Captives in a Casino

Ice Storms Left East Chicago Ameristar Casino Visitors Trapped

The decision to make our monthly trek for an overnight to the Ameristar East Chicago Casino on Christmas night was easy since we were already halfway there because of our family Christmas celebration. I'm pretty sure God wasn't tickled as we first drove to one local casino on the way and left us with our pants fitting looser in the seat, but we still had one more stop, the last and best for the evening, The Ameristar. We had a room for the evening and I was looking forward to their plush facilities.

Check in was swift. We took a few of the Christmas goodies we had from our family dinner to the room and snacked to build our energy for the night of gaming. We didn't make the million that I dreamed of, but we didn't lose rapidly so the night lasted quite long. Mike's a man with a schedule. He has to eat at specific times, or close, and sleep on schedule. I on the other hand have problems sleeping. Eating is something I do only because it's there and I think there's a rule somewhere that says I have to do it. He, as usual, became tired first and went back to the room. He left me on the gaming floor with $20, my final limit for the night. Of course, I meandered around, loving to watch the action as much as playing the game myself. There were people hitting everywhere and I became engrossed, suddenly, it was 5:00 a.m. and I'd promised myself I'd sleep that night, so back up to the room I went.

We slept late and I was worried we'd be late for the breakfast buffet. We'd saved a special coupon that allowed us $20 food credit or $10 cash. Food credit sounded a lot better and the thought of the buffet made my mouth water. Now, I know that I just said, food isn't that important, but to me the buffet is an event, a dizzying choice of just the right food in the right amount. As we walked through the lobby of the hotel, we noticed that there were an inordinate number of people sleeping in chairs in the lobby. "They're waiting for their spouses to finish gambling", I told Mike with confidence. He remarked that it was quite unusual, and we didn't see anyone from housekeeping in the hall. I shrugged and we walked on to put our bags in the car and then to breakfast.