economy

There were, a few moments ago, no fewer than 67 people waiting to check into the Flamingo hotel at 1230 pm on a Wednesday. A look at the group did not suggest that these were all, or even mostly, March Madness bettors. If the economy has affected attendance here, it is difficult to discern. I took a tour through the Imperial Palace, Bally's, and Caesars to see if there were congregants there awaiting the rush of tomorrow. Bally's and IP were all but empty. Caesars was not. Almost all seats were taken in the open area of the sports book. There seems to be many more reserved sections than in the past.

In a few minutes I will be travelling to the Gamblers Book Shop for a podcast interview with Howard Schwartz the owner of the store. Yesterday was a busy day with interviews on sports radio stations in Columbus, Richmond, and St. Louis. This morning a student scribe from Northeastern phoned with some questions.