How games of chance reflect and influence the world around us.
We 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 & cultureThere has been plenty of gambling art: Huntington Press even has a book filled with it. Here’s a story about a Northern California artist’s arm’s length approach to the subject. From the Oakland Tribune: LISA ESHERICK is a Berkeley artist who currently has an exhibit of her casino paintings on display in San Francisco. But
Gambling art in Berkeley Read More »
gambling & cultureAs far as I’m concerned, Pinnacle has just about used up any residual goodwill it had in Atlantic City. Not content with trashing 2,000 jobs and blowing up a major casino on the 50/50 chance that they’ll actually build something, the company is now trying to use eminent domain to seize private businesses located across
The RGJ quoted me extensively in a piece on, what else, casino carpets last week. Here’s a sample: Casino carpeting is a hobby for Schwartz. He has posted shots of casino carpets throughout the nation on his Web site www.dieiscast.com. They’re wild and bright and follow a Nevada tradition that at least dates back to
RGJ on casino carpet Read More »
gambling & cultureThe Center for Gaming Research has just been named an Associate Sponsor of the 14th International Conference on Gambling and Risk-Taking. This is a good thing, and a very big deal. What’s the ICGRT? Only the most prestigious gambling-related academic conference in the world. Learn more here: The primary objectives of the conference are to
14th ICGRT on the way! Read More »
gambling & cultureI thought this was an interesting story. Monkeys don’t have much use for money, but since they like marshmallows, they are up for experiments like this one. From Psychology Today: Keith Chen and Marc Hauser at Yale University taught monkeys about resources that bear a strong resemblance to money. Monkeys dont care about money, per
It’s two days old, but better late than never. This is a well-written article about how big-time poker players make outrageous proposition bets for more than most of us make in a year. From the NY Times: Over the years, so-called proposition betting — the sometimes absurd, usually spur-of-the-moment wagers that gamblers make among themselves
Poker prop betting in NYT Read More »
gambling & cultureGuess what, it’s the 21st century, and one of the guys running for president collects good luck charms. From The Swamp: The Obama campaign plays Las Vegas today, staging another “Change That Works for You” rally. En route, the presidential candidate was asked what lucky charms work for him. Curious about items that Obama had
Lucky chips on campaign trail Read More »
gambling & cultureUnder no circumstances am I encouraging anyone to see what seems, from the reviews, to be an abysmal attempt at a movie. But I’m perplexed by the throwaway reference to a Las Vegas Strip icon. From the LA Times: BEHOLD Mike Myers. As Guru Pitka, a self-styled Deepak Chopra wannabe whose every utterance has been
The headline sort of describes what I do, but this is about something else. From The Province: The B.C. government is hiring nine “responsible gambling information officers” to educate gamblers at casinos in Metro Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo. B.C. Lottery Corp. spokesman Paul Smith said the aim is to help gamblers play responsibly. He said
Talking about gambling for a living Read More »
gambling & cultureHere’s a quick recap: I write about the history of gambling. Much gambling used to be illegal. Gaming is organized. Therefore, I write about organized crime. I’m always eager to find other forms of organized crime to compare gambling syndicates to. So imagine my delight when I learned that economist Peter Leeson has written a
You know your career’s heading downhill when you used to playing parliaments and congresses, but now you’re being booked into bingo halls and casinos. And not even Strip casinos: Hard Rock Live – Event – Mikhail Gorbachev At first I thought this was some kind of mistake, or my sleep-deprived brain was playing tricks on
From Red Square to Hard Rock Read More »
gambling & culture, haphazard worldIn response to an email query, I wrote a long, rambling dissertation on the problems with the “Parity Hedge System.” The first tip-off that this isn’t a legitimate winning system (other than the fact that there is no such thing as a legitimate winning system) is that it’s posted on Quatloos, the self-described “Cyber-Museum of
Parity Hedge System explained Read More »
gambling & culturePart of Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick’s proposed casino bill makes betting online a crime. Some thing that’s hypocritical, others that it’s just a blatant attempt to stifle potential competition. In any event, now that we’ve got some Harvard Law students on the case, it’s getting interesting. From the Boston Herald: A card-playing Harvard Law professor
I’ve settled into a routine as of late on this blog: a book review every week or so, thoughts on unusual or incredibly significant gaming news, and the occasional thought piece. These are the most fun to write, and they usually start when I see an article on something that’s not directly related to gambling
The original viral marketing Read More »
gambling & cultureYour kids (if you’ve got small ones) are going to ask you the big question someday. “Hey there, parent/guardian…I’ve been wondering–what’s gambling?” Once, you might have hemmed and hawed, then explained that gambling is something that mommies and daddies do when they feel like boosting state tax revenues. Now, however, you can just direct them
Teach your kids about gambling Read More »
gambling & culture, writingThat’s a twist on my favorite bit of folk wisdom that Judge Milian dispenses daily on The People’s Court, which is, after The Wire and Lost, probably my favorite hour of TV…at least until Doctor Who returns. Oh yeah, I had a story to tell you about, didn’t I? According to a Boston.com story about
The expensive comes out cheap? Read More »
gambling & cultureThere’s an interesting piece in Wired about how “free is the future of business.” It got me thinking about how the gaming industry, at least in Las Vegas, has flopped its revenue model: once free rooms and food lured visitors to the casino, but now lodging and dining rivals the casino as a profit center.
Could casinos become free? Read More »
gambling & cultureBetting on propositions–or prop betting–has long been a staple of wagering on the Big Game That Concludes The NFL Season. Here’s a quick KLAS recap: This year, Nevada bookmakers are hoping for a record $100 million handle on the biggest sports betting event of the year, and have set up hundreds of similar side bets
Prop betting gone wild! Read More »
gambling & cultureAfter posting that item yesterday about betting on the news, I got to thinking about hosting a competition on this site. Here’s the deal: try to predict who will be inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame this year, and win an unspecified prize. It might be a load of Schrute bucks, it might be
Predicting the Gaming HoF 2008 Read More »
gambling & culture, news about gambling