Neve Maslakovic. Regarding Ducks and Universes. Las Vegas: Amazon Encore, 2011. 340 pages. I’m back with a fiction review. REGARDING DUCKS AND UNIVERSES is a clever novel that mashes together science fiction and mystery. Some backstory: in 1986, a scientist duplicated the universe, with Earth A and Earth B gradually diverging because of random chance:
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book reviewsIt’s two podcasts in two days at the Center for Gaming Research–when it rains it pours, in a good way. Today, I posted the Gaming Research Colloquium talk given this afternoon by Darryl A. Smith: Darryl A. Smith, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Pomona College “’Dark with Excessive Bright’”: Gambling Tells and the Naming Taboo”
Darryl A. Smith podcast is up Read More »
what's newFinally, another Green Felt Journal in Vegas Seven. And this is a good one, too: It’s not often that a CEO becomes a hero by jumping off a building, but most CEOs aren’t like Frank Riolo. And most companies don’t operate observation towers attached to a Las Vegas casino. Since May 2008—just about the start
Frank Riolo’s leap of faith in Vegas 7 Read More »
news about gambling, Vegas Seven, writingAt the opening of the Tropicana’s new Cantor Gaming-run sports book, I had a very interesting conversation with Cantor Gaming President and CEO Lee Amaitis. It was so interesting that I thought I should share it with everyone. So we made an appointment for a sit-down interview, and here it is. UNLV Gaming Podcast #27
Podcast w/ Lee Amaitis is up Read More »
news about gamblingThis week in the Las Vegas Business Press, I take a look back at a year that raises more questions than it answered: From the start of last year, Nevadans had no illusions. The recession showed no concrete signs of letting up, and within the gaming industry hope, particularly about the newly opened CityCenter, was
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news about gamblingLin Zhe. George A. Fowler, trans. Old Town. Amazon Crossing, 2011. 704 pages. A really good novel, even more than a film, can get the reader inside the minds of its characters. OLD TOWN is a novel that lets the reader vicariously experience three generations of life in China. Spanning much of the 20th century,
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book reviewsAnyone else catch this Notice to Licensees from the Nevada Gaming Control Board last week? DATE: February 8, 2011 TO: All Gaming Licensees and Other Interested Persons FROM: Mark A. Lipparelli, Chairman SUBJECT: Merging of the Board’s Investigations and Corporate Securities Divisions Effective Monday, February 14, 2011, the Investigations and Corporate Securities Divisions of the
NV regulation’s just changed Read More »
news about gamblingLooks like change is in the air in Atlantic City. First off, Trump Marina is apparently going to change hands. As the Atlantic City Press reports, Landry’s Inc., which owns Golden Nuggets in Downtown Las Vegas and Laughlin, is planning to buy the property for $38 million and give it a through facelift, both inside
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atlantic city, news about gamblingWith some time to really work today, I finished several updates and created a new report that should help put 2010 in perspective. Here’s the rundown: 1. I updated and retitled the analysis of monthly and quarterly revenue changes 2007-2010: Nevada Gaming: Charting the Recession Analysis of Total Gaming Win, Statewide and Las Vegas Strip,
Graham Joyce. The Silent Land.New York:Doubleday, 2011. 240 pages. I’m back with a review of a “suspense novel” that isn’t that suspenseful, but which has its charms. In THE SILENT LAND, a young vacationing British couple, Jake and Zoe, find themselves trapped in an Alpine ski resort, completely alone, after an avalanche. Unable to contact
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book reviewsThe Gaming Control Board released the December 2010 Gaming Revenue Report today, and I’ve gotten my historical comparison/analysis up. Here’s the executive summary, but you should really click through to see all of the numbers: As in November, December saw a decline from the previous year’s results, but there were bright spots. Statewide and in
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news about gamblingIt’s Thursday, so I’ve got a Green Felt Journal column in Vegas Seven. This week, I dig a little deeper into the significance of the El Cortez’s Design-a-Suite Downtown competition: When the El Cortez announced the winner of its Design-a-Suite Downtown competition recently, the downtown stalwart did more than decide the look for its suites;
El Cortez suite competition winner in Vegas Seven Read More »
news about gambling, Vegas Seven, writingThe Nevada Gaming Control Board has released the unaudited figures for this year’s Super Bowl, and in spite of early reports that the books took a beating, they actually came out slightly ahead. Here’s a quote from the press release: THE GAMING CONTROL BOARD RELEASED FIGURES TODAY SHOWING THAT $87.5 MILLION WAS WAGERED IN NEVADA’S
2011 Super Bowl Breakdown Read More »
news about gamblingMy latest column in the Las Vegas Business Press is now available. In it, I consider Governor Sandoval’s recent call for modernization in Nevada’s gaming regulations: In his State of the State address, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval briefly noted the necessity of updating the state’s gaming regulations to reflect the new realities of 21st century
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Las Vegas Business Press, news about gambling, writingI’m pretty excited about the upcoming Gaming Research Colloquium talk that we’re hosting at UNLV: Please join us at 12:15 PM, Thursday, Feb. 24, as February Gaming Research Fellow Darryl A. Smith delivers a Gaming Research Colloquium talk titled “’Dark with Excessive Bright:’ Gambling Tells and the Gaming Taboo.” Smith, an assistant professor of religious
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gambling & cultureHoward Mansfield. Turn and Jump: How Time and Place Fell Apart. Rockport, Maine: Down East Books, 2010. 195 pages. Today we take for granted that time is rigidly (and sometimes mercilessly) segmented. But the way people think about time has changed dramatically over the last two hundred years, with local and natural time, based on
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book reviewsIt’s Thursday, which means another Green Felt Journal is available for your reading pleasure in Vegas Seven. This one is a look behind Station Casino’s recent hiring push: The local employment picture has been a dire one. In the past five years, the unemployment rate has more than tripled. That’s why a local company hiring
Station hiring in Vegas Seven Read More »
news about gambling, Vegas Seven, writingAfter some work, I’ve finally produced the first fruits of the Nevada Gaming Abstract 2010’s publication, over on gaming.unlv.edu: Average Big Las Vegas Strip Casino, 2010 A statistical summary of the average Las Vegas Strip casino (with annual gaming revenues of over $72 million) with both gaming and non-gaming revenues and information on employment, taxes,
New report: Average Big Strip Casino, 2010 Read More »
news about gamblingThe Gaming Control Board has announced the release of the 2010 Nevada Gaming Abstract. As of 8AM 1/31, the report isn’t up on the GCB’s site, but here’s the press release: The State Gaming Control Board has released its “NEVADA GAMING ABSTRACT – 2010.” The ABSTRACT is a report of combined financial information regarding Nevada
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news about gamblingEdward Dolnick. The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World. New York: Harper Collins, 2011. 400 pages. In THE CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE, Edward Dolnick gives the reader a sense of the world that the scientific greats of the early modern period inhabited, and lets us see that there was
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book reviews