Paris Hilton vs. Dogs
Thanks to ESPN’s Page 2, we get this great matchup in an NCAA-inspired tournament whose exact nature is, for me, rather vague: Poker Playing Dogs vs. Paris Hilton.
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gambling & cultureMacau Mania
You’ve got to love the subhead for this Guardian look at Macau: “With mobsters jailed and foreign investors pouring money into its gaming industry, Macau is enjoying a spectacular boom .”
“I’ll take Sin City for $200, Alex”
Today I got this email from the Las Vegas Centennial Celebration Committee: Answer: This is the date that a Las Vegas Category will be featured on Jeopardy! Question: WHAT IS: MONDAY, APRIL 4TH, 2005? That’s going to be fun, but what about an entire round based on Las Vegas and gambling topics?
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life in vegasMob mix-up
When casinos opened in Atlantic City in 1978, New Jersey governor Brendan Byrne famously warned organized crime to keep their stinking paws off of his state. Well, those weren’t his exact words, but they would have been in Charlton Heston had been playing him. Come to think of it, Byrne wasn’t going around half-naked either,
Legalizing online gaming?
As I’ve said before, the fiscal pressures in state legislatures will eventually outweigh anti-gambling rhetoric, and Internet gaming will be legalized in the US. USA Today now apparently feels the same way.
Legalizing online gaming? Read More »
news about gamblingCovering the gambling business
Have you just been assigned the “casino beat” and aren’t sure where to look for information? Well, you’re not the only one. Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Suzette Parmley tells all.
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news about gamblingNCAA troubled by betting
In case you missed ESPN’s hyperbolic exposition of “bracketology” this weekend, the berths for the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament have been announced, beginning one of bookies’ favorite times of the year, March Madness. And the NCAA is shocked, yes, shocked that people gamble on the tournament, and suggests that the best way to end
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gambling & culturePokie Pop-ups
I was just saying to a group today that other countries are far ahead of the US when it comes to “harm minimization” in gambling. Here’s a case where, many in the industry say, minimization goes too far: regular reminders to gamblers that they are…gambling.
GA to be funded by ESPN?
You can’t help but notice that poker is ubuquitous on television these days. New Jersey assemblywomen Joan Voss has, and she thinks that those who profit from the Hold’Em craze should pitch in when it comes to helping those with a problem.
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gambling & cultureConsider Vegas Broke
If you get a chance, check out Breaking Vegas tonight on the history channel at 9 PM. This episode is about Ed Thorp, the guy who greatly advanced card counting with “Beat the Dealer,” and I think that I’m going to be in it. I remember doing an interview for this show, so there’s a
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life in vegasThe Honey Bun Gang
I found this headline strangely intruiging, as you might as well: Las Vegas SUN: Three convicted in ‘honey bun’ heist at Tunica casino. This made me think of the erstwhile HBO series OZ. I don’t think that Adebisi got sent up for anything like this, though. This seems like more like something Busmalis would have
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gambling & culture, haphazard worldHuh?
I’ve seen two news reports this morning that seem contradictory. On one hand, online gaming is booming in Britain. On the other, Harrah’s has just pulled the plug on its online gaming site.
Crime and Litigation
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, in my estimation, might have been the best novelist of the 19th century. Sure, people in his novels have an unfortunate tendency to give chapter-long monologues on “the mission of Russia,” but from what I understand he got paid by the word. For much of his life his compulsive gambling kept him in
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gambling & cultureSmoothie candy
This is the most distgusting thing I’ve seen in a while. Usually, fruit and yogurt smoothies are relatively healthy alternatives to other soft drinks. As Americans have become more concerned with their eating habits, they have grown more popular. So the next step is for a completely unhealthy food manufacturer to co-opt smoothies and re-package
Singapore Dreams
Nineteen companies have submitted proposals to build a casino resort in Singapore. How to choose the winner? I’ve got three ideas.
Requiem for a turkey
At first I thought this story would get a few laughs, but like so much else, it ended in tragedy…well, for the turkey. Not since the days of Thomas Granger has a turkey been so unjustly put to death.
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haphazard worldKindergarten gambling
At last, gambling has come to kindergarten! Seriously. Kindergarten students are going to have to play the lottery if they want a seat at a Virginia elementary school.
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gambling & cultureQuestion of the day
Today the Birmingham News asks, Is there a problem gambling can’t solve? Read the article to find the answer.
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gambling & cultureCool Art
I’ve got plenty on my desk today, so I don’t have time to really post on anything. In the meantime, take a look at this cool online art site, the Olea Nova online fine art gallery.
In search of…
This has nothing to do with the TV show In Search Of, I just want to imagine Leonard Nimoy narrating this entry while spooky music plays in the background. This is actually about the disturbing variety of search terms that lead people to this site. I might not be posting for the rest of the