The passage of Propositions 5 and then 1a in California had ushered in an explosion in Indian gaming in that state. With the legal status of California's tribal casinos fully clarified and with an expansion of the sorts of gambling these casinos are permitted to provide, rapid growth in the number of new casinos as well as in the size of existing facilities was inevitable. By the end of 2002, California has already surpassed New Jersey as the number two state in gross gambling revenues (after Nevada, of course.) Despite this, relatively little has been written about California as a gambling destination. The book, Jackpot Trail: Indian Gaming in Southern California attempts to provide some information on the state of gaming in this rapidly changing region.
Jackpot Trail is not just about the gambling facilities at California's 22 southern-most Indian casinos. The book starts by providing a brief history of the plight of these tribes since the arrival of Europeans in the last half of the 18th century. Certainly, the treatment that Native Americans have received at the hands of their conquerers has been nothing less than horrific, and the depiction of events in this book, while brief, certainly reflects this. On the other hand, while this history is intrinsically fascinating, I do find it somewhat difficult to accommodate in what is essentially a gambler's travel guide. Perhaps that's just me. It's clear that the authors intend the book to be about more than just gambling. It's not clear to me that the book's readers will feel the same way. I suppose some will and some won't.
The bulk of the book is devoted to detailing the facilities at all the California Indian casinos south of, say, Bakersfield. For convenience, these casinos are grouped into five regions. Each casino within a region receives a great deal of attention regarding the games that are available, food and lodging possibilities, and other regional attractions. The descriptions that are given provide a lot of information, but they're not always consistent, nor are they always as thorough as I'd like in a book this size that covers only 22 sites. Generally, it seems as if the authors emphasize whatever the representatives of various casinos have asked them to emphasize. Less effort than I would have liked went in to making a side-by-side comparison possible. On the game front, a great deal more information is provided on which slot machines are available than we get for video poker or table games. We often get details on the costs of the buffets, but trying to discern value in other parts of the casino operation is more difficult. Instead we get marketing code words, such as "reasonably priced drinks", which actually tells us very little.
Despite the fact that too many of the descriptions sound like they've been lifted directly from each casino's advertizing brochures, there is a great deal of good information here. One thing I like best is that there are actual directions on how to get to these places, complete with road maps to show where they are. Since these facilities are often off the beaten path, this can be very useful. In my opinion, this is one of the relative failings of otherwise fine comprehensive casino information sources such as Steve Bourie's American Casino Guide. Also, after one strips away the marketing veneer it is possible to get a reasonable sense of the flavor of each individual locale, so overall I would have to say that Jackpot Trail achieves its goals. Certainly, if I were planning an excursion to Southern California's casino country, I would find it a useful aid in planning my trip.
On the down side, the casino descriptions in Jackpot Trail are uneven and seem to be mostly lifted from each facility's marketing brochures. Despite this, the book basically achieves its goals. There's enough useful information in its pages so that it should be possible for someone to use it to plan a fairly comprehensive gambling trip through the region, even if side-by-side comparisons of various facilities won't always be easy. The authors also provide some cultural and historical information about the people who operate these casinos and their ancestors, which readers will either find fascinating background or a distraction from the main focus of the book.
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