Strip hotel construction is outpacing modest gains in visitation, driving down prices and profits. Airlines are cutting back discount tourist flights to Clark County s McCarran International Airport, turning their attention to the more profitable business traveler. The resort already has more than 100,000 hotel and motel rooms, the largest supply of accommodations of any destination in the world. It s all I do, all day long, says the Swansea, S.C., resident, who receives disability payments from Social Security. Gambling is like drugs, he says, shifting a wad of tobacco in his cheek.
Some people have more discipline than others.
Over the past decade, South Carolina has become a gambling mecca largely by accident. The vast majority of the state s 31,000 machines line the walls of convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants, truck stops and bars. South Carolina is said to have more gambling machines than any place outside Nevada and New Jersey. Along with this explosive growth has come a surge in horror stories. Two leading national conservatives, Gary Bauer of the Family Research Council and James Dobson of Focus on the Family, are supporting Beasley s crusade.