Dave

Writer, historian, and teacher.

Pants for the lounging gambling devil

Do you know a slender guy or gal who A) likes gambling B) is devilishly inclined C) likes lounge pants? Well, this auction is just for you: super comfortable Lounge Pants. 100 % cotton jersey knit fabric. Made in the USA. MSRP $24.99. Brand new, never worn, never washed. They have an elastic waist band

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gambling & culture

ND net poker coming?

As I said in Cutting the Wire, online gambling will become unambiguously legal in the United States once we reach a certain tipping point: the need for state revenues will outweigh any lingering opposition to “expanded” gambling. The Grand Forks Herald reports on a North Dakota legislator who sees the same thing: A lawmaker who

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news about gambling

Mandalay Place, 11/12

If you’ve been waiting to have a copy of Suburban Xanadu or Cutting the Wire autographed by the author, you are in luck. On Saturday, November 12, at 2 PM, I’ll be at the Reading Room in Mandalay Place, signing books. I’m going to be giving a short talk, answering questions, and signing books–it should

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what's new

Military slot machines

Often, when I am giving a public lecture or statement, I say that the federal government has endorsed casino gaming. Some people just nod, while others look confused or even contemptuous. “What do you mean?” they ask. The first example I cite is Indian gaming: each of the three branches of the federal government has

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news about gambling

Gambling can lead to deviationism?

According to one Malaysian parliamentarian, gambling leads to superstition. From The Star: -In the kampung, when people want to win numbers games, they go to see the bomoh and even make offerings to trees so that their numbers will come up winners. -All this shows that gambling can make people carry out deviationist practices,” said

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gambling & culture

Two for the Money reviewed

Check out this review of the new Al Pacino movie Two for the Money from the aptly-named Couch Slouch: There’s a new sports-betting movie out called “Two for the Money.” Larry King calls it “the best movie about gambling ever made! … This film has everything.” Couch Slouch calls it “the worst movie about gambling

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gambling & culture

What I did on Tuesday

If you’re curious about my travels on Tuesday, here’s a third-party account of what went down: From Foster’s Online: A legislative committee studying expanded gambling options heard the pros and cons of putting casino-style gaming at the state’s racetracks on Tuesday. The state attorney general’s office, the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police and

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news about gambling, what's new

Kerala Monte?

Three-card Monte, AKA the shell game, is remarkably resilient. Hundreds of years old, if not thousands, it just keeps soldiering on. The game has apparently been revived–in a slightly different form–on the roads of Kerala, India. From newindpress: ‘Natakuth’, a sort of street gambling, which is a punishable offence under Section 15 of Kerala Gaming

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news about gambling