"It seemed to be one of those things that 'Geez, it's just going great. It's never going to end,' " said Victor Kotalion, a 60-year-old laid off card dealer.

Mesquite rose from the desert 20 years ago when real estate mogul Randy Black opened the first of four casinos in Mesquite, which straddles Interstate 15 on the Arizona border.

In the last year, however, Mesquite's gross gambling revenue fell 11 percent while the average daily hotel rate fell 35.4 percent, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. Last month, Black laid off 347 workers and closed much of his Oasis casino.

Mesquite's problems mirror those of other cities and states that bet on gambling as an unending revenue source, the Times reported, noting casinos have laid off workers in Las Vegas and in gambling venues in California, Michigan, Oregon, Connecticut and New York.