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This period image shows roulette play at Bad Homburg, one of the…

This period image shows roulette play at Bad Homburg, one of the most important casino spa resorts on the 19th century. 

Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling has plenty of fascinating detail about the evolution of European spa casinos like Bad Homburg. 

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

This period image shows roulette play at Bad Homburg, one of the… Read More »

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Vegas World packs ’em in

Entertainment has been a draw at casinos for a very long time. In the 1980s, many Las Vegas competed to get not the most lavish headliners, but the least expensive ticket prices. Bob Stupak’s Vegas World might have won the battle when it featured two soundalike extravaganzas  “Reflections of Sinatra” and “Memories of Elvis” with ticket prices starting at less than five dollars in the late 1980s.

Read more about casino entertainment in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling

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

Vegas World packs ’em in Read More »

fromthebook

Vegas World packs ’em in

Entertainment has been a draw at casinos for a very long time. In the 1980s, many Las Vegas competed to get not the most lavish headliners, but the least expensive ticket prices. Bob Stupak’s Vegas World might have won the battle when it featured two soundalike extravaganzas  “Reflections of Sinatra” and “Memories of Elvis” with ticket prices starting at less than five dollars in the late 1980s.

Read more about casino entertainment in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling

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

Vegas World packs ’em in Read More »

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According to Hoyle

Edmund Hoyle, whose guides to gambling are frequently cited as the last word in all kinds of gambling games, including poker, died in 1769, long before Americans invented the game. 

Still, “according to Hoyle” frequently settles arguments about the rules of games. You can learn all about Hoyle’s first gaming guide 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.

According to Hoyle Read More »

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Diamond Lady

On April 1, 1991, owner Bernard Goldstein officially launched the Diamond Lady in Davenport, Iowa. This was the first riverboat casino in modern America.

Goldstein’s company evolved into Isle of Capri, still a major gaming operator. Learn more about riverboat 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. 

Diamond Lady Read More »

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A Place in the Sun

When it opened in 1952, the Sands casino was known as “A Place in the Sun,” and once it signed Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin as entertainers, it became the most popular casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

Today, the Sands name lives on in Las Vegas Sands, Inc., the company that owns the Venetian, Palazzo, and Sands Expo Center on the Strip as well as casinos in Pennsylvania, Macau, and Singapore.

As a result, the Sands name is found in the world’s top three gambling markets—a fitting tribute to the place where Vegas got much of its magic back in the 1950s and 1960s.

You can read more about the Sands and other Las Vegas hotels  in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling

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

A Place in the Sun Read More »

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Circus Circus Success

In the late 1980s, as other Las Vegas Strip casinos faltered, Circus Circus was prospering. Building its business on the “grind,” thousands of small players instead of a few big high rollers, Circus boasted a compound annual growth rate of more than 29 percent for the latter half of the decade. In doing so, it laid the groundwork for the 1990s Las Vegas casino boom.

You can read more about Circus Circus and other Las Vegas 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.

Circus Circus Success Read More »

fromthebook, life in vegas

Dostoevsky’s Gambling Spree

Fyodor Dostoevsky, the Russian novelist who wrote several classics, including The Gambler, had an inordinate attraction to the roulette tables of casinos along the Rhine. In one trip to Baden-Baden, which started on July 4, 1867, he ran up a starting bankroll of 100 francs into 4,000. But, never one to quit while he was ahead, he kept playing.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that he lost it all back, and then some. Learn the complete Dostoevsky story in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling

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

Dostoevsky’s Gambling Spree Read More »

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Today in history–March 19, 1931

It’s one of the big ones: on March 19, 1931, Nevada governor Fred Balzar signed Assembly Bill 98 into law. That’s the measure that made it legal (once more) for Nevada gambling halls to offer commercial gambling (games line faro, craps, blackjack, and slot machines) to the public. With a stroke of the pen, Nevada’s gaming industry was born.

You can learn much more about the growth of gaming in Nevada in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling

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

Today in history–March 19, 1931 Read More »

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Reno’s Big Fight

The first major event held in Reno after the March 1931 legalization of commercial gambling was the Max Baer-Paolino Uzcudun heavyweight boxing match held on July 4, 1931.

You can learn more about the origins of Reno 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.

Reno’s Big Fight Read More »

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Siegfried and Roy: Pioneers

When they began their show at The Mirage in 1990, Siegfried and Roy’s tickets, which started at $70, were by far the most expensive in town. They were also successful, leading to an increase in higher-budget shows on the Strip.

You can learn more about Vegas casino entertainment in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling

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

Siegfried and Roy: Pioneers Read More »

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Holiday Inn goes gambling

In 1980, Holiday Inns, Inc, acquired Bill Harrah’s gambling empire—casinos in Lake Tahoe and Reno and a project in development in Atlantic City. 

Holiday tabled the Atlantic City project, putting the Harrah name on its own soon-to-open casino on the marina. That casino is today Harrah’s Atlantic City, one of the nicest casinos in town.

Learn more about Atlantic City in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling

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

Holiday Inn goes gambling Read More »

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South Dakota antes up

In 1988, South Dakota voters authorized gambling in Deadwood. Originally, the stakes were limited to $5, with mandates on maximum casino size and requirements that casino owners be “bona fide” South Dakota residents keeping major Las Vegas-based operators out of the market.

You can read more about the proliferation of casinos across the U.S. in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling

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

South Dakota antes up Read More »

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The birth of Genting

With Genting’s purchase of Boyd’s Echelon site on the Strip and proposed construction of Resorts World Las Vegas, a lot of Vegas-based people have asked where the company comes from. Luckily, Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling has the whole Genting story.

The company got it start in 1964, when Lim Goh Tong began building a hotel at a spot “above the clouds” 45 miles from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. When he received a franchise to offer casino gaming five years later, things really got going.

Genting Highlands developed, over the next 40 years, into a six hotel, 8,000-room resort, and the company today operates casinos in other markets, including the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Singapore, and New York City—the latter three are under the Resorts World name.

Learn more about Genting and other gaming companies in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling

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

The birth of Genting Read More »

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First London gambling club

The first London (semi-private) club devoted mostly to gambling, White’s, opened in 1697. These clubs were an outgrowth of earlier coffee and chocolate houses, where like-minded Londoners gathered to get refreshed, gossip, and do business. It was only a matter of time before some of them agreed that cards and dice were the best business going and formed their own club.

You can read more about London gambling clubs in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling

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

First London gambling club Read More »

fromthebook, gambling & culture

Nevada’s first governor on gambling

Nevada’s first governor, Henry Bladsel, wasn’t a fan of gambling. He called it “an intolerable and inexcusable vice” after taking office in 1864, and he convinced the legislature to strengthen penalties against gambling.

That didn’t stop Nevadans from gambling, and in 1869 the legislature passed a law legalizing gambling. Over Bladsel’s veto. The rest is quite literally history.

You can read the entire story of Nevada 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.

Nevada’s first governor on gambling Read More »

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South Africa and the Strip

The Sun City resort, which Sol Kerzner opened in Bophuthatswana in 1979,  featured many of the amenities that would characterize Las Vegas Strip “mega-resorts” in the 1990s, and Steve Wynn credited Kerzner’s resort as an influence on The Mirage, which itself sparked the boom on the Strip.

Learn more about casinos in South Africa and everywhere else in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling

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

South Africa and the Strip Read More »

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Russian Roulette

Roulette was the game of choice for many Russian visitors to gambling resorts along the Rhine river in the mid-19th century. Fyodor Doystoevsky’s short novel The Gambler was based on first-hand “research” the author conducted at the gambling tables in Baden-Baden. 

Learn the complete Dostoevsky story in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling

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

Russian Roulette Read More »

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Nick the Greek in Vegas

Nick “the Greek” Dandolos was one of the most legendary gamblers in Las Vegas history. He claimed to have had more than $500 million pass through his hands as wins and losses during his gambling career. But he didn’t live lavishly; for years he lived in a $10-a-night hotel room.

There’s lots more about famous and infamous gamblers  in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling

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

Nick the Greek in Vegas Read More »

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World’s Biggest Bingo Hall

In the early 1980s, bingo halls on tribal lands throughout the United States exploded. These bingo halls generally did not follow state rules on maximum jackpots, so they were incredibly popular. They formed the foundation for today’s tribal gaming industry.

In 1984, the Otoe Missouria Indians opened what they billed as the world’s biggest bingo hall, the 6,000-seat Red Rock Bingo Palace in north-central Oklahoma.

You can learn more about tribal government gaming and the development of casinos on Indian reservations  in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling

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

World’s Biggest Bingo Hall Read More »

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