Beneath the Neon

Hundreds of couples are living underneath the US gambling mecca Las Vegas and living off the scraps left behind by its patrons. It's claimed that up to 700 people call the network of tunnels beneath the casinos home.

They make their living by scavenging, and working their way down the strip of casinos. Steven moved into the tunnels two years ago after he lost his hotel front-desk job due to a heroin problem he claims he kicked in January. "The most I've ever found is 997 dollars on one machine. I've found about $500 a few times. But normally $20 or so is enough to call it a night.

"We buy food and supplies like shampoo and soap. Last night I went and watched the new Quentin Tarantino movie Inglourious Basterds up at the Palms Hotel."

Pete Sampson wrote the article for The Sun: Link (Photo: Austin Hargrave)

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by MJ.


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from another article...

"E.B. learned a new skill: credit hustling. He wandered through the slots, looking for machines that still had credits on them. Sometimes he picked up $40 or $50 a day."
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Vegas is a real shithole. Having lived here since 2003, I can attest to it. OK to visit, but not to live. Just one big valley with trash blowing around, both garbage and people. There are some decent local restaurants, but anything good is on the Strip and overpriced to suck in the tourists. And bums are everywhere. With a 13.2% unemployment rate, no wonder. "It'll never happen to Vegas! Will be the last to go down and the first to recover!" WRONG. Exact opposite. Lots of drugs, lots of crime. Remember, if it happens here, it stays here! What a motto.
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Well, the article did say that the primary cause of these people living there wasn't poverty (there's a lot of charity that could help) but instead drug addiction and hiding from the law.
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