As promised, my latest book, Something for Your Money: A History of Las Vegas Casinos, was published earlier this month. II would like to take a minute to explain the title. I am open to anything when it comes to book titles. It’s been so long I forget why I settled on Suburban Xanadu for […]
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book, informed informalityI have some exciting news to share. I am deep into my next book project, which is a history of the Sands hotel and casino in Las Vegas. The first chapter is done, and I’m making great progress on the second. The book will tell the story of the Sands, from before its 1952 opening
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writingThis week in Vegas Seven, I’ve got a short piece about why BMM’s move to the gaming tech corridor is significant: The gaming-testing lab BMM International announced in late May that it was moving its world headquarters from its current Eastern Avenue digs to the south-of-McCarran industrial area that’s become the city’s gaming-tech corridor—an area
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Vegas SevenI’ve got the cover story in this week’s Vegas Seven. It’s a piece that I worked on a quite a while under the astute editorial eye of Greg Blake Miller, in which I come to grips with why people come to Vegas to see dead people: The Mob Museum’s Feb. 14 debut was another reminder
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Vegas Seven, writingGoing through my “My Documents” folder, I happened across something I wrote just after the Aria opening. It’s pointless little anecdote about my completely inconsequential run-in with Cesar Pelli. This was back when I still had the energy to write things on spec, which is broke writer-speak for “no one’s hired me to do this,
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writingMy final bit of writing for this week’s Vegas Seven is a Green Felt Journal column about the impact of a potential NFL work stoppage, exclusive of any lost gaming revenue. Here, I’m looking at how the locals would be impacted: That a work stoppage will hurt the casinos of Las Vegas—particularly on the Strip—is
Pondering life after football in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingWhat is it about Las Vegas that brings out the worst in some writers? The latest victim shares his thoughts on Las Vegas in Smithsonian Magazine, though I cant imagine why an editor would solicit this kind of superficial “analysis,” much less publish it: I knew, going in, that I’d feel out of place. The
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life in vegas, writingThis isn’t the popular thing to say right now, but I’ve got real doubts about the AC mini-casino proposal. Here are my thoughts from the LV Business Press: Both Atlantic City and Las Vegas have had a difficult recession of course, by definition no recession is easy. Atlantic City, however, has suffered much more due
AC needs more than mini-casinos Read More »
atlantic city, news about gamblingSince it’s Thursday, I’ve got a new Green Felt Journal for you to read in Vegas Seven magazine. This week, I talk about March Madness on the Strip: The basketball-mad crowd covers all ages, from cigar-chomping sharp bettors in their 60s to still-in-school rowdies wearing their college colors. It skews young, however, with 20- to
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news about gambling, Vegas Seven, writingNew Green Felt Journal in Vegas Seven: Baccarat first came to Las Vegas in the 1950s, but didn’t make much headway until the growth of high-end, international play in the 1970s. Caesars Palace and the Hilton led the way, and soon most casinos with any pretension to catering to high-rollers added the game. The game
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news about gambling, writingFor a while now, I’ve been dropping hints about an article on resort fees that I’ve been working on. I’ve been a little more mysterious than usual because the magazine I wrote it for hadn’t been published yet. Well, it’s out at last, in the debut issue of Vegas Seven magazine. It’s the first in
It’s a happy day in my writing career. The Polish translation of Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling is out at last. For those of you who speak Polish, here’s the first bit of the prologue: Jak feniks z popio?ów By? 5 czerwca 1637 r. Puryta?scy osadnicy, przybyli niedawno ze starego kontynentu, posuwali si?
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what's new, writingToday, September 9, 2009, is the 67th anniversary of the day that legendary Las Vegas casino developer Jay Sarno joined the Army Air Force. I just happened to notice this because I’m working on a section of the Sarno manuscript today, and the coincidence struck me as worthy of sharing.
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writingIt’s never too early to start planning your next writing workshop, particularly if you’re planning to be in Cape May, New Jersey next January 15-18. If you’re inclined towards brief non-fiction (and who isn’t…except for those of us who like lengthy fiction?) you may want to consider beating the crowd and registering now for one
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writingYou might have noticed that I do a great deal of writing. Whether it’s the daily blogging, the articles for the Las Vegas Business Press, Casino Connection, and elsewhere, or the books, writing is something that is very important to me, both professionally and because I like to do it. Since it means so much
I didn’t write this…not exactly Read More »
atlantic city, writingI’ve got two new articles elsewhere on the web, including a piece in the LVBP where I ponder the strangely-bifurcated marketing strategy at Paris Las Vegas: While browsing a popular online travel Web site recently, I noticed something strange: There are two major resort hotels at 3655 Las Vegas Boulevard South. The listing for Paris
And it’s only seven months into the year, too the 2008 version of Winslow’s 11 Guide is out. Well, that’s the kind of devotion I show to something for which I receive faint but welcome praise and no cash. Seriously, I’ve had a lot going on, so getting this out is a real victory for
Winslow’s 11 2008 is out! Read More »
writingThe new issue of LAB magazine is out (its motto: A wunderkabinet of creative culture. With a cherry on top.), and I’ve got an article in it about my virtual collection of casino carpet. I knew that if I kept this up long enough, I’d end up in the avant garde of culture and design.
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writingI and pretty much anyone else who’s ever seriously studied gambling have often said that people will bet on anything. Some proof to support that contention? I offer into evidence the $1.2 billion Indians reportedly bet on monsoons each year. From Online Casino Advisory: Itinerant traders spread the tradition of monsoon betting in the 1800s;
Those of you who were at the World Series of Poker last summer might have seen the booth for Poker Face 2. For those who didn’t, here are some excerpts of story in the Baltic Times explains a bit about the photog and the book: In November 1983, Ulvis Alberts, a photographer who had snapped
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writing