The first major event held in Reno after the March 1931 legalization of commercial gambling was the Max Baer-Paolino Uzcudun heavyweight boxing match held on July 4, 1931.
You can learn more about the origins of Reno 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.
When they began their show at The Mirage in 1990, Siegfried and Roy’s tickets, which started at $70, were by far the most expensive in town. They were also successful, leading to an increase in higher-budget shows on the Strip.
You can learn more about Vegas 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.
Siegfried and Roy: Pioneers Read More »
fromthebookIn 1980, Holiday Inns, Inc, acquired Bill Harrah’s gambling empire—casinos in Lake Tahoe and Reno and a project in development in Atlantic City.
Holiday tabled the Atlantic City project, putting the Harrah name on its own soon-to-open casino on the marina. That casino is today Harrah’s Atlantic City, one of the nicest casinos in town.
Learn more about Atlantic City in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
Holiday Inn goes gambling Read More »
atlantic city, fromthebookIn 1988, South Dakota voters authorized gambling in Deadwood. Originally, the stakes were limited to $5, with mandates on maximum casino size and requirements that casino owners be “bona fide” South Dakota residents keeping major Las Vegas-based operators out of the market.
You can read more about the proliferation of casinos across the U.S. in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
South Dakota antes up Read More »
fromthebookIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I take a look at how the Strip’s original boutique hotel is keeping up with the competition: But the original boutique hotel-within-a-hotel on the Strip, the Four Seasons, is generating some buzz of its own with a two-phase renovation that’s just started its second half. Sharing the Mandalay Bay
Keeping a Season Ahead in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenWith Genting’s purchase of Boyd’s Echelon site on the Strip and proposed construction of Resorts World Las Vegas, a lot of Vegas-based people have asked where the company comes from. Luckily, Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling has the whole Genting story.
The company got it start in 1964, when Lim Goh Tong began building a hotel at a spot “above the clouds” 45 miles from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. When he received a franchise to offer casino gaming five years later, things really got going.
Genting Highlands developed, over the next 40 years, into a six hotel, 8,000-room resort, and the company today operates casinos in other markets, including the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Singapore, and New York City—the latter three are under the Resorts World name.
Learn more about Genting and other gaming companies in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
The birth of Genting Read More »
fromthebookThe first London (semi-private) club devoted mostly to gambling, White’s, opened in 1697. These clubs were an outgrowth of earlier coffee and chocolate houses, where like-minded Londoners gathered to get refreshed, gossip, and do business. It was only a matter of time before some of them agreed that cards and dice were the best business going and formed their own club.
You can read more about London gambling clubs in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
First London gambling club Read More »
fromthebook, gambling & cultureIn this video, I talk about my plan to summarize the book in a few short videos and discuss the prologue and first chapter.
In this video, I talk about my plan to summarize the book in a… Read More »
book, Roll the Bones, videoIn this video, I talk about my plan to summarize the book in a few short videos and discuss the prologue and first chapter.
In this video, I talk about my plan to summarize the book in a… Read More »
book, Roll the Bones, videoIn this video, I talk about my plan to summarize the book in a few short videos and discuss the prologue and first chapter.
In this video, I talk about my plan to summarize the book in a… Read More »
book, Roll the Bones, videoNevada’s first governor, Henry Bladsel, wasn’t a fan of gambling. He called it “an intolerable and inexcusable vice” after taking office in 1864, and he convinced the legislature to strengthen penalties against gambling.
That didn’t stop Nevadans from gambling, and in 1869 the legislature passed a law legalizing gambling. Over Bladsel’s veto. The rest is quite literally history.
You can read the entire story of Nevada 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.
Nevada’s first governor on gambling Read More »
fromthebookIn this week’s Vegas Seven, I consider the bigger impact of the attention focused on problem gambling due to the case of Maureen O’Connor: The recent revelation that former San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor had reportedly embezzled more than $2 million from a charitable foundation to feed her gambling addiction has focused attention on pathological
Defining a Dark Allure in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenThe Sun City resort, which Sol Kerzner opened in Bophuthatswana in 1979, featured many of the amenities that would characterize Las Vegas Strip “mega-resorts” in the 1990s, and Steve Wynn credited Kerzner’s resort as an influence on The Mirage, which itself sparked the boom on the Strip.
Learn more about casinos in South Africa and everywhere else in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
South Africa and the Strip Read More »
fromthebookQ & A with Newsworks New Jersey:
It’s always great to talk to people from my native New Jersey, particularly Jen A. Miller, who has written a great book about the Jersey Shore.
Go here to read the whole interview, where I put an Atlantic City spin on the book, which already has some great material about the seaside resort.
You can also read an excerpt from the book’s Atlantic City chapterl The Rise of Atlantic City.
I’ve definitely got Atlantic City covered in this new edition.
Q & A with Newsworks New Jersey Read More »
author, Roll the BonesQ & A with Newsworks New Jersey:
It’s always great to talk to people from my native New Jersey, particularly Jen A. Miller, who has written a great book about the Jersey Shore.
Go here to read the whole interview, where I put an Atlantic City spin on the book, which already has some great material about the seaside resort.
You can also read an excerpt from the book’s Atlantic City chapterl The Rise of Atlantic City.
I’ve definitely got Atlantic City covered in this new edition.
Q & A with Newsworks New Jersey Read More »
author, Roll the BonesQ & A with Newsworks New Jersey:
It’s always great to talk to people from my native New Jersey, particularly Jen A. Miller, who has written a great book about the Jersey Shore.
Go here to read the whole interview, where I put an Atlantic City spin on the book, which already has some great material about the seaside resort.
You can also read an excerpt from the book’s Atlantic City chapterl The Rise of Atlantic City.
I’ve definitely got Atlantic City covered in this new edition.
Q & A with Newsworks New Jersey Read More »
author, Roll the BonesRoulette was the game of choice for many Russian visitors to gambling resorts along the Rhine river in the mid-19th century. Fyodor Doystoevsky’s short novel The Gambler was based on first-hand “research” the author conducted at the gambling tables in Baden-Baden.
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.
Nick “the Greek” Dandolos was one of the most legendary gamblers in Las Vegas history. He claimed to have had more than $500 million pass through his hands as wins and losses during his gambling career. But he didn’t live lavishly; for years he lived in a $10-a-night hotel room.
There’s lots more about famous and infamous gamblers in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
Nick the Greek in Vegas Read More »
fromthebookThis is one of the most emotionally-difficult pieces I’ve had to write for Vegas Seven–a look at the career and legacy of my friend and mentor Bill Eadington, who passed away last week: Within five years of his 1969 arrival at the University of Nevada, Reno as an assistant professor, Eadington had made the case
A Game-Changing Scholar in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIn the early 1980s, bingo halls on tribal lands throughout the United States exploded. These bingo halls generally did not follow state rules on maximum jackpots, so they were incredibly popular. They formed the foundation for today’s tribal gaming industry.
In 1984, the Otoe Missouria Indians opened what they billed as the world’s biggest bingo hall, the 6,000-seat Red Rock Bingo Palace in north-central Oklahoma.
You can learn more about tribal government gaming and the development of casinos on Indian reservations in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
World’s Biggest Bingo Hall Read More »
fromthebook