A few weeks back I got an email about an event connected to the launch of Virgin America’s thrice-daily LAX-LAS flights. I usually don’t go to those kinds of events–there’s not too much to “cover” outside of photo ops. But I got thinking…wouldn’t it be fun to ask Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson how Vegas […]
Vegas to the Moon! in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIt didn’t take long for the Windy City to develop a reputation as a center for illegal gambling. By the 1850s, there were a host of upscale but dishonest skinning houses near Lake and State streets, and lower-amenity gambling in a rough part of town known as the Sands (this area has no known connection to the later Las Vegas casino of the same name).
You can learn plenty more about Chicago’s long gambling historyin Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
Gambling the Chicago Way, Circa 1850 Read More »
fromthebookHere’s the author discussing chapter 5, “Star Spangled Gamblers,” of Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling (Casino Edition).
You’ll notice the t-shirt is subject-appropriate.
Here’s the author discussing chapter 5, “Star… Read More »
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This period image shows roulette play at Bad Homburg, one of the most important casino spa resorts on the 19th century.
Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling has plenty of fascinating detail about the evolution of European spa casinos like Bad Homburg.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
This period image shows roulette play at Bad Homburg, one of the… Read More »
fromthebookBased on a Twitter conversation with @AgentMarco, I decided to look into what was happening with betting on video games. The result was this week’s Green Felt Journal: Could betting on video games be the last chance for gambling? In 2009, Woody Levin debuted BringIt.com, a website that let gamers open accounts and bet against
Will Video Games Go Vegas? in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenEntertainment has been a draw at casinos for a very long time. In the 1980s, many Las Vegas competed to get not the most lavish headliners, but the least expensive ticket prices. Bob Stupak’s Vegas World might have won the battle when it featured two soundalike extravaganzas “Reflections of Sinatra” and “Memories of Elvis” with ticket prices starting at less than five dollars in the late 1980s.
Read more about casino entertainment in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
Vegas World packs ’em in Read More »
fromthebookEntertainment has been a draw at casinos for a very long time. In the 1980s, many Las Vegas competed to get not the most lavish headliners, but the least expensive ticket prices. Bob Stupak’s Vegas World might have won the battle when it featured two soundalike extravaganzas “Reflections of Sinatra” and “Memories of Elvis” with ticket prices starting at less than five dollars in the late 1980s.
Read more about casino entertainment in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
Vegas World packs ’em in Read More »
fromthebookIn this short video, I summarize chapter 4 of Roll the Bones, “Baiting John Bull.” Highlights include the golden days of Bath as a gambling resort, the proliferation of gambling clubs in London’s West End, the invention of the sandwich, and the story of Edmund “According to” Hoyle.
In this short video, I summarize chapter 4 of Roll the Bones,… Read More »
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↓↓↓Banner Blindness – Meaning, Symptoms and Cure↓↓↓
http://carolynwdefelicedesign.tumblr.com
Why was my first reaction to this picture “which casino is that carpet from?”
carolynwdefelicedesign: ???Banner Blindness – Meaning, Symptoms… Read More »
UncategorizedEdmund Hoyle, whose guides to gambling are frequently cited as the last word in all kinds of gambling games, including poker, died in 1769, long before Americans invented the game.
Still, “according to Hoyle” frequently settles arguments about the rules of games. You can learn all about Hoyle’s first gaming guide and much more in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
According to Hoyle Read More »
fromthebookOn April 1, 1991, owner Bernard Goldstein officially launched the Diamond Lady in Davenport, Iowa. This was the first riverboat casino in modern America.
Goldstein’s company evolved into Isle of Capri, still a major gaming operator. Learn more about riverboat gambling in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
Here’s the author giving a brief video summary of chapter 3 of Roll the Bones, “A Sunny Place for Shady People.”
Here’s the author giving a brief video summary of chapter… Read More »
videoWhen it opened in 1952, the Sands casino was known as “A Place in the Sun,” and once it signed Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin as entertainers, it became the most popular casino on the Las Vegas Strip.
Today, the Sands name lives on in Las Vegas Sands, Inc., the company that owns the Venetian, Palazzo, and Sands Expo Center on the Strip as well as casinos in Pennsylvania, Macau, and Singapore.
As a result, the Sands name is found in the world’s top three gambling markets—a fitting tribute to the place where Vegas got much of its magic back in the 1950s and 1960s.
You can read more about the Sands and other Las Vegas hotels in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
A Place in the Sun Read More »
fromthebook, life in vegasIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I take a look at how a British invasion has changed Las Vegas nightlife: The two biggest demographics in Las Vegas these days seem to be nightclubbers and international visitors. As a bit of anecdotal evidence of the trend, the casinos in development that have stoked the imagination plan
The British Are Coming! in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIn the late 1980s, as other Las Vegas Strip casinos faltered, Circus Circus was prospering. Building its business on the “grind,” thousands of small players instead of a few big high rollers, Circus boasted a compound annual growth rate of more than 29 percent for the latter half of the decade. In doing so, it laid the groundwork for the 1990s Las Vegas casino boom.
You can read more about Circus Circus and other Las Vegas casinos in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
Circus Circus Success Read More »
fromthebook, life in vegasThe latest in my series of chapter-by-chapter summaries/teasers, chapter 2. Enjoy!
The latest in my series of chapter-by-chapter summaries/teasers,… Read More »
book, videoI’ve got a little resort fee reverie in Vegas Seven this week: Resort fees—those mandatory per-night add-ons of between $3 and $25 that include charges for services guests may or may not use during their stay—migrated to Las Vegas in the early 2000s, but have recently gotten a second wind. Caesars Entertainment had for years
Resort Fees Costing Casinos Goodwill in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenFyodor Dostoevsky, the Russian novelist who wrote several classics, including The Gambler, had an inordinate attraction to the roulette tables of casinos along the Rhine. In one trip to Baden-Baden, which started on July 4, 1867, he ran up a starting bankroll of 100 francs into 4,000. But, never one to quit while he was ahead, he kept playing.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that he lost it all back, and then some. Learn the complete Dostoevsky story in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
Dostoevsky’s Gambling Spree Read More »
fromthebookIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I take a look at how the proposed Resorts World Las Vegas differs from the project it replaced: When Resorts World Las Vegas rises from the abandoned husk of Echelon on the north Strip, it will be very different from what Echelon would have been. And the differences tell
With Resorts World, Macau Comes to Vegas in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIt’s one of the big ones: on March 19, 1931, Nevada governor Fred Balzar signed Assembly Bill 98 into law. That’s the measure that made it legal (once more) for Nevada gambling halls to offer commercial gambling (games line faro, craps, blackjack, and slot machines) to the public. With a stroke of the pen, Nevada’s gaming industry was born.
You can learn much more about the growth of gaming in Nevada in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
Today in history–March 19, 1931 Read More »
fromthebook