’t blow their pay cheques in the casinos week after week.” Since gambling was legalised in Nevada 58 years ago, casinos have transformed this once arid desert town

of 7000 people into a booming city of 700,000 that attracts 16 million visitors a year. Of this number, however, 90 per cent are American. Las Vegas is now making a determined bid to lure more international visitors and hopes to boost its current annual figure of 1.3 million foreigners

to more than 3 million within a couple of years. There’s an air of confidence that this figure is going to be met, too. The city already has 60,000 hotel and motel rooms and 20,000 more are under construction. By the end of next year, Las Vegas will have nine of the world’s 10 largest hotels — places like The Mirage with 3600 rooms and the Excalibur’s 4000. Gambling revenue now exceeds SNZ6.6 billion a year and provides employment for 88,000 people.