Word: reno
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...late humorist Robert Benchley hated pigeons and once declared war on them. But he warned darkly: "I have a horrible feeling that the pigeons are going to win." Now the fight has been taken up by the city fathers of Reno, who discovered a problem with pigeons-the flying variety, not the birds at the gambling tables. Across the main street arches a neon sign that proclaims Reno to be THE BIGGEST LITTLE CITY IN THE WORLD. Trouble is, pigeons love the sign, and after they had deposited close to a ton of droppings on it, the methane gas created...
Harrah's approach to managing the chaotic business of gambling is to leave nothing to chance. High above its crowded Reno and Lake Tahoe casinos, where $2 billion changes hands each year, security guards crawl along steel catwalks and watch for cheaters through one-way ceiling mirrors. Near by, cashiers match bingo winners against a computerized list of more than 4,000 cards. Players who switch cards, load dice or pinch bets pose a constant threat to profitability. So does the danger of thievery by employees: to discourage theft, cash from the company's 3,900 gaming tables...
...opulence as Harrah's tries to upgrade the quality of its clientele. Each room at its recently expanded Tahoe hotel cost $100,000 to construct and contains two baths with telephones and miniature Sony TV sets. A similarly posh addition is planned eventually for Reno, where the company faces new competition next year from two large hotels now under construction, the MGM Grand and the Sahara. In still another move designed to boost income, Harrah's has begun manufacturing more $1 one-armed bandits-slot machines that take a dollar to play. They produce higher revenue per pull...
...starting to search elsewhere for new jackpots. On the drawing board at corporate headquarters are plans for an Australian casino ("They're the gamblingest fools in the world down there," says Dyer) and "Harrah's World," a Disney-like entertainment-gambling complex west of Reno. But the company's aversion to debt and its insistence on rigid controls over the tiniest details of its business mean Harrah's will probably not diversify very fast. The odds are heavy against its opening a casino in New Jersey any time soon...
...losers are the Desert Inn, Frontier and Landmark hotels in Las Vegas. The Sands and Harold's Club, located in Reno, are nourishing. The Castaways, a Las Vegas hotel-casino, and the Silver Slipper casino are barely breaking even...