I celebrated the Bicentennial Summer of 1976 by driving 40 miles north on Route 309 to Tamaqua each and every day. I had to be at the job site before 7 AM to debrief the night shift and get the day shift going. I quickly learned that a 5:30 AM departure was necessary to beat the traffic on weekdays what with the rush to LCCC and even on Saturdays to beat the funseekers headed to the Poconos. But on Sundays, blessed Sundays, the road was empty. I could speed north in solitude.
There was little solitude in Bethlehem yesterday at 5:30 AM. Players began lining up at the casino at that time for the 8:00 AM official start of table games. By 8:30, all sixty one tables were full. Hundreds of gamblers passed up forty winks on a Sunday morning to play blackjack and craps.
Back in 1976, my incentive to spend Sunday morning speeding up Route 309 listening to religious and public service programming on the radio as opposed to a leisurely breakfast with the comic and sports pages was simple. I needed my job. One wonders what pull a roulette wheel can exert to draw people to a casino from a comfortable bed and that second cup of coffee in the early morning hours.
Of course, table gaming is new and exciting and Bethlehem is a lot closer than Atlantic City or Las Vegas. Still, I've grown to cherish lazy Sunday mornings. I'll wait until a more civilized hour to try my luck at the tables.
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