Times are a-changing
The Rat Pack doesn’t play casinos anymore. Well, unless you count Rat Pack imitators. Instead, you might see the Doobie Brothers. Is this progress? If you like the 1970s, yes.
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news about gamblingBringing down the school district
Ben Mezrich’s Bringing Down the House, the story of the MIT count team, has sold a lot of copies. But, it seems, it’s not that popular with high school librarians. Still, kids in one Oregon high school will still be free to read the book for an assignment.
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writingChimeras gone wild!
I once thought that The Island of Dr. Moreau was nothing more than a cinematic masterpiece. Now, it seems, it may be a view not of the future, but the present, where scientists create human/animal hybrids with only their imaginations to stop them.
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haphazard worldGet a haircut!
Recently, North Korean television began a bold new initiative aimed at conquering a threat to national supremacy: bad hair.
Miami in Dolni Dvoriste
I’ve never been to the Czech Republic, even though for years I’ve had people telling me it’s a great place to go. Still, I can’t imagine that its appeal will be enhanced by this novelty: a 1950s Miami-themed casino.
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news about gamblingCuddly bears to go away
When I saw the headline Ministers to kill off cuddly gambling bears, I had to read the article. It turns out that prize toys are the latest political football to be kicked around in the British casino debate.
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gambling & cultureUpdate on Georgia casinos
That’s casinos in Georgia the country, not Georgia the state. Apparently big changes are afoot.
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news about gamblingA second career?
I know that everyone needs a creative outlet, but a leading member of the casino industry might have a hidden musical side.
NJ Transit fan site
I thought that my site was a little eccentric–after all, how many people go around the country taking pictures of casino carpets and posting them to the web? But I have to yield the floor to an even more obscure site: the NJ Transit Bus Fan Page. I hope that the ironic intent of my
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atlantic cityCasino operator gets death sentence
It’s illegal casinos, to be sure, but that headline is still pretty scary. The moral: don’t break the law in China.
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news about gamblingInhibited no more
I’m hard at work on chapter 3 of Roll the Bones, finishing up my section on gambling in Venice. I ran across this on the website of the Venice Casino, and it was too good to pass up: “By writing to the following e-mail address: assistenza@casinovenezia.it or by phoning 041-5297266 one can receive information on
Trivia time
I’ve been having a busy week, mostly because I’ve been getting the UNLV Global Gaming Abstract ready to go online. If you clicked the link and are disappointed, I don’t have it all online yet. This, and the lack of compelling gaming-related news, means that in lieu of a news story and sardonic analysis, I’ll
Emergency Management for Kids
Did you know that some of your tax money (if you are a working US citizen or resident) is being spent on a Federal Emergency Management Agency website for kids? It is truly surreal.
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haphazard world“What happens in Vegas” ends in Long Beach?
The LA Times has a great article about Ted Ngoy, the one-time Los Angeles “doughnut king” who, thanks in part to a severe gambling problem and some bad decisions, is now homeless. It’s thought-provoking reading, to say the least.
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life in vegasFlying casinos? Don’t hold your breath
Gambling and transportation is nothing new: in the United States (and maybe throughout the world), riverboats and trains were notorious places for gambling in their time. But airplanes, which are more controlled (and more cramped for those of us in coach), aren’t really known as places to gamble. Still, Airbus promises airborne casinos on its
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news about gamblingWhen one door closes, another opens
Today I was stuck by two Las Vegas news stories: the Key Largo is closing and Wynn Las Vegas is now accepting reservations. They are just another reminder that the wheel of fortune is always spinning.
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life in vegasGSN is GONE (from LV preferred basic, anyway)
GSN shows lots of casino-related shows, including poker. Come to think of it, I could substitute a few other channels (ESPN, Travel Channel, Discovery, and probably Lifetime too) in there, and it would read just as well. But if you like to watch GSN, live in Las Vegas, and are too cheap to spring for
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gambling & culture, life in vegasJust plain strange
I don’t know quite what to make of this story, except for an admonition to my readers: if you are a male securities analyst, do not superimpose your face on the body of a woman being carried over the threshold on the cover of a major research report.
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haphazard worldLead of the day
One of the most important things in journalism is to grab the reader with a strong first paragraph, or lead. Well, a story in today’s Las Vegas Review-Journal proves this. If you think like me, you can’t help but click through the read the full story after reading this lead-in: OVERTON — This whole town
Getting Reviewed
I always tell my students that history has three components: source documents, without which we would have nothing to write about; historical writing, which puts the raw material of the past into context and makes it relevant; and readers, without whom the whole exercise would be fruitless. You write books because you want people to