LAS VEGAS CASINOS: THEN AND NOW AND THEN SOME!

Visitors to Las Vegas know all about the fantastical high-end resorts called Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Encore, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, Palazzo, Paris Las Vegas, Venetian, Wynn and the soon-to-be resorts within a resort called, “City Center.”

Those of us who remember what Las Vegas was like back in the day when names like Dunes, Hacienda, Stardust, Sands, Desert Inn graced the marquees on the strip can still get a hint of the past with stately survivors like the Riviera, Sahara, and Tropicana, still standing and still kind of surviving after all these years.

Remember when Las Vegas consistently paid 3 to 2 on blackjack? Many of us who like to gamble absolutely refuse to sit down at a blackjack table that pays out a blackjack at the rate of 6 to 5. We refuse to concede this much advantage back to the house. Are you listening, Las Vegas? Are you LISTENING? How about doing the right thing by returning the 3 to 2 payout to America’s favorite card game? The name of the game is blackjack and getting a blackjack should be a thrill again. Remember when Binion’s downtown let someone bet as much as he wanted on a blackjack hand? Remember when slot machines used real coins and a nickel slot machine only accepted one nickel per pull of the mechanical arm? And when a buffet, known back then as a “chuck wagon,” cost only $3.49 or so at a top class joint like the Dunes?

In those days, especially at places like the Hacienda, which stood at the approximate location of the Four Seasons and Mandalay Bay today, one could park the car within 20 feet of the room in which one actually stayed.

Today, my father and mother, who are 86 and 84 years old respectively, cannot go to Vegas anymore because the walk from the car to the casinos and restaurants, even from valet or handicapped parking, or from the room to the pool or the casinos, is just too long a journey for them to make.

Las Vegas is a mix now of the old and the new but if one still wants to go “retro” and indulge oneself in the ambience and “wholesomeness” of days gone by, there are ways to do it.

The crew of GamblingResort.com, the casino information and hotel booking company, sometimes goes to various gambling destinations to shoot photos for the travel site or to rate various venues for the benefit of potential visitors. GamblingResort.com uses a “Four Ace” scale. Top places receive “4 Aces.” Less glamorous places may receive only “1 Ace” or even the, “Joker.” Visit, GamblingResort.com and see for yourself.

No online travel site in the world has such a high number and wider variety of quality gambling resort and casino photos as does GamblingResort.com. Go to GamblingResort.com and see how the various casinos and hotels are rated and to see all the cool photos.

The purpose of this recent trip to Las Vegas was to try to find remnants of the “old” Vegas, or to seek out newer places that reminded one of the older Vegas. The Eastside Cannery on the Boulder Highway in Henderson is one such place. It is a high quality resort, brand-spanking new and modern with easy access to a wide-open parking lot. It has a beautiful, airy casino and classic stylings abound. Reminds one of a time when Vegas was simpler, cheaper and less frenetic. Same applies to its older sister property in North Las Vegas, the Cannery. Both places seem almost “retro” in their personalities and both seem to want to cater to the local crowd and any out-of-towners who might be lost by the sheer magnitude and scope of the over-arching strip resorts.

Another casino you might want to visit that should not be left out of this discussion is Jerry’s Nugget, also in North Las Vegas. Founded in 1964, you might think it was actually 1964 all over again as you stroll up to one of the entrances off North Las Vegas Boulevard. Remember 1964? That was the year that the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Not too far away from the Eastside Cannery is the old downtown section of Henderson on or near Water Street. Here reside a few interesting casino throwbacks called the Eldorado, Emerald Island, and the Rainbow Club.

f you want to step back in time, at least for a few hours, check out these places for timeless architecture, low key gambling, reasonably priced bar drinks and meal specials in their cozy and comfortable restaurants.

Next time you visit Vegas to enjoy the latest amenities and the newest resorts, step back in time for a bit by cruising the outskirts of town for an approximation of how Vegas used to be.

The Casino on Main Street vs. the Casino on Wall Street; Gambling Initiatives on the Ballot This Year

GamblingResort.com takes an ironic look at gambling initiatives on the ballots in six states this election year, 2008, as seen in the context of the current economic crisis facing the country.

This election year, voters in six states will get the chance to decide the fate of ballot initiatives related to casino gambling or lotteries.

Casinos provide a way for local governments to collect additional revenue without raising taxes especially when the tax base is shrinking as in the current economic crisis.

Bad financial news has everybody worried. The money managers on Wall Street rolled the dice by over-leveraging complex financial instruments and the dice came up snake eyes. The American taxpayer has been left with the markers. It may take years to overcome this disaster and for confidence to return to the financial system.

Many Americans have investments in stocks or own a home or both. Over the past year, the value of these investments has plummeted. As a result, confidence in the institutions of government and in the capitalist system is at an all time low.

Before the recent calamities, bank activities have never been more opaque. The financial dealings of publicly held banks and corporations are supposed to be transparent. Investors, with the assurances of analysts and rating agencies, make decisions based on the belief in this transparency. But some of these businesses were apparently leveraged to the tune of forty dollars borrowed for every dollar held as an asset. This ratio was not sustainable. Most investors were kept in the dark.

Investments in good stocks, bonds and real estate traditionally pay off over time. These investments are not defined as “games of chance.” When someone applies disciplined investment skills with proper due diligence and investigation in a time when the economy is growing and both public and private debt is low, success has a better of chance of, well, succeeding.

When Americans dig for the money in their pockets to make a bet, their expectations of success depend on the type of game they choose to play.

Who among us believes that he will ever consistently beat a slot machine except with some luck? Who doesn’t believe that over time one’s real estate investment will not pay off? Or, that one’s investment in a growing and ever more profitable company will not be safe?

It seems that the casinos on the main streets in the gambling towns across America are more honest than the casinos on Wall Street because even though the casinos in these towns take a decided edge, everybody understands this.

And people like to go to places like Vegas. The gambling resorts there are comfortable and beautiful. Playing craps or blackjack in such an environment is fun and entertaining. And winning is even possible. One can improve one’s own chances with certain games by employing the proper strategies.

Perhaps the biggest irony in the financial meltdown of 2008 is that even though Vegas casinos are more highly regulated than the Wall Street casino, the ramifications of the dealings on Wall Street on the health and well being of America are more widely felt.

Billions of dollars of investment in so-called “real estate derivatives” and “credit default swaps” had virtually no oversight by government regulators.

Another irony is that Congress, in its infinite wisdom, likes to protect the main street gambler from himself, at least when it comes activities like online poker.

Congress, which regulates interstate commerce, has made the ability to play online poker with other players across state lines and international borders virtually impossible. Poker is considered too sinful. Poker is a game where players compete directly with each other. Yet, some congressmen who decry government interference in the lives of its citizens made government clamp down on poker games and the sites that sponsor them.

A game of Texas Hold ‘Em is more transparent than the games on Wall Street. Sure, the player is disadvantaged by not knowing the hole cards of the other players, but all players are similarly disadvantaged. Players with the right poker skills will ultimately triumph without the need for subterfuge. Subterfuge is the name of the streetcar that runs through the investment houses on Wall Street.

The folks on Wall Street gamble with trillions of dollars of other people’s money with little regulation while the online poker player with a few hundred dollars at his disposal is treated with contempt.

This moral prohibition against online poker seems so comical and petty in light of the dire situation we all find ourselves in.

But since Congress won’t act to legalize online poker, in a way that would also regulate it and tax it, the average citizen really has no way to realize his hopes on an issue like this.

Perhaps this is the time to promote the idea of national referendums to overcome the inertia and corruption of Congress. Let the people do on a national level what they are able to do on a local level. Gather enough signatures in enough states, get these signatures certified by a proper authority and then allow a vote on the initiatives that qualify.

Gambling initiatives will, however, appear on ballots this November, 2008, in the states of Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Missouri and Ohio.

This article is not written to defend or endorse any of the issues. Each measure has its pros and cons. It is best to let the voters of each state decide. Here is a brief rundown of them:

Arkansas. Proposed Constitutional Amendment 3. Allows for the state General Assembly to establish and operate a state lottery with the proceeds going to help pay for college scholarships.

Colorado. Amendment 50. Gambling is currently legal in three towns in Colorado: Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek. This measure would increase the betting limits from $5 to $100. It would allow for 24-hour operations. It would also allow casinos to add other games besides blackjack, such as craps and roulette. If voters in the state approve the measure, the three local communities would also have to approve the measures by ballot.

Maine. Question 2. Like Ohio below, this measure will allow for the construction of one casino, this one to be built in the town of Oxford, Oxford County. It will be called the Oxford Resort, Spa Casino. No other gaming facility could be built for ten years in the state. Tax receipts would be divided among various projects and causes. The gambling age would be lowed to 19 from 21.

Maryland. Question 2. Would allow up to 15,000 video lottery terminals to be installed at five different locations. About half the revenues will be spent on education in state schools from pre-k to the college level..

Missouri. Measure A. Would remove the daily loss limits for gamblers. Today, no gambler can buy chips in excess of $500 in any given two hour period. Also, players must be tracked by ID cards as a way to enforce this rule. This measure would limit the number of casinos in the state to the current thirteen. Provides additional funds for education. Provides new funds for veterans’ services.

Ohio. State Issue 6. This is a constitutional amendment that would allow the construction of one gambling resort in Southwest Ohio in Clinton County. Tax revenues would be shared by all 88 counties in the state.

GamblingResort.com can come to no over-arching conclusion to the discussion points outlined in this article. Ironies in the way government regulates both the casinos on Main Street and the casinos on Wall Street have been merely noted. The politicians seem to have drawn the line against those who wish to play online poker. Now they are too pre-occupied with the current economic crisis to even give the issue the logical re-evaluation that it deserves.

GamblingResort.com is a travel website dedicated to those who like to visit gambling destinations like Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Reno, Laughlin and Atlantic City. It is a great information resource as well. All sorts of useful and timely information can be had here. One can also book hotels directly at the site.

The Trip to the Casinos of Reno, Carson City and Virginia City!

Part IV

Travel Information Provided by

GamblingResort.com

GamblingResort.com visits gambling destinations on occasion so as to provide visitors with timely travel and casino information. The crew of Gambling Resort.com recently traveled to Reno, Carson City and Virginia City, Nevada, to explore the many dimensions of these historical places.

Carson City has a long and colorful history. It has been the capital of the Nevada Territory since it was established in 1861 during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Statehood came quickly, only three years later in 1864, as the the Civil War raged on, and the the city has remained as the capital throughout.

The population of the town has ebbed and flowed over the years. The boom and bust days of mining activity in nearby Virginia City and other towns, the construction and re-routing of various railroad transit points have contributed to major population swings.

To visit Carson City and Virginia City is to step back in time. The story now continues from Part III:

Carson City became a major freight and staging area for all the mining activity in Virginia City, in the 1860's and 1870's, with the help of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad, the V & T. Timber harvested in the Lake Tahoe basin became finished lumber here that ultimately helped to stabilize the mines in Virginia City and other mining towns.

Lumber was an essential component in the underground mines of Virginia City. Since collapsing mine shafts were a major killer of miners, a method had to be developed to protect the miner from the ever increasing problem of collapsing walls as the miners dug deeper into the mountain in pursuit of a vein of silver that turned out to be a half mile wide and seven miles long.

A mining engineer from Germany, Philip Deidesheimer, studied the problem and developed a method whereby notched timbers were interlocked into the shape of a honeycomb that allowed miners to go deeper and deeper into the mine without fear of the walls caving in around them.

This strategy, called the "Square Set," was soon duplicated in mines all over the world. Over time, some 750 miles of tunnels were dug beneath Virginia City with the help of the "Square Set." 500 million dollars worth of silver was ultimately hauled out of the Comstock. That represents several billion dollars in today's terms.

Miners came to the area in the 1850's in pursuit of gold. But they were plagued by conditions that were less than desirable. A blue sticky mud clung to their boots, to their tools and to their wagons. This gluey concoction made mining for a gold a miserable endeavor.

This mud, however, had a metallic sheen to it, as seen in the wheel tracks left by the wagons.

A sample of this glop was hauled over the mountains to an assayer's office in Grass Valley in California for analysis. The suspicions of the miners proved correct. This mud was worth a fortune. It held some $2,000 worth of silver per ton of mud. Word finally got out and Virginia City would never look back.

Henry Comstock, a drifter and miner, sold for $11,000 his questionably obtained 1/3 interest in the Ophir Mine here, which was to become the largest silver mine in the world. Mining claims were bought and sold and investors from San Francisco like George Hearst made fortunes that helped to fuel the building of that city on the Bay.

At its peak, some 30,000 persons made Virginia City home. The gambling halls and saloons along "C" Street became the center of the universe for a time. Virginia City was raucous, energetic, dangerous, crowded and populated by a rogue's gallery of outlaws, drifters and hustlers. Still others who came to town were well-intentioned.

So many eked out a difficult living as laborers in the mines, in harsh conditions, for two or three dollars a day, while others gambled and drank the hours away to no good end. A drink in the saloon was a welcomed thing. The temperature in the mine increased by five degrees for every hundred feet decline. At 2,000 feet below the surface, the temperature was 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Water flooded these mines as well and had to be pumped out while the tools became too hot to even handle.

A witness to the activities inside both the mines and saloons was a gentleman from Missouri named Samuel Clemens. He came to town and became a reporter for the local newspaper, the "Territorial Enterprise" using the pen name Mark Twain. In 1861, he wrote, "In Nevada, the cheapest and easiest way to become an influential man and to be looked up to by the community-at-large was to stand behind a bar, wear a clustered diamond pin and sell whiskey. To be a saloonkeeper and to kill a man was to be illustrious. More than one man was killed in Nevada under hardly the pretext of provocation, so impatient was the slayer to achieve reputation."

By 1864, Mr. Twain left town and later achieved a certain reputation himself as author of "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn."

One can walk down the center of "C" Street today in Virginia City and intuitively know what life was like there years ago. The appearance of the town has survived nearly unchanged for decades. The wooden and brick walls of these buildings and the wooden sidewalks too emit an unmistakable historical charm from every visible pore.

It is difficult to know for sure what the casinos and saloons that serve whiskey today were like in the day or if they even existed at all. The Delta Saloon, however, first opened its doors in 1863 and is alive and well today in its current manifestation. The Bucket of Blood Saloon has been around since 1876. It was built after the great fire of 1875 that destroyed some 1,000 structures in town. The McBride family has owned and operated the business since 1931.

GamblingResort.com is a travel website dedicated to the proposition that all worthwhile casinos, especially those flanked by history, deserve special attention. Useful information and photos of the venues can be found here as well. One can plan a trip to any gambling destination and book hotels directly at the site. Gambling Resort.com is ready when you are.

The Trip to the Casinos of Reno, Carson City and Virginia City!

Part III

Travel Information Provided by

GamblingResort.com

Reno, Nevada is a great place to visit. The traveling crew of the website, GamblingResort.com, can attest to that.

Reno seems like such a nice place to live as well.

The nearby towns of Carson City, the state capital, and Virginia City, home to the famous Comstock Silver Strike of 1859, are also great places to visit. Both locations seem almost unchanged by time as reflected in the architecture of buildings there that have mercilessly escaped the wrecking ball.

The Carson City Mint, built at the peak of the silver boom in 1866, now home to the Nevada State Museum, still stands. The Federal Building, also in Carson City, built in 1890, is another impressive landmark.

If you are going to Reno on business or if you are coming to explore the various gambling establishments on North or South Virginia Street and you have more than a few hours to spare, do yourself a big favor. Find U.S. Highway 395 south and head directly to these towns.

Carson City is 32 miles south of Reno. Virginia City is 26 miles south, but it takes a bit of effort to negotiate the twists and turns of Nevada State Highway 341 up Mt. Davidson as it leads you into town.

Carson City today has a population of about 55,000.  In area, the town covers a lot of ground, some 156 square miles. Downtown Carson City lies in a place called Eagle Valley. The Carson Range looms to the west and the Virginia Range to the east.

The casinos of Carson City and Virginia City are profiled on the travel pages of GamblingResort.com. Photos of the casinos are available there as well.

The casinos in Carson City are very modestly designed and cannot really be compared to their flashy counterparts in Reno or Las Vegas. These places have been built with the locals in mind.

Bodines Casino is a newer facility, very nice indeed. It is large and spacious inside. It lies at the south end of town on Highway 395, a road otherwise known as South Carson where it intersects Old Clear Creek Road.

The folks at GamblingResort.com spent a lot of time at Casino Fandango, south of downtown, also on South Carson Street. The visit here was a pleasant surprise. The low key exterior of the place gave way to an interior of lush tropical rain forest vegetation illuminated by a cool and mellow assortment of colorful neon.

The lunch buffet there was exceptional.

Two of the classic casinos in Carson City and ones that more closely reflect the character of the older part of the city are the Carson Nugget and the Carson Horseshoe Club. They sit smack in the center of town on North Carson Street.

Just inside the front doors of the Carson Nugget, a large glass case features a motley collection of nuggets of genuine gold, saved from the smelters, in all their brilliant and jagged-edged glory.

Carson City has a long and colorful history. It has been the capital of the Nevada Territory since it was established in 1861 during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Statehood came quickly, only three years later in 1864, as the Civil War raged on, and the city has remained as the capital throughout.

The population of the town has ebbed and flowed over the years. The boom and bust days of mining activity in nearby Virginia City and other towns, the construction and re-routing of various railroad transit points have contributed to major population swings.

The next dispatch from Carson City and Virginia City follows shortly, in Part IV.

GamblingResort.com visits gambling destinations on occasion so as to provide visitors with timely travel and casino information. The crew of GamblingResort.com recently traveled to Reno, Carson City and Virginia City, Nevada, to explore the many dimensions of these historical places.

Stay tuned!

Reno is a Long, Long Way from Las Vegas!

The Trip to the Casinos of Reno, Nevada

Part II

Travel Information Provided by GamblingResort.com

Reno has so much in common with other cities in small town America. Quiet tree-lined streets. Beautiful older neighborhoods. Free flowing traffic.

Cruise by foot along historic North Virginia Street, however, the main road through Reno. The buildings here stand in sharp contrast to the buildings in other small towns: sky high, fantastical casinos that throw long shadows over the narrow street below.

The neighborhood blocks of downtown where most of the casinos in Reno are concentrated barely seem able to contain these soaring structures.

Maybe this is why Reno is known as "The Biggest Little City in the World."

This city lacks the scale and scope of a place like Las Vegas. But to most folks, this is a good thing. Many a down low gambler prefers the small town atmospherics of a place like Reno. A dollar seems to go a long way here.

Reno, really a medium sized city with a small town pulse, has a current population of 210,000. It lies 26 miles north of the Nevada state capitol of Carson City, 22 miles northeast of Lake Tahoe and a long, long way from Vegas.

Believe it or not, Reno was the birthplace of Harrah's Entertainment, founded in 1937 as a bingo parlor by William F. Harrah.

Today Harrah's has evolved into the largest gaming company in the world that operates under many different labels.

The company, once publicly traded, is now owned by a group of private investors. This casino empire includes well-known gambling resorts such as Bally's, Caesars Palace, Flamingo, Paris Las Vegas and the Horseshoe brand in different locations.

The traveling crew of GamblingResort.com, which has been on a road trip recently to re-visit various gambling destinations, fell in love with Reno all over again because it believes that Reno is unique and special place.

Reno is a hybrid of positive attributes with its Wild West frontier sensibilities, its close proximity to small farms and ranches in the Carson Valley, to old mining towns like Virginia City and the ski resorts of Lake Tahoe.

One can gamble the hours away in a mega resort like Harrah's or the Silver Legacy or the Eldorado, all on North Virginia Street, then find oneself a few moments later, on the banks of picturesque Truckee River, a calming presence by any standard.

Step outside one of these casinos, head south for a few short blocks, and there you are.

The Truckee River flows through a fertile valley called Truckee Meadows from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake. It is a thumping life force that runs through the heart of downtown Reno.

Time spent on a patch of grass near a thicket of trees at the edge of the river could be the perfect antidote to any gambler who might need a spot to readjust his attitude after a run of bad luck at the nearby gaming tables.

The travel website, GamblingResort.com, provides information about all the casinos in Reno, Virginia City, Carson City and Lake Tahoe. It is a great resource for those planning to visit one of these gambling destinations.

One can find all sorts of useful stuff at GamblingResort.com, including photos, casino statistics, map locators, addresses and phone numbers for every casino in the USA and beyond. One can also book hotels here. Give it a try!

Stay tuned for upcoming dispatches from Virginia City and Carson City.

The Trip to the Casinos of Reno, Nevada

Travel Information provided by GamblingResort.com

The Trip to Reno, Part I

The privileged crew of GamblingResort.com has spent a lot of time on the road recently to see Indian casinos in the Central Valley of California and in the Gold Country.

Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino in Coarsegold, California, some 35 miles northeast of Fresno, as been the highlight of the trip so far.

GamblingResort.com visits casinos from time to time so as to provide visitors to this ever popular website with timely travel and casino information.

Many days have been spent driving north through the Gold Country of California. But the time had come to turn the car around and head back home.

It also became time to face the reality that one was returning to a life in the asphalt jungle of Los Angeles and away from the towering pines and fresh air of the Sierra Nevada foothills.

The saloons, gambling halls and old haunts in the gold mining towns nestled in these hills once drew hopeful treasure seekers from around the world. Would be nice to spend more time here and learn more about the history of these places.

Yet the time had come to pull out the map to find the road that would get the GamblingResort.com crew back home in the quickest way possible.

Highway 49 is the main road that connects one Gold Rush town to another. It winds its way through narrow valleys and undulating hills of unparalleled beauty. Highway 49 ultimately leads to other California highways that will take one anywhere else.

As the car headed north to Highway 50, so as to make the connection west to Sacramento and Interstate 5, the members of this expedition were no longer in the best of moods.

Even though these travelers experienced some of the deprivations of roadside living for a spell, they did not like the idea of returning, so soon, to a life of Starbucks and flat screen TVs, nice as these things are.

The passengers were all looking for a way out of this polyurethane pillbox that was now pushing them headlong into Interstate 5.

I-5 is that highway through the Central Valley that truckers take when they need to get some place in a hurry. No consideration is given here to the geological stimulation that a slower road would provide.

Everybody in the car was looking at everybody else in the car wondering if what the others were thinking mirrored what he was thinking.  Was mutiny on their minds?

"Let's go to Reno," someone finally blurts out. "Turn this damn car around. Let's see what's going on in Reno."

Reno seemed so far away at this hour of the night. Reno is even located in another state, after all. But the idea of going there seemed too compelling to ignore. Reno, Nevada, is, by all accounts, "The Biggest Little City in the World."

No modern soul could ever hope to know the feeling a 49'er felt, after months of travel, across plain and prairie, over mountain trail and narrow mountain pass, or by ship upon a turbulent sea, when he first saw the faint glow of lights of the town of his final destination.

When the crew of GamblingResort.com finally reached the summit of Donner Pass over Interstate 80 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the mood inside the car reached new heights as well.

Reno was only minutes away now and everybody knew it. The close confines of the car would soon give way to the camaraderie and good cheer that only the casinos in a town like Reno could deliver.

GamblingResort.com showcases Reno and other gambling destinations on its travel pages. Hotels and casinos at these destinations are rated for overall quality on a "4 Ace" scale. A rating of "1 Ace" is nothing to brag about. A rating of "4 Aces" is.

GamblingResort.com actually tries to visit the places it rates. Over time, many of the gambling resorts in the world will have been personally examined, one way or another, by a member of the crew of GamblingResort.com.

Stay tuned for Part Two of the Trip to the casinos of Reno, Carson City and Virginia City, Nevada.

The State of Indian Casinos in the Central Valley of California

Traveling Information Provided by

GamblingResort.com

The happy-go-lucky traveling bloggers from GamblingResort.com hit the road this week to take a look at a few of the Indian casinos in the great Central Valley and Gold Country territory of California.

Any time the crew can hit the road and get away from the stressful environs of Los Angeles is time well spent.

Departing from Long Beach by car and first driving over the never-ending "Grapevine" of Interstate 5, these travelers made the transition to the old Highway 99 heading north towards Fresno. This road is a more direct route to casinos that are sprinkled throughout the farm belt of the Central Valley.

Fresno was to be tonight's welcomed resting place after visits to both the Eagle Mountain Casino west of Porterville and the Tachi Palace near Lemoore.

To find Eagle Mountain, head east on Highway 190 from Highway 99 towards Porterville, then right on Road 284, left on Indian Reservation Road and follow the signs along a road some 11 miles long and full of switchbacks right to the casino.

This road winds through territory that is occupied by the Tule River Tribe of Yokuts. The trip is slow going to anyone who might happen to get stuck behind groups of gamblers riding buses provided by the casino. Plenty of buses seemed to be making this trip in both directions.

Evidence of brush fires blanket the surrounding hills as this land is hot and dry in summertime. It is unclear how recent these brush fires were but the blackened hills extend as far as the eye can see along this road to the casino.

For more information about this casino, click here.

After spending some time in the casino and dropping a few bucks at the tables, the GamblingResort.com crew headed back into the Central Valley for the town of Lemoore, location of the Tachi Palace.

Tachi Palace is a massive and impressive architectural complex that rises out of the cornfields and dairy farms of the Valley. This casino and hotel resort lies west of Highway 99 and north of Corcoran State Prison and is easy to get to. But keep your road map or GPS handy.

For more information about Tachi Palace, click here.

It is owned and operated by the Tachi Yokut Tribe on the Santa Rosa Rancheria.

After spending a night in Fresno, the traveling bloggers of GamblingResort.com also visited the Table Mountain Casino in Friant and the more "modest" Mono Wind Casino in Auberry, both long drives, so it seemed, from Fresno. More information about these casinos can be found here and here, respectively.

Check out the unique photos of these casinos and the other casinos mentioned in this report on GamblingResort.com. This travel site features the best and most extensive collection of gambling resort photos on the internet.

The highlight of this part of the trip came when the crew headed northeast into the hills beyond Fresno in search of Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino in a place called Coarsegold.

Chukchansi Gold is no ordinary casino. This is one of the most beautiful Indian casinos in the entire United States. This casino rates "4 Aces" at GamblingResort.com and for good reason.

Part luxury resort lodge, part mining encampment, but gilded by gold in every respect, Chukchansi Gold is tucked away among towering trees in an area far from the madding crowds of the city. It is a peaceful place where one can gamble to the end of time without ever realizing that time has passed at all, as long as the bankroll holds out of course.

According to Wikipedia, the name of Coarsegold derives from the California Gold Rush of the 1850's when prospectors discovered coarse lumps of gold in a nearby creek. Dozens of gold mines operated in the area at one time.

After finally departing Fresno and the hot Central Valley, the crew of GamblingResort.com headed north and then east again into the cooler climes of the Sierra Nevada foothills.

This is truly the "Gold Country" of California where some 150 years ago gold was discovered on the American River at Coloma at Sutter's Mill in 1848. Virtually overnight, towns sprang up nearby to accommodate the incoming hordes of new arrivals from around the world.

The historic and scenic Highway 49 runs through these towns and is one of the most spectacularly beautiful routes a car traveler could ever hope to take.

Towns like Jamestown, Sonora, Columbia, Angels Camp and Jackson, some with wooden sidewalks still intact, evoke memories of a time when the typical possessions prized by the settlers were a mining pan, a pick-axe and a mule.

But, what is a gold miner doing in a gold mining town without a deck of cards and a pair of dice?

Hard days spent scratching the earth for nuggets of gold evolved or, maybe, devolved, into long nights of drinking and gambling. Saloons, gambling halls and cat houses lined the streets of these towns and when the gold played out, the next town over the next hill offered comfort until the gold played out there too.

But step out of the car for a moment and into the morning coolness of a summer day in these hills and the smell of gold still hangs in the air as it did way back then.

Step into Black Oak Casino in Tuolumne, only 10 miles from Sonora.  This place is a true reflection of the modern Indian casino set in the lush green environment of Gold Country. Tuolumne County, after all, is home to Yosemite National Park. Take Highway 49 south to Highway 120 east. No natural wonder in the world can compare to Yosemite.

Black Oak Casino has a towering entry way, a 23,000 square foot casino, some 28 table games and over 1,000 slots.

This place is at the epicenter of Gold Country and the wholesome, fresh air that goes with that.

The last stop in Central California for the now weary travelers of GamblingResort.com was in Jackson, location of the Jackson Rancheria Casino. This resort is owned by the Jackson Rancheria Band of Miwuk Indians.

The casino is some 250,000 square feet. Once inside, it gets somewhat difficult to find the nearest exit. The place was packed with people midday on a Tuesday. The parking structure behind the casino is huge as well, necessary to accommodate the rush of cards streaming in.

Imposing sculptures of eagles and bison adorn the pathway to the casino and photos of these creature can be found here.

It is alone worth the trip into these hills to see these beautiful animals on display in all their representational glory.

The travel website, GamblingResort.com, provides information about all Indian casinos in California and other states. It is a great resource for those planning to visit a gambling destination here or anywhere else in the country. One can find all sorts of useful stuff, including photos, casino statistics, map locators, addresses and phone numbers for every casino in the USA and beyond. One can also book hotels at GamblingResort.com. Give it a try!