“…Every Gambler knows the secret to surviving, is knowing what to throw away, and knowing what to keep, ’cause every hand’s a winner, and every hand’s a loser, and the best that you can hope for, is to die in your sleep...”
It was the musical fountains of the Bellagio that greeted us even as the edifice of Caesars Palace stood sentinel to the entertainment capital of the world. Lively streets with music, and one never knew from where it emerged, added that spring to our step. For all of us in our group, this was our first time in Vegas and we were here to have the party of our lives… This was a week before the Mandalay Bay shooting.
There are two sides to Vegas: The Las Vegas Boulevard or the Strip that houses the larger resorts, hotels and casinos. It is on this Strip that you get a taste of all the cultures in the world through their architecture – French, Roman, Italian, Venetian, etc, not to mention Planet Hollywood with its own star performances. The Strip is the place if you are looking at some great performances, gourmet lunches and luxury lifestyle products. It also has a high concentration of casinos. The Strip is close to 7 kms long and begins at the Las Vegas sign just ahead of Mandalay Bay. It will take you a week to do justice to the whole place. We took 4 days and covered about half the Strip.
Then there is Fremont in downtown Vegas. This is essentially one big street party. Fremont houses the older casinos with smaller tables, but the buzz it generates may have few parallels around the world. Together, the Strip and Fremont make this heady cocktail called Las Vegas.
Then there’s the gambling; everyone who comes to Vegas gambles. But they talk about it more than they gamble. The serious gamblers don’t talk.
Stephen Paddock was a serious Gambler. It’s ironic that death to country music fans in Vegas should come from the hands of a gambler. The people of Vegas, Indians included, are proud of their city. They welcome you with open arms and are more than willing to go out of their way to make you comfortable.
Conversations with locals invariably boil down to America and its guns and of course Donald Trump. They like him down here, but their views on guns are divided.
“Guns are okay, but the automatic weapons must go,” says Ed Van Meter, a retired US Army officer.
Ernie Gonzalez, a former Republican party worker, who swears he’s quit politics, argues that states with the strict gun laws have more crime! I’d really like to talk to him now.
Everybody is discussing the Second Amendment in Vegas. But these voices are not new. They’ve been heard before. There was Sandy Hook, Oregon, Colorado Springs, San Bernardino and then the other big one – Orlando. But imagine dying at a country music concert! But the gambler dealing the deck wasn’t the one from the Kenny Rogers song, but Stephen Paddock, a methodical video poker player who complained about loud country music from the room below his, two days before he shot into the concert below.
“Disturbed people can lose it at the drop of a hat, putting a gun in their hand is asking for trouble,” says Ravi Kumar, of Indian origin, who is now a citizen of Clark County. “It’s not just Vegas that’s gambling, America has taken a huge gamble with its guns and it is human lives that are the stakes.”
Meanwhile, the iconic marquees of the Las Vegas Strip and throughout the Vegas Valley are displaying a message of strength, unity and gratitude. The digital signs on hotels and attractions included an image of the Strip and the words, “We’ve been there for you during the good times. Thank you for being there for us now. #VegasStrong.”