slot machines

Casino Industry Makes a Bid for Millennial Attention – Vegas Seven

In this week’s Green Felt Journal, I take a look at the new machines at this year’s just-concluded Global Gaming Expo: Some subtext of the 2016 show (if you haven’t been keeping up on recent gaming developments) is that the streak of expansion that drove the industry from the late 1980s is largely over; there […]

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Vegas Seven

Author David G. Schwartz discusses Chapter 8, “Wise Guys…

Author David G. Schwartz discusses Chapter 8, “Wise Guys & One-Armed Bandits,” of Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling (Casino Edition). 

This chapter covers the rise of Saratoga Springs as a racing and gambling center, the invention of slot machines, and the development of gambling syndicates throughout the nation. These groups dominated illegal gambling in the cities they controlled and were a precursor of the larger organized crime groups that took over during Prohibition.

Finally, it discusses the growth of illegal casinos throughout the United States, legal casinos in Cuba and Tijuana, and the Kefauver Committee, whose reforming zeal closed down illegal operations in many states.

If you don’t see the video, go here: http://youtu.be/0QZ0nmBekGI

For more information about the book, including where to buy it, visit http://rollthebonesbook.com/.

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video

From the book: The first poker machine

Lots of people have heard of San Francisco mechanic Charles Fey’s Liberty Bell, which was the first auto-pay reel slot to gain popularity. He unveiled it in 1899.

Fewer people know that the first coin-operated slot machine, a device that flipped through five decks of cards, with winners paid off in kind (not in cash) for “winning” hands.

It was an early, analog video poker machine. And it was invented in 1891, 8 years before Fey’s Liberty Bell, in Brooklyn, New York.

That’s just one of the many fascinating things you’ll read about in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

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fromthebook, Roll the Bones

G2E convergence in the LVBP

I wrote up some of my thoughts on the new tech stuff at G2E for the Las Vegas Business Press. Take a look: The official theme of the Global Gaming Expo, held Oct. 3-6 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, was “innovation,”; but it could have been, more specifically, “convergence.” As always, there were

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Las Vegas Business Press

Behind the reels in Vegas Seven

There’s a Green Felt Journal in today’s Vegas Seven, focusing on what many slot players don’t see: To most players, slot machines are only screen deep. The spinning reels are what’s important. But there’s a lot going on behind the scenes that makes the action possible. Without back-end systems to track play and account for

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Vegas Seven

60 Minutes hits slots

The 60 Minutes hit piece on slot machines finally came out. I’ve been hearing about this for a while, and it was actually about what I expected: We Americans spend more money on slots than on movies, baseball and theme parks combined. But with the modern slot machines, there is a greater potential for a

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news about gambling

Surprising AC slots in LVBP

Just 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

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atlantic city, news about gambling

NV February numbers good, not great

Las Vegas Strip casinos had a strong February. From the LVRJ: When combining the first two months of 2010, gaming revenues are up 5 percent statewide and 13.4 percent on the Strip. “February turned out to be the perfect storm,” Control Board Tax and License Division Chief Frank Streshley said. “It was a record for

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news about gambling

Family feud over jackpot

Often, gamblers decide to pool their resources and share both the costs and the gains from their gambling. Lottery clubs are the best example of this. Sometimes, though, it ends badly, as in this Connecticut case. From the Boston Globe: For years, Theresa Sokaitis and Rose Bakaysa were the closest of siblings, whiling away long

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gambling & culture, news about gambling

Gaming taverns in Vegas 7

It’s Thursday, so that means the latest Vegas Seven is hot off the presses–printing and digital. This week, I’ve got an article about gaming taverns–you know, those bars with slots in them that are ubiquitous in Las Vegas. Here’s the opening: From Irish pubs to Mexican cantinas, it seems that every culture puts its own

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news about gambling

More about the year of the penny

Here’s my latest from the Las Vegas Business Press, in which I continue to deconstruct the popularity of pennies: When the year-end Nevada gaming revenue figures came out, two trends dominated the news: Gambling in general was down again in 2009, while baccarat play toward the end of the year showed a surprising spike. But

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news about gambling, writing

Video slots comes to Illinois?

Lawmakers in the state of Illinois are seriously considering legalizing video poker and other electronic gambling devices throughout the state. With a maximum of 5 devices per location, this would be similar to–but smaller than–Nevada’s restricted licenses, which permit bars to have up to 15 machines. From the Chicago Tribune: Video poker has long been

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news about gambling

BWI casino

I’ve traveled through Baltimore-Washington International Airport a few times, and there’s not a lot to do there. This proposal to allow a massive slot casino at the airport might change that. From the Baltimore Sun: A Baltimore County lawmaker is proposing slot-machine gambling at Maryland’s major airport, but Gov. Martin OMalley called the casino a

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news about gambling

Of rats and machine players

Can people control their behavior? Or, as the Smashing Pumpkins might say, in spite of all our rage, we’re still just rats in a cage? This piece in the Columbian gives a shot at figuring it out, and even quotes your illustrious blogger: Gambling is an example of variable or intermittent reinforcement. A gambler learns

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gambling & culture, news about gambling

Gambling in Pasadena

Machine gambling used to be quite common in urban America, as this column from the Pasadena Star-News shows: Pasadena in 1937 was a gambling den of sorts. Slot machines and pinball machines that made cash payoffs were common in the business areas of town. But change was coming. The Pasadena Post wrote on March 13,

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gambling & culture

Fake kidnapping, real slots

We had a big kidnapping case here in Las Vegas a few weeks ago that had nothing to do with casinos and everything to do with the standard “drug deal gone wrong.” So I found this story from the Sun Daily quite interesting: A Chinese man faked his own kidnapping as well as that of

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gambling & culture

Incentivized criminals

Most casinos strongly encourage players to use their loyalty cards when gambling. From the casino’s perspective, it allows them to track play and award comps more judiciously. Players just like getting free stuff. But sometimes they go too far. From the LVRJ: It turns out there is some money that casinos don’t want. A Los

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news about gambling