If you want to ask a favor of a friend or relative who owns a body shop in Las Vegas, do it tonight. Thanks to a quarter inch of rain or so, the streets are literally strewn with wrecks and fender benders today, including one that, were it not for a fortuitously-placed streetlight, probably would […]
Another tip for you Read More »
life in vegasWe’re having another event in our Gaming Research Colloquium Series at UNLV. Next Tuesday at 12:15 Christina Turdean, a grad student from the University of Delaware, is speaking about her research. The talk is called “Betting on Computers: Digital Technologies and the Rise of the Gaming Industry in the US, 1960-2000.” If you’re on the
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news about gambling, what's newCan people control their behavior? Or, as the Smashing Pumpkins might say, in spite of all our rage, we’re still just rats in a cage? This piece in the Columbian gives a shot at figuring it out, and even quotes your illustrious blogger: Gambling is an example of variable or intermittent reinforcement. A gambler learns
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gambling & culture, news about gamblingI’ve just wrapped up at G2E and probably have about 2 months worth of Business Press article ideas. I’m going to need some time to process everything I’ve learned, but when I do I’m going to be on a roll. My session this morning went well, even though it was at 8 in the morning.
This week my job is to spend too much time at the Las Vegas Convention Center, walking the exhibit halls and stalking the conference rooms of the Global Gaming Expo. Here’s a takeaway from the first day, from KLAS: The economy took center stage at the largest gaming conference in the world that opened in
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news about gamblingI’ve got an issue with this New York Times editorial. See if you can guess why: Asked to choose between the casinos and the health of the people who work in them, Atlantic City has sided with the casinos. The City Council voted in October to allow smoking in the city’s gambling parlors for at
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atlantic cityThis Saturday I’m playing in a poker tournament with several other bloggers and notables. From Pokerlistings.com: The PokerListings Run-Good Challenge is back, and this time its personal As Hollywood has taught us over and over again, sequels never miss. With that in mind we present to you RGC2 v.2. … David G. Schwartz has been
For a while, the Big Story was how hot Las Vegas was. Then it was Macau: The Next Generation. Now that Vegas has cooled off a bit and Macau’s hitting a plateau, we’ve got a new story: Macau is in dire straits. Even Time has picked it up: But in the wake of the faltering
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news about gamblingAs Atlantic City continues its own Year of the Four Emperors, its fourth mayor in a year has just been sworn in. New mayor Lorenzo Langford used his swearing in not to talk about the effect of the weakened economy on the city’s biggest industry or other weighty issues, but instead took a hard line
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atlantic cityThis story from the LA Times sums up what I’ve been saying about the prospects for Internet gaming in the new administration, and raises another possibility that I think is more realistic: At a time of war and economic troubles, legislation on Internet gambling may not be high on President-elect Barack Obama’s to-do list. But
States take the lead? Read More »
news about gamblingDo I lose my status as a mature, reputable scholar (if I ever had such a status) if I admit that this headline made me snicker? Lone Butte casino will open Nov. 20. I know that they are supposed to appeal to adults, but I would think that a casino wouldn’t want a name that
Binon’s casino in downtown Las Vegas has been through a rough few years. It’s been sold twice and along the way has lost the “Horseshoe” name and the World Series of Poker (which crowned its 2008 champion last night, btw). With new owner Terry Caudill at the helm, however, a turnaround is in progress, starting
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news about gamblingMachine gambling used to be quite common in urban America, as this column from the Pasadena Star-News shows: Pasadena in 1937 was a gambling den of sorts. Slot machines and pinball machines that made cash payoffs were common in the business areas of town. But change was coming. The Pasadena Post wrote on March 13,
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gambling & cultureWe had a big kidnapping case here in Las Vegas a few weeks ago that had nothing to do with casinos and everything to do with the standard “drug deal gone wrong.” So I found this story from the Sun Daily quite interesting: A Chinese man faked his own kidnapping as well as that of
Fake kidnapping, real slots Read More »
gambling & cultureI like to educate the public, so here’s my message for today: the weather has changed in Las Vegas. It’s cold now. Not Edmonton cold, but Las Vegas cold. That means, for now, nighttime temps in the 40s and a high of maybe 70 in the afternoon. So if you’re coming to Vegas, pack appropriately.
Because I was emailed this story three times and I’m too busy to look for something else to post today, you are going to hear about Antigua getting whitelisted. From the Antigua Sun: After months of hard work, negotiations and amendments, Antigua and Barbuda has successfully attained white list certification from the UK Department of
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news about gamblingTilar J. Mazzeo. The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It. New York: Collins, 2008. Champagne is an interesting luxury product. Originally, wine-makers were vexed by the bubbles that showed up in some of their bottles after a cold snap. But in the 17th century, a taste for
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book reviewsIf you are interested in gambling in Atlantic City, Pennsylvania, Marlyland, check out this new blog;Gaming Atlantic – A Casino Blog by James Karmel.