Craftily arranged nouns, verbs, and more.
JUN. 24, 2022 As June 1, the first anniversary of my assuming the Ombuds role, approached, I wanted to take a few minutes to share some reflections on my first year in the position. That I’m finally writing this more than three weeks later is evidence that I have been, and continue to be, busy […]
Thoughts on My First Year as Ombuds | From the Ombuds Read More »
From the Ombuds Archive, ombuds, writingFor my latest commentary, I started thinking about how two recent bits of pop culture reflect on casinos. The answer: not well: The casino gaming industry is in a funny place. For those of us inside the bubble, it’s a business brimming with regulations, compliance, and integrity. For those outside it, though, casinos are still,
Marty Byrde, King Dice, and gaming’s enduring image problem – CDC Gaming Reports Read More »
CDC GamingI’ve got another commentary up today, marking another important milestone: Today, we mark another milestone of Nevada gaming history, one that reminds us how far the state and the industry have come, and how far both still have to go. On March 26, 1960, Governor Grant Sawyer, Las Vegas NAACP President Dr. James McMillan, Las
An important anniversary for Las Vegas gaming – CDC Gaming Reports Read More »
CDC GamingToday’s column was a fun one to write. It started out as a simple look back at the 90th anniversary of Nevada getting gaming back, but turned into an exploration of alternate history. Today marks the anniversary of what might be the most consequential event in American gambling history: the relegalization of commercial gaming in
Nevada gaming turns 90 – CDC Gaming Reports Read More »
CDC GamingI’ve got another commentary up on CDC Gaming Reports. This one is about why we shouldn’t write off conventions in Las Vegas: The casinos of the Strip were particularly vulnerable to the pandemic, not only because it put a temporary halt to gaming on casino floors. Casinos across the country (mostly) managed to emerge from
They Will Return – CDC Gaming Reports Read More »
CDC GamingLast week I had a commentary published on CDC Gaming Reports about the possibly already forgotten Golden Knights/Upick partnership. As usual, I tried to see the positive. Here it is: You probably have already heard the story. It raced across Twitter in a brilliant blaze last week before sputtering into dust over the weekend. The Vegas Golden
All’s well that ends well with the Upick debacle – CDC Gaming Reports Read More »
CDC GamingIn honor of Kefauver Day, the Mob Museum published a short article I wrote that summarized the drama of the Kefauver Committee’s hearing in Las Vegas; The U.S. Senate’s Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, chaired by Tennessee Democrat Estes Kefauver, focused attention as never before on gambling-related crime as a national
The Kefauver hearing in Las Vegas | The Mob Museum Read More »
writingI recently had an essay I wrote about Fallout New Vegas’s Honest Hearts DLC published on First Person Scholar. Here’s the first paragraph: As a Western set in a post-apocalyptic Mohave, Fallout: New Vegas demonstrates that the big questions that drive Western history are durable and malleable enough to survive even the (fictional) nuclear demise
Dreaming of Zion – First Person Scholar Read More »
writingI have an article in the latest edition of the Popular Culture Review about Mario Puzo’s views on capitalism and gambling: The Godfather made him a wealthy man, but Mario Puzo’s long years as a struggling writer and childhood in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen conditioned him to treat money—and those who made a great
I’d like to share my Neon Museum Scholar in Residence Lecture: The lecture looks at the years 1967-1988, which are the “middle child” of Las Vegas Strip casino history. People usually focus on the “classic” or “Rat Pack” era or the Mirage/megaresort era, but don’t think too much about the early corporate period. Hope you
Scholar in Residence: David G. Schwartz – YouTube Read More »
video, writingAs the scholar in residence at the Neon Museum this spring, I’ve had the chance to look into an aspect of Las Vegas casino history that is usually neglected: But the two decades between 1967 and 1988 don’t fit neatly into either period and deserve further consideration in their own right. While some aspects of
When asked repeatedly about how Las Vegas can come back from the coronavirus, I kept thinking about an earlier Las Vegas disaster–the 1980 MGM Grand fire and the subsequent Las Vegas Hilton blaze, which provoked a national conversation about highrise safety. I wrote something for KNPR’s DC Blog about how Las Vegas came back from
It Took a Fire to Change Us | Nevada Public Radio Read More »
writingEarlier this week, I wrote a few thoughts on why the current focus on getting back to “normal” might not be for the best: The bigger question that everyone seems to be asking is, “How long until we get back to ‘normal’?” These two announcements, which hit the wires without hours of each other, are
Back to Normal? – Comped Travel Read More »
compedtravelLast Friday, I gave the first ever virtual Rebel Recharge lecture for UNLV’s Office of Alumni Engagement. I was asked to talk a little about what might be ahead in the future. Here is the conversation: The description for the talk was: Las Vegas has never witnessed a crisis like the one brought by COVID-19.
Rebel Recharge Lecture: How Las Vegas Can Come Back Read More »
writingI’ve got a new academic paper published as a chapter in the conference proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Language and Literary studies: Language, Literature, Play and Games. It’s about what we learn when we read Sid Meier’s Civilization V as a text. The game makes some very interesting judgments and assumptions about history.
New paper on reading Sid Meier’s Civilization V as text Read More »
writingI was asked to pen some reflections about what the shutdown/lockdown means to Las Vegas, so I waxed somewhat more philosophical than usual and drew on some history: However, our city and state have historically offered service on a higher level. We’ve always prided ourselves on contributing to the national mission, whether it be winning
What Happened Here | Nevada Public Radio Read More »
writingMy latest for Comped Travel is a deeper look at a Twin River Holdings, which just bought three casinos: The move boosts the Providence-based company’s holdings and gives it a presence in three major casino markets. From Eldorado TRWH bought the MontBleu Resort, Casino, and Spa in Lake Tahoe and the Eldorado Resort Casino in
Twin River Worldwide Stepping It Up – Comped Travel Read More »
compedtravelI have started writing for CompedTravel.com. Here is my first contribution. Closing a casino, even a small one, isn’t as simple as turning off the lights and locking the doors. Ditto for hotels and cruise ships. While, for security reasons, representatives of casino and cruise operators don’t like to comment on the record about their
Sin City: How to Shut Down a City That Never Closes – Comped Travel Read More »
compedtravelI’m getting back into short-form writing! Here’s a quick commentary I wrote about the nature of change in the casino business for CDC Gaming Reports: There has been a great deal of change in the news lately for the gaming world. After more than a decade as head of MGM Resorts, Jim Murren is stepping
Why change in the gaming industry should never surprise anyone – CDC Gaming Reports Read More »
CDC GamingI’ve just had an essay published in which I consider the role of gambling in America. Pretty big topic, and this is certainly not the last word, but it’s the best that I’ve been able to come up with: Today legal gambling in the United States is widely accepted and more prevalent than ever. But
The Consumer Age Turned Americans Into Gamblers | Essay | Zócalo Public Square Read More »
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