Bob Goodlatte is at it again–he’s proposing an Internet gaming prohibition. And now he’s claiming that the only reason his bill didn’t pass in 2000 was opposition from disgraced lobbyist du jour Jack Abramoff. From Reuters: Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte will reintroduce a bill this week that would prohibit Internet gambling, a fast-growing industry valued
Blame Abramoff for Net ban failure? Read More »
gambling & cultureIn a story from last week, MGM Mirage CEO Terry Lanni discussed his company’s City Center project in Las Vegas and the potential for a similar one in Atlantic City. From Reuters: “We would give consideration to a CityCenter East,” CEO Terry Lanni told Reuters in an interview. He said such an announcement could come
City Center East? More locals casinos West? Read More »
atlantic city, life in vegasI know they say that “what happens here, stays here,’ but there’s been a disturbing tendency for “insiders” to leak information about the gambling habits of high-profile guests in Las Vegas over the past few years. The Rick Tocchet sports betting scandal hasn’t directly ensnared Wayne Gretzky, but reports of the hockey great’s gambling are
The Great Gambler? Read More »
gambling & culture, life in vegasLooking for numbers on Superbowl betting volume, I found this story from Australia about people betting on the State of the Union address. From the Daily Telegraph: ENGLISH speaking people use the word “bet” very often, even if they aren’t betting. Yesterday, I heard someone on the train say “you bet” when asked whether they
Betting on everything! Read More »
gambling & cultureIn Australia, I’ve been told, collections of gamblers are called schools–a “two-up school,” for example, is a bunch of people playing the classic Oz game. (If you’re from Australia, let me know if this is true). In America, there are dealer schools, and even degrees in casino management, but Donald Trump wants to take it
Yesterday, a piece I wrote on a “modest proposal” for legalizing sports betting ran in the LV Business Press. But today, sports betting is, of course, still illegal in most states. Former Flyers forward (and current Coyotes assistant coach) Rick Tocchet learned that the hard way: he’s been accused of promoting gambling, money laundering and
Penalty box looming for Tocchet? Read More »
gambling & cultureThe Super Bowl has come and gone, bringing jubilationt to the city of Pittsburgh, disappointment to the Pacific Northwest, and uneaten guacamole in refrigerators around the country. I suspect, but can’t confirm, that there is some sadness at sports books todays, as the favorite beat the spread. Prop bets are always an interesting part of
Gambling is Russia is growing, but that doesn’t mean that Orthodox churches should be turned into casinos. At least that’s what I think this Interfax story is about: Russian President Putin criticized the gambling industry representatives who seek to use facilities belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church for their own purposes. ‘There is nothing good
As I promised on Friday, the Las Vegas Business Press ran an article today about the immiment demise of a Strip mainstray. Check out Strip Tease to learn more. Don’t expect too many posts from me this week–I’m heading to the East Coast to do some research and meet with my editor at Gotham Books.
In Las Vegas, it’s New Years all right…Chinese New Year. I’ve often said that casinos are in the forefront of commerce-driven multi-culturalism, and this is yet another example: Strip resorts are proclaiming, at considerably expense, their jubilation at the advent of the Year of the Dog. From the LV Sun: Marketing to Asian — particularly
According to the Detroit News, betting on the Super Bowl will be big business: An estimated 60 million people will bet $6 billion on the Super Bowl this year. But not a single wager will be made at a casino in Detroit or Windsor. Sports betting is illegal in Michigan, while Casino Windsor isn’t licensed
Betting on the Big Game Read More »
gambling & cultureIf you listened to Dave Berns interview me on KNPR, you heard my shocking revelation that I used to work as Mr. Peanut. Actually, it’s not that shocking, but “shocking revelation” sounds better than “talking about a past summer job.” So you can imagine my excitement at reading this article in the Atlantic City Press:
Peanut comeback–it’s all good Read More »
atlantic cityThe LA Times’s John Glionna has a very good piece on Asian problem gambling. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence of this phenomenon, and it looks like UCLA is doing some serious research into it. Here’s a bit of the story from the LA Times (register to read the whole article): Bill Lee’s father
Asian problem gambling Read More »
gambling & cultureNew Jersey recently banned smoking indoors–unless you’re in a casino. Proponents of the ban have said that it was a political move–they could not have gotten the measure passed with the combined clout of casinos, bars, and restaurants. So they picked off the bars and restaurants, and have now come for the casinos. From Newsday:
If you like, you can listen to me being interviewed by Dave Berns on KNPR’s State of Nevada. Just click the link and listen away. Doing the interview was a lot of fun.
Running a clandestine casino requires a lot of stealth–you need to get the word out, but not tip off the cops. You need to account for large amounts of people coming and going. You also, apparently, need to lock your door. From the AP: Sheriff’s deputies found what appeared to be a small casino when
According to Star Trek, gambling will be a big part of the future. I’m a casual Star Trek fan at best, but I seem to remember that the senior officers in The Next Generation played poker together, and that the Ferengi guy on Deep Space Nine had a casino. It looks like Trekkies will be
Away team gambling? Read More »
gambling & culture…to go on the Strip? According to Liz Benston at the Sun, the Riviera might not be such a bad bet: A group of experienced real estate developers has reached an agreement with the chief executive of the company that owns the Riviera to buy out his shares of stock in the casino’s parent company
I’ve just posted a new book review: Review of Peter Fenton, Eyeing the Flash I also added some desktop wallpapers to gallery #6. Enjoy.
Check out the Die is Cast casino carpet gallery for two new galleries: Indian casinos and riverboat casinos. Sure, they each only have two casinos, but both have a panoply of carpet designs. I also added some Lake Las Vegas carpets. I had an interesting phone call yesterday that shows what a tremendous error in
Carpet images added Read More »
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