fromthebook

Online island pioneer

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • August 8, 2013 • antigua, online gaming

The small island nation of Antigua capitalized on online gaming by encouraging early sports betting sites to set up business there. Like earlier resource-poor jurisdictions such as Monte Carlo and Nevada, it hoped to leverage its tolerance of gambling into substantial development.

To learn more about the early days of online gaming, see Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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Pachinko bounty

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • July 25, 2013 • japan, pachinko

Pachinko machines in Japan take in an estimated $300 billion in ball rental fees—about three times the total gaming spend in the United States.

To learn more about Japanese gambling, see Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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Grandest hotel…again

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • July 18, 2013 • kirk kerkorian, mgm grand

When the “new” MGM Grand opened in December 1993 with 5,005 rooms, it was the biggest hotel-casino in the world. That marked the third time majority owner Kirk Kerkorian has opened the world’s biggest hotel-casino. He did it with the International (1969) and original MGM Grand (1973).

For more about Las Vegas casinos, check out Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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Goldstein lobbies for riverboats

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • July 11, 2013 • iowa, isle of capri

Bernard Goldstein, former owner of the Alter Companies, was influential in lobbying for the legalization of riverboat casinos in Iowa in 1988 and 1989. Goldstein’s riverboat casino company eventually became Isle of Capri.

You can learn more about riverboat casinos in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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A Casino Strawman

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • June 27, 2013 • mob

The late-1970s Strawman investigation, an FBI underworld inquiry based in Kansas City, Missouri, discovered widespread skimming at Las Vegas casinos.

You can learn more about how the feds and Nevada regulators chased the mob out of Nevada casinos in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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Trump comes to Atlantic City

atlantic city, fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • June 20, 2013 • donald trump, harrah's

Donald Trump’s first Atlantic City casino wasn’t wholly his own—it was a joint venture with Harrah’s, and was initially called “Harrah’s at Trump Plaza.”

For the full story of how Trump gained sole possession of that property and two other Atlantic City casinos, read Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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Moulin Rouge breaks the color line

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • June 13, 2013

From the 1930s, Las Vegas casinos on the Strip and Downtown were racially segregated. In 1955, the Moulin Rouge opened on Bonanza Road, as the first major Las Vegas casino to welcome patrons of all races.

You can learn more about the Moulin Rouge in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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The (illegal) Beach Club shines

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • June 7, 2013 • florida, illegal gambling

For the first half of the 20th century, Edward Riley Bradley’s Beach Club, located in Palm Beach, was the finest illegal gambling establishment in Florida and, some would argue, the entire country.

You can read more about illegal casinos (and legal ones too) in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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The French Prohibition

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • June 3, 2013 • prohibition

The French Chamber of Deputies passed an edict on June 1, 1836 that would ban gambling in France, effective December 31, 1837.

You can read the story of how gambling returned to France 80 years later, and much more, in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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Cal-Neva Confidential

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • May 31, 2013 • cal neva, lake tahoe, nevada

In the 1930s, North Shore Lake Tahoe’s Cal-Neva Lodge, owned by James McKay and William Graham, was notorious for reportedly hosting gangsters like Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd.

Learn more about the Cal-Neva, which was later owned by Frank Sinatra, in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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A slow start for Indian gaming

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • May 28, 2013 • indian country

The earliest federal recognition of tribes’ right to offer gambling on their reservations dates from 1924, but gambling geared towards non-Indians didn’t really get started for another 50 years.

You can learn more about Indian gaming in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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The Spa Casino Disaster

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • May 24, 2013 • casino, fire, spa

The 1980 MGM Grand fire is perhaps the most famous casino disaster in history, but the August 13, 1785 blaze that destroyed a wing of Spa’s Redoute casino was just as catastrophic in its day, particularly since burning playing cards blown by a strong wind landed on the roofs of nearby houses, spreading the fire. But the Redoute recovered.

You can learn more about Spa gambling in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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Monaco begins

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • May 17, 2013 • monaco, monte carlo

Florestan, the first of his name, prince of Monaco (but not the Andals or the First Men) issued an edict on April 26, 1856, that permitted a pair of developers to begin constructing a “bathing establishment” in his principality. That establishment would eventually become the Monte Carlo casino.

There’s plenty more about Monte Carlo in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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The Tower

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • May 15, 2013 • macau, stanley ho

Among Stanley Ho’s possessions in Macau (in addition to his many casinos) is the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Center, which at the time of its construction was the tenth-highest tower in the world.

You can learn more about Stanley Ho’s career in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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Chinese lotto

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • May 10, 2013 • china

A form of lotto was played in China as early as the tenth century AD, over 500 years before it appeared in Italy.

You can learn much more about the history of Chinese gambling in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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What a Guy!

fromthebook, life in vegas • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • May 8, 2013 • los angeles

One of the most important figures in 1940s Las Vegas gambling got his start on the right side of the law, crossed over to the wrong side, and then came back. Guy McAfee was a vice squad commander in the Los Angeles Police Department, who, it was discovered, had ownership interests in several illegal casinos. Resigning rather than facing corruption charges, he moved to Las Vegas, where he was involved with several legal casinos. He’s best known as the founder of the Golden Nugget.

There’s lots more about the early figures of Las Vegas gambling in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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Moby Dick on the Strip

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • May 3, 2013 • stardust

You might know Moby Dick as a seminal 19th century American novel. Or, if your tastes run that way, a John Bonham drum solo vehicle. But it was also the name of a seafood restaurant at the Stardust that opened in the late 1950s.

There’s plenty more about casino restaurants (but, regrettably, not much about cetaceans) in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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A Winning Prince

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • May 1, 2013 • casino, roulette

A winning streak helped to make Bad Homburg’s reputation as one of Europe’s elite gambling resorts. In September 1852, the Prince of Canino, Charles Lucien Bonaparte, won more than a half-million francs from that spa town’s casino. The big win gave the casino plenty of “free” publicity, though, and in the end helped draw more visitors to the town.

You can learn more about Bad Homburg and other 19th century spas in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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Bad Debts in Las Vegas

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • April 26, 2013 • markers, nevada

For years, Nevada casinos could not legally collect debts from gamblers they’d extended credit (or, in the industry parlance, given markers) to. That changed in 1983, when the state legislature amended the law to allow casinos to prosecute deadbeat marker-takers for writing bad checks.

That’s one of the interesting facts about the changing legal face of Nevada gambling you’ll learn in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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Gambling the Chicago Way, Circa 1850

fromthebook • Roll the Bones, a gambling history • April 24, 2013 • chicago, illegal gambling

It didn’t take long for the Windy City to develop a reputation as a center for illegal gambling. By the 1850s, there were a host of upscale but dishonest skinning houses near Lake and State streets, and lower-amenity gambling in a rough part of town known as the Sands (this area has no known connection to the later Las Vegas casino of the same name).

You can learn plenty more about Chicago’s long gambling historyin Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.

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