UNITED STATES

Reno is northern Nevada's largest city. Reno and nearby Sparks draw most of their gamblers from California. In general, Reno offers a less glamorous setting for the gambler than Las Vegas, with smaller casinos and less spectacular entertainment. Fortunately, this is beginning to change, with a new MGM Grand and Sahara (on the same scale as their Las Vegas predecessors) now open in Reno.

Lake Tahoe is really a gambling area. Located over six thou-sand feet up in the Sierra Mountains, the lake is politically divided down the center, with the west side in California and the east side in Nevada. The gambling is on the north and south ends of the lake on the Nevada side, and most of the hotels and local homes are on the California side. The ski season in the winter and water sports in the summer combine with the gambling indus-try to make this area ideal for vacationers all year round.

The south shore is the most popular end of the lake and has the larger casinos, such as Harrah's, Harvey's, and the Sahara. The north shore offers less entertainment than the south, and has had an uphill struggle to compete with the large casinos. Consequently, the north shore seems to attract more vacationers and one-day players from California. You should be aware of the change to higher altitude in these locations. It may cause an adjustment problem for some people, increasing errors and decreasing the amount of time they can play before fatigue becomes a factor.

There are a number of other moderately sized casinos in Ne-vada, such as East Reno's Nugget or the Carson City Nugget, and numerous tiny "dust joints" throughout the state. You should be extremely careful in any of the dust joints because of their size. They can't afford to let anyone walk away a big winner-it takes too long to catch up (winnings that will let you walk away unno-ticed in Las Vegas will make you a permanent house enemy in a small casino). Consequently, the pit boss will go to great lengths to see that you don't take your winnings with you. How that can be done is shown in Chapter Four.

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