It’s a happy day in UNLV gaming-land. An article I wrote a while back about how Las Vegas bounced back from the 1980s recession is out in Gaming Law Review and Economics: MOST WHO HAVE CONSIDERED Las Vegas history have concluded that not much happened in Las Vegas gaming between the openings of the original
The Burger King Revolution Read More »
news about gamblingJoseph Mazur. What’s Luck Got to Do With It? The History, Mathematics, and Psychology of the Gambler’s Illusion. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010. 277 pages. I’m on a real book-reviewing tear. I’ve got five more in the hopper, including two for academic journals that I’ll only post synopses of here. Today I’m sharing my thoughts
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book reviewsJack Harpster. King of the Slots: William “Si” Redd. Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2010. 273 pages. Si Redd might have had a bigger impact on American casino gambling than anyone else in the years 1960 to 1990. He’s got some big competition–Jay Sarno, Steve Wynn, and Kirk Kerkorian are a few names that spring to mind.
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book reviewsJonathan Weiner. Long for this World: The Strange Science of Immortality. New York: HarperCollins, 2010. 320 pages. Immortality’s a tricky subject to write about. There are few people who wouldn’t be at least a little interested in the prospect of living forever, but since no one’s been documented doing it, there’s really not much to
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book reviewsJust to show you the kind of week I’m having, it’s Thursday and I’m just now getting around to posting a link to my bi-weekly LVBP column, which I should have done on Monday or Tuesday. I just got the beta version of the Macau gaming summary up, and I’ve jumped into a study of
Surprising AC slots in LVBP Read More »
atlantic city, news about gamblingIf you want, you can take a sneak peek at the latest jurisdictional gaming summary I’ve done at the Center for Gaming Research, Macau: http://gaming.unlv.edu/abstract/macau.html I’m still honing it, so any suggestions are appreciated.
Soft launch of new Macau page Read More »
news about gambling, what's newAnother week, another smug, alarmist anti-online gambling editorial, this time from the Christian Science Monitor: Fresh from fixing Wall Street’s casinolike ways in high finance, Congress begins work Tuesday on a bill to overturn a 2006 law banning Internet gambling in the US. The measure is being rushed through the House Financial Services Committee on
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news about gamblingThis is funny. This afternoon, I recorded an interview with Jeff Gillan of In Business Las Vegas, so tune into KSNV-3 tonight if you want to see it. We talk about the NFL allowing Las Vegas ads during regular season games. When I got back to the office, I had an email from a recent
Not on the Daily Show next week Read More »
what's newAkasha Lonsdale. Do I Kneel or Do I Bow? What You Need to Know When Attending Religious Occasions. London: Kuperard, 2010. 336 pages. This book sets out to help people understand different religions, with an emphasis on the practical–how to behave at “religious occasions.” Written from a primarily British perspective, it covers eight religions: Roman
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book reviewsIt’s Thursday, so I’ve got another Green Felt Journal in Vegas Seven. This week, I take a look at the surprising success of hobby-related trade shows, with a focus on Creation Entertainment’s upcoming Star Trek Convention: Things haven’t looked good for business travel to Las Vegas for a few years. Since 2006, the city has
Trek to the Rescue in Vegas7 Read More »
life in vegas, news about gambling, writingNew Jersey governor Chris Christie’s Advisory Committee on New Jersey Gaming, Sports, and Entertainment has issued its report, which calls for a partial state takeover of Atlantic City. From the AC Press: But Atlantic city and state officials have naturally focused most on the governor’s plan to create a state-run portion of Atlantic City, in
NJ to take over AC casino district Read More »
atlantic city, news about gamblingThe 2010 issue of Casino Design, a supplement to Global Gaming Business, is out now. It’s filled with tons of great articles with many perspectives on how and why casinos look the way they do. I’d like to point you towards the cover story, a massive look at how CityCenter developed, from drawing board to
CityCenter’s history Read More »
life in vegas, news about gamblingRobert L. O’Connell. The Ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic. New York: Random House, 2010. 336 pages. This book, by military historian Robert O’Connell, looks at the hows and also the whys of the battle of Cannae, one of the most conclusive–but ultimately least decisive–battles in Western history. In
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book reviewsIt’s Thursday, so you’ve got another Green Felt Journal column to read in Vegas Seven. This week, you can read my column on one of the first players to bust out in the main event; I wrote about my time at the tournament a few days ago, and here are the literary results: So what
Early WSOP bust-out in Vegas 7 Read More »
news about gambling, writingI get lots of questions from folks in the media about the use of scent in casinos. Apparently, after a month there wasn’t much question at the Palms, since the casino decided to stop using its air perfume. From the LV Sun: The Palms scent — teakwood, named after the Southeast Asian tropical hardwood —
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news about gamblingI tried to douse some of the anti-gambling rhetoric yesterday, so it’s only fitting that in this week’s LVBP column I give a little perspective on calls for gambling legalization to bridge budget gaps: The legalization or expansion of casino gaming is a hot topic in many states across the country. Like Nevada, many states
Gambling, legalization, and taxes in the LVBP Read More »
news about gamblingThis Patriot-Ledger editorial–from which I’ve excerpted a tiny slice–says a great deal about how public debates about casino gambling are structured. Why not use innuendo and guilt by association, if you can’t find numbers to back you up? If BP had come here peddling an offshore oil well, the company would have been hooted out
Anti-casino rhetoric Read More »
news about gamblingAh, that headline was inevitable, given the story, which I’m taking straight from the press release. It’s worth it: In honor of National Dog Day on Thursday, Aug. 26, Whiskey Pete’s Hotel & Casino invites guests to bring their pets on vacation where furry friends can stay and play for free in an affordable, comfortable
Whiskey Pete’s goes to the dogs Read More »
news about gamblingDaniel Okrent. Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. New York: Scriber, 2010. 480 pages. Prohibition is one of the great riddles of American history. Looking at it from the distance of three generations, it seems inexplicable that Americans voted to outlaw intoxicating beverages, and it seems clear that the drys were on the
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book reviewsIf nothing else, this story was much easier to research than the one I wrote earlier this week (but won’t be out for another week or two). Instead of pouncing on players who’d just been eliminated from the main event early in level one, I got to sit down and chat with a guy who
First WSOP bracelets in Vegas Seven Read More »
news about gambling, writing