Dave

Writer, historian, and teacher.

AC council seeks to end casino shuttle

Usually people applaud companies for giving something away for free. But, as residents know, Atlantic City is anything but usual. So giving casino customers free rides may soon become illegal. From the AC Press: City Council introduced an ordinance Wednesday that would ban the Harrah’s “Total Express” shuttles from the resort streets. Several dozen jitney […]

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atlantic city

Venetian Macau is big, but Macau is bigger

If you’re not totally Macau-ed to death by the coverage of the Venetian Macau’s opening, here’s a great summary of what the big deal is. From the Economist: Its construction involved filling in the sea between two of Macau’s islands to recreate the Las Vegas strip, and then carefully cutting out tiny canals to provide

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news about gambling

Gaming Expansion at G2E

I’ve finally gotten official word today: I’m moderating a panel at this year’s Global Gaming Expo. Here’s the session: Gaming Expansion: Push and Pull Factors in 2008 and Beyond Tuesday, November 11, 9:15 AM-10:15 AM In recent years, gaming expansion has been inconsistent, with dramatic victories in Pennsylvania and Kansas, partial success in Florida, and

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news about gambling

Full moon + ETs = fun run

This run sounds like fun–I’m doing it this Saturday/Sunday. It’s the ET Full Moon Midnight Marathon, 1/2, 10K: Running along the fringe of the mysterious Area 51, this stretch of highway (375) has an overwhelming number of reported UFO sightings. So much so, that in 1996 the federal government officially named highway 375 the Extraterrestrial

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what's new

Exchanging cards and dollars

There’s not too much pressing news, so I’m posting a link to this article about why poker players might be good at playing the currency exchange game: Poker is arguably the most popular game of chance in modern gambling. Its popularity has seen unprecedented heights over the last decade with tournaments frequently broadcast on major

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gambling & culture

An Elven refuge in Las Vegas

Las Vegas isn’t known for rampant Tolkienism, but this is just too funny: they’ve turned part of Middle Earth into a master-planned community. Really: Located in the scenic master planned community of Mountain’s Edge, Rivendell features elegantly designed single story homes in a exclusive gated community. Mountain’s Edge will be a complete community including shops,

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life in vegas

Gambling ref pleads guilty

Tim Donaghy, the NBA ref accused of gambling on games that he refereed, has plead guilty. From USA Today: The Boston Celtics, favored by four points, faced the 76ers in Philadelphia on Dec. 13 and won 101-81 in what seemed to be just another NBA blowout featuring bad Atlantic Division teams. On or about the

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news about gambling

Incentivized criminals

Most casinos strongly encourage players to use their loyalty cards when gambling. From the casino’s perspective, it allows them to track play and award comps more judiciously. Players just like getting free stuff. But sometimes they go too far. From the LVRJ: It turns out there is some money that casinos don’t want. A Los

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news about gambling

Reno, pedestrian Reno

I’m going to be teaching in Reno next semester, and from judging from this article I should feel right at home. From the RGJ: The gaming industry is soaring worldwide but not in Reno, a leading gaming analyst told a group of young Reno business leaders Wednesday. “This is an $85 billion industry (annually in

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news about gambling

Get paid to study in Vegas

This is probably the only positive expected value deal in Vegas: get paid $4000 to study gambling for a month. From H-Net: What you get • A $4,000 stipend to cover housing and expenses • Desk space in the UNLV Special Collections Reading Room, • Use of a laptop computer What you give • One

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gambling & culture, life in vegas

Garden Grove casino?

California Indian gaming is a $7 billion/year business already, but it would get substantially bigger, I think, if a casino popped up in the heart of Orange County. From the LA Times: Even in a city that has entertained the most improbable of dreams, the latest plan to woo tourists and big bucks to Garden

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gambling & culture