How games of chance reflect and influence the world around us.
I’ve posited before that humans may be genetically predisposed to gamble because, as hunter-gatherers, those who didn’t take risks starved to death and didn’t pass on their genes–or behaviors–to their offspring. Neuroscience is coming one step closer to proving this theory. From the Financial Times: In an uncertain world, we are often pulled between sticking […]
Gamble to live, live to gamble Read More »
gambling & cultureWell, it’s a few days old, but you can still read it in the Las Vegas Business Press. Here’s a tease: It’s often said that college athletes get the star treatment because they are, well, stars. When 100,000 people pack a stadium to hear a talk on Joyce’s use of light and dark imagery in
New LVBP article is elementary Read More »
gambling & culture, what's newHere in the US, we are relatively insulated from World Cup fever. But in most of the world, passions run high, and the tournament is a holiday of sorts. Even religious devotion takes a backseat to “football,” to a point. From the Chicago Tribune: The chief of Cambodia’s Buddhist monks is cutting his charges some
You can watch, but you can’t bet Read More »
gambling & cultureThe The New York Times Magazine, on 6/11 at least, is all about money. You know, the folding green stuff. Jackson Lears has a piece about The American Way of Debt. Being the excellent historian he is, Lears dissects the anti-debt jeremiads and discovers that Americans have always been quick to going into hock: But
All-in debt and holdem hold ups Read More »
gambling & cultureWhen we look back at it, data mining might be the biggest transformation of gambling to take place in the 1990s. On one level, it’s about reducing the human factor–interaction between casino managers and players to determine the players’ comping levels–to a software program. On the other, it’s about the growing sophistication–and power–of computers. So
From Total Rewards to MySpace Read More »
gambling & cultureThink that a major hurricane will rain down death and destruction on the United States this year? Well, thanks to the Internet, you can now put some money on the proposition. This Knight Ridder story is all over the place, but I think the Sun Herald nailed the headline: While ever-diligent South Floridians stockpile hurricane
Betting on hurricanes Read More »
gambling & cultureThere’s a movie called The Hoodlum Priest, but I don’t think it’s about the guy who runs this casino turned church. From the Fresno Bee: Vineyard Casino stirred great hopes of a tax windfall for Fowler when it opened 10 years ago in a big new building on a 13-acre property on the city’s south
The cardroom church Read More »
gambling & culture, haphazard worldFor a while now, I’ve been wondering if there’s a line on the Scripps National Spelling Bee. I’ve found watching the bee on ESPN strangely compelling, even though I don’t think Texas Hold’em, is in any danger. Well, someone is taking bets on the bee, but you can’t place wagers on individual students. From USA
To hear this story tell it, the main point of the International Conference on Gambling and Risk-Taking is to count cards. From the RGJ: Ever wonder how to develop a computer program that will earn you millions by predicting horse races in Hong Kong? What about simple card counting at blackjack? Curious how casino design
Conference in the news Read More »
gambling & cultureWhen I learned of the new “money laundering” online gambling indictments, I thought that Antigua might have something to say. Now they do. From their press release, which I got in my email: Antiguan government officials reacted angrily today to news that the United States Department of Justice has released indictments of two Antiguan residents
Antigua strikes back…with words Read More »
gambling & cultureThe operators of an online sportsbook, www.betwtts.com, have been indicted for money laundering, in addition to violating the Wire Act. Read the press release yourself: The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia unsealed an indictment yesterday against William Scott, Jessica Davis, Soulbury Ltd. and WorldWide Telesports Inc. (WWTS) for offenses related to the
Indicted (again) for online gambling Read More »
gambling & cultureIn my admittedly cursory research into the life and habits of Leonardo DaVinci while writing Roll the Bones, I was unable to find anything on his gambling proclivities. With The Da Vinci Code selling 40 million copies so far, don’t think that I wasn’t trying my best for some tie-in. “Hitler’s casino” made the cut,
Gambling on Da Vinci Read More »
gambling & cultureThink about this sitcom idea: slot tune writer by day, Mormon sacred music composer by night. If it seems implausible, that’s only because you haven’t met David Zabriskie yet. From the Salt Lake Tribune: During his free time, David Zabriskie composes moving music for religious theatrical productions. The work may feed his soul, but when
He writes the songs (that the slot players sing) Read More »
gambling & culture, haphazard worldA new Google Trends feature is available, and I quickly decided to use it to see which is most popular on the Internet: sex, gambling, or financial info? So I entered the search string “porn, gambling, stocks.” Here is the result: Google Trends: porn, gambling, stocks If you don’t want to click over, I’ll give
Sex, gambling, and money Read More »
gambling & cultureJust as I’m reviewing a manuscript on the sociology of risk, I read a great piece in the New Yorker about one 419 scam that really makes you think. Here’s the particularly apt part: Robert B. Reich, the former Labor Secretary, who has studied the psychology of market behavior, says, “American culture is uniquely prone
The Culture of Risk and 419 scams Read More »
gambling & cultureIt’s no news flash that casino gambling is big business. But the American Gaming Association’s State of the States report (big pdf) shows just how popular gambling is. From Reuters: Gambling revenue at U.S. casinos rose 5 percent last year to a record $30.3 billion, as more visitors flocked to a growing number of casinos
82% of people like it Read More »
gambling & cultureFrank Catania, a former director of the Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJ’s regulatory police body) has a great piece on the futility of Internet gaming prohibition in Cnet news: Every attempt to regulate activity on the Internet seemingly raises questions about the proverbial slippery slope. But if regulation of the Internet is a slippery slope,
Net gambling ban in perspective Read More »
gambling & cultureFoxwoods has made a few significant moves recently, and neither has anything to do with the excellent cole slaw to be found in the buffet. Instead, this has to do with the blurring of the line between Indian gaming and commercial casino gaming. First, from the Boston Globe: Two of the biggest names in the
Foxwoods in the news Read More »
gambling & cultureIllegal gambling is notoriously hard to stamp out, because it is usually socially acceptable. A Philippine anti-gambling group wants to change that. From INQ7: A man from a remote barangay in Central Luzon unwittingly placed a bet on “jueteng,†the underground lottery so despised by the clergy in his area. He didn’t win the pot,
In my historical research into gambling, I’ve yet to find the Grand Unification Theory of gambling–exactly why people like to gamble so much. It’s a little reassuring to know that psychologists aren’t that much closer. Still, they, like historians, have a pretty good idea that humans like to gamble, even when it isn’t in their
Gambling Psych 101 Read More »
gambling & culture