Living in Las Vegas, Dave’s home since 2001.
I don’t have much time to write a real post/commentary today (work on Roll the Bones and several other things is taking up all my time), but if you want to catch me on the radio, check out KWDN 720 AM at noon (Pacific time) today. I’ll be a guest on “Lunchtime with Ira,” broadcasting […]
Because my legs are still a little sore, I feel I have the right to talk some more about last Sunday’s marathon. As soon as I don’t feel moderate pain with every step, it’ll become ancient history. That, and because I’m out of the office editing the manuscript today, I don’t have the time to
Last week in my post on marathon betting, I confidently gave all of my readers a guarantee lock: that I would not win the 2005 New Las Vegas Marathon. I predicted correctly: Kenyan Stephen Kiogora broke the tape at 2:11:56. You can see the results here. Around the time he crossed, I was trudging up
Finishing the race Read More »
life in vegasThe UNLV air is redolent with horse excrement and parking is completely jacked up, which can mean only one thing: the rodeo is in town. If you don’t know what I mean, read this from the LVRJ: Since professional rodeo’s biggest event came here in 1985, innumerable Southern Nevada residents and businesses, as well as
It’s easy for most people to separate their work and personal lives. By day they are an assistant account manager or food service technician, and by night they surf for porn or watch reality TV. It’s getting harder and harder for me to draw the line. Working on Roll the Bones, I know that I
The Westward Ho casino closed yesterday, and one RJ reporter called me as a matter of course for my learned opinion on the significance of this event. Actually, I suspect that most of the people in her rolodex were away from the phone for the afternoon. But I’m always happy to help, and I was
Thoughts on the Westward Ho Read More »
life in vegasAcademics have many ways of gauging their career progress. Favorable book reviews in scholarly journals, high citation rates for their research, and being awarded tenure are just a few. Because I’m on the fringes of academia (I have a Ph.D. in history but don’t teach in a history department, and gambling is far from a
At any given moment, an uncountable number of new games are being proposed, developed, tested, and usually forgotten at casinos across the world. Since the disappearance of faro from Nevada gambling halls in the 1940s, many have come to challenge the Big Three–craps, blackjack, and roulette. By the 1980s, baccarat had emerged as a major
Hot betting at the Hilton Read More »
gambling & culture, life in vegasI got a paper notice in campus mail today from Felicia Campbell: Far West Popular Culture Association Far West American Culture Association Call for Papers Eighteenth Annual Meeting January 27 – 29, 2006 Las Vegas, Nevada Sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts University of Nevada, Las Vegas We cordially invite you to our Eighteenth
Anyone up for pop culture? Read More »
life in vegasThis Thursday, 10/27, I’m giving a lecture on the evolution of casinos at the UNLV architecture school. Ordinarily, I don’t post info about guest lectures for academic audiences, but this one has such a cool flyer that I’ve got to: If you are in Las Vegas and want to attend, please email me and I’ll
Casino evolution guest lecture Read More »
life in vegas, what's newBetting on sports can be far more remunerative for the player than most casino games. A simple look at the numbers proves it. Nevada casinos hold about 5% of sports bets, while they keep over 12% on virtually every casino game. I’m going from memory here, so the math might be a little off, but
Have you ever wanted to check out the pope’s wheels? Here’s your chance, thanks to a hot tip from the Las Vegas Hilton: Kruse International will auction Pope John Paul II’s personal vehicle, a 1975 Ford Escort GL, at the 32nd Annual Las Vegas Fall Auction at the Las Vegas Hilton (October 28&29). He is
Pope-mobile at Las Vegas Hilton Read More »
life in vegasIs this a case of casinos imitating life? It’s spooky: Harrah’s Entertainment has closed the Bourbon Street casinos two weeks early because of a water main break. From the LVRJ: The off-Strip Bourbon Street Casino, bought by Harrah’s Entertainment this summer for future development, closed Monday two weeks ahead of schedule. Harrah’s, which bought eight
Bourbon Street Goodbye Read More »
life in vegasNow that I’m getting the blog under control (and because I’m going to be out of the office most of next week), here’s this week’s big announcement: I’m going to be appearing at the Vegas Valley Book Festival next weekend. I’ll be promoting this book: More directly, I’m a panelist on one session and moderating
Vegas Valley Book Festival Read More »
life in vegas…could Hooters be referred to as “a very clean corporation.” I’m not making this up.
I had a ton of great stuff with which to inform and entertain everyone today, but the only news I have time for is directly work-related. With the help of Nishanth Bezawada, my grad student assistant, I have posted a beta version of the online version of the now-famous G2E 2005 exhibit “A Centennial Celebration
As I write this, the Global Gaming Expo 2005 is in its waning hours. There are a host of stories in the LV Sun and RJ about the technologies unleashed this year–mostly server-based gaming, which is largely still in testing mode. There were a ton of attendees and exhibitors this year. I’ve spent most of
For those of you who are curious, my session this morning at G2E on the Wire Act was, I think, a real success. Bob Blumenfeld gave a great summary of the US/Antigua WTO case and Bill White from Global Cyber discussed the possibilities of intra-state legal Internet gaming. All in all, an interesting session. I
As the Las Vegas Review Journal will tell you, the Global Gaming Expo has arrived. I was down there yesterday–working on a Sunday again–to drop off some materials for the big centennial of Las Vegas gaming exhibit, and the place was already buzzing. I’m expecting to be down there most of this week, so chances
One of the things that’s been taking up my time in recent weeks has been creating “A Centennial Celebration of Gaming in Las Vegas,” an exhibit that will run at this year’s Global Gaming Expo. Curious?
Centennial Gaming History Read More »
gambling & culture, life in vegas