Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Nov 20, 2009, 8:58 am
Harold S. Kushner. Conquering Fear: Living Boldly in an Uncertain World. New York: Alfred F. Knopf, 2009. 192 pages. Humans are the only animals that fear the future–a consequence of the gift o...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Nov 19, 2009, 4:47 pm
I was doing some research in the 1997 time frame and happened across this quote in the July 1997 Casino Executive Magazine: “If you’re the last person to build that last $1 billion projec...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Nov 19, 2009, 9:48 am
The big talk at G2E has been the recession. Last year, it was how to fight it. This year, it’s how to survive it. Anyone else get the sense that we’re living in an age of rapidly dimini...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Nov 18, 2009, 1:08 pm
With G2E upon us, I’ve been even busier than usual–hence no post yesterday. Here’s a preview of what I’ll be saying about food and beverage operations and casino brand identit...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Nov 16, 2009, 4:05 pm
Here’s the word from a member of Nevada’s Gaming Control Board: look for competition in legal sports betting. From the LV Sun: Nevada will face competition for race and sports books, a s...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Nov 13, 2009, 4:52 pm
... often are instrumental in funding education. You could divert online poker taxes to pay for education instead, but then you haven’t really created any new ... a single order of magnitud...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Nov 12, 2009, 1:07 pm
As you may know, I’ve been immersed in a mammoth study of Nevada casino slots’ hold percentages. It’s driven by the question: “Does raising hold percentage actually decrease p...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Nov 11, 2009, 4:24 pm
I found this courtesy of Stiffs and Georges. Take a look at these transcripts, then tell me that this scenario wasn’t a lot funnier when Jon Favreau did it in Swingers. John Fredericks Voicema...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Nov 10, 2009, 2:59 pm
Gaming revenues fell about 9 percent in September, compared to the previous year’s take, as the slump continues for a 21st month. From the LVRJ: Nevada gaming revenues fell for the 21st straig...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Nov 6, 2009, 9:24 am
Michael Greenberg. Beg, Borrow, Steal: A Writer’s Life. New York: Other Press, 2009. 240 pages. Longtime fans of Doctor Who, the British sci-fi tv classic, talk about watching it “from be...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Nov 4, 2009, 5:18 pm
If nothing else, today I learned that I’m not the only one with casino carpet as a wall decoration (three guesses about which carpet it is). I got an email from a gentleman whose father manufac...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Nov 3, 2009, 1:58 pm
For a few years now, everyone who is anyone in casino design has known that theming has gone the way of the 99-cent shrimp cocktail. But has it actually gone the way of the $29 room rate, surprising ...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Nov 2, 2009, 6:52 pm
I’ve got a new column in the Las Vegas Business Press about how food and beverage offerings (well, mostly food) can help or hurt a casino: Napoleon once said that an army marches on its stomach...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Oct 30, 2009, 11:43 am
Editors of Babble.com. Dirt is Good for You: True Stories of Surviving Parenthood. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2009. 256 pages. This book is intended for “urban, hipster” parents, which I’v...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Oct 29, 2009, 11:51 am
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 pr...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Oct 28, 2009, 11:47 am
Here’s some good news about the Rock and Roll Las Vegas Marathon from the LVRJ: In the 10-plus months since it was announced that Competitor Group was taking over the Las Vegas Marathon, there...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Oct 27, 2009, 3:55 pm
After about a week’s delay I’ve finally gotten the 15th UNLV Gaming Podcast up, featuring Global Gaming Business publisher Roger Gros. It wasn’t easy–midway through Roger̵...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Oct 26, 2009, 11:13 am
This is a well-written NY Times article about where Atlantic City is today, even if it’s the same song we’ve been hearing for decades now: Just a few years ago, Atlantic City was boomtown...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Oct 23, 2009, 6:29 pm
I’m still not where I want to be with the book review I’m working on, but here’s something I can share. I’m going to be moderating a panel at G2E about F&B as a marketing tool...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Oct 22, 2009, 1:26 pm
This piece in the LA Times mentions the current pressure to legalize some forms of Internet gambling, with a hint of the real story: Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) ha...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Oct 19, 2009, 1:50 pm
This is a very interesting story from the LV Sun: Gaming board agents have made nearly 400 arrests in connection with casino and gambling-related crimes in Nevada this year, compared with fewer than ...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Oct 16, 2009, 1:59 pm
Jerome Tuccille. Gallo Be Thy Name: The Inside Story of How One Family Rose to Dominate the U.S. Wine Market. Beverly Hills: Phoenix Books, 2009. 288 pages. The American wine industry has seen tremen...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Oct 15, 2009, 9:33 am
With all of the problems the Large Hadron Collider has had, a pair of physicists are mulling the possibility that nature itself is conspiring against it. It’s possible, they say, that the poten...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Oct 14, 2009, 11:27 am
There’s an article in today’s LVRJ about casino coffee shops being replaced by chains: We've said goodbye or nearly so to dressing up for a night out, all-night buffets, free lounge ...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Oct 13, 2009, 11:10 am
Jim McManus has an interesting article on the American-ness of poker in the latest Chronicle of Higher Education: American DNA is a notoriously complex recipe for creating a body politic, but two str...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Oct 12, 2009, 12:59 pm
And not a moment too soon. We’ve acquired a major new collection that I’m in the process of…processing and we’ve got Roger Gros giving a Gaming Research Colloquium talk this T...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Oct 5, 2009, 8:04 pm
Timothy Egan. The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. 352 pages. Forest fires are a perennial concern, particularly in the American Wes...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Oct 1, 2009, 8:03 pm
It’s not carpet, but it does have to do with what you walk on in a casino. This little bit was in the latest Wynn Newsletter, and I thought it was interesting: Wynn Las Vegas is a visual feast...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Sep 24, 2009, 7:49 pm
I’m not going to be posting much over the next several days–I’ve got a project that will keep me away from the office for a while. You’ll undoubtedly learn more about it after...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Sep 24, 2009, 4:11 pm
All of you aspiring casino game creators (and those who are interested in how games are created) might want to read this piece in the SF Chronicle: Webb, who splits his time these days between Las V...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Sep 23, 2009, 2:05 pm
It’s always great when people debunk casino-related myths and misconceptions. I’d like to point you to The Straight Dope’s handling of a casino counterfeiting question: Dear Cecil:...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Sep 22, 2009, 9:00 am
This is hardly breaking news to anyone who reads this blog regularly, but gambling revenues are down nationwide. This Economix piece in the New York Times blogs is as good a summary as any: Two week...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Sep 21, 2009, 2:05 pm
This experiment at a Monte Carlo lounge has the benefit of novelty. From the LV Sun: It sounded like an odd fit for Vegas. The fact is the waitresses in the new lounge at the Dragon Noodle Co. insi...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Sep 18, 2009, 7:07 pm
I’m pleased to be able to announce two major events coming up this fall at UNLV: October 15 Gaming Research Colloquium: Roger Gros, Publisher, Global Gaming Business Magazine “Informati...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Sep 17, 2009, 2:28 pm
Those of you familiar with Ventnor might lament the passing of an age: that aluminum section of boardwalk is being replaced, at last, with plain old wood. From the AC Press: About two blocks of Ve...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Sep 16, 2009, 9:24 pm
My comments on the recent Harrah’s purchase in the LVRJ were a combined Planet Hollywood/Ohio racetrack thought: David Schwartz, director of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' Gaming Res...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Sep 15, 2009, 11:29 am
This isn’t part of the Gaming Research Colloquium Series but may be of interest to those interested in gambling nonetheless. Next month, anthropologist Barbara Oakley will give a talk called &#...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Sep 14, 2009, 7:15 pm
Someone emailed me this article, which is about 7 years old and is, of course, not rooted in truth, from the Onion: A gambling-addiction study by researchers at UNLVs Gaming Studies Research Center h...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Sep 11, 2009, 7:05 pm
Hey, I finally got around to posting the latest UNLV Gaming Podcast: 14-September 9, 2009 Derk Boss (DJ Boss and Associates) Casino surveillance expert Derk Boss gives the September 2009 Gaming Res...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Sep 9, 2009, 12:34 pm
Today, 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...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Sep 8, 2009, 3:52 pm
I’m full of good cheer over at the Las Vegas Business Press, where I start by looking at where the employment numbers are now and where they seem to be heading: In July 2007, perhaps the high-w...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Sep 4, 2009, 9:39 am
James David Robenalt. The Harding Affair: Love and Espionage during the Great War. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 209. 400 pages. Warren G. Harding has been consistently ranked as one of the nation...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Sep 3, 2009, 1:27 pm
I’ve got a new column out today in the Las Vegas Weekly. It’s an essay about why there’s such a stigma against Las Vegas visitors: Three outside opinions, one conclusion: Las Vegas...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Sep 1, 2009, 4:53 pm
We’ll be hosting the inaugural 2009-10 academic year Gaming Research Colloquium this Thursday as casino surveillance expert Derk Boss gives a talk: Gaming Research Colloquium Series: Derk Boss,...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Aug 31, 2009, 3:27 pm
There’s a big piece in today’s USA Today about penny slots: The penny slot machine, once a joke among serious gamblers, is the hottest form of betting during this recession. Even casinos...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Aug 28, 2009, 1:36 pm
Ryan Boudinot. Misconception. New York: Black Cat, 2009. 224 pages. Misconception is a novel in the form of a memoir with a twist: we get the same story from two perspectives. But this isn’t j...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Aug 27, 2009, 1:54 pm
A columnist in the St. Augustine Record has a prescription for women who are dreading the return of football season: gambling! You can bridge this gap with one of the greatest relationship problem ...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Aug 26, 2009, 5:39 pm
Well, it looks like the Time magazine cover story from a few weeks ago has scored some collateral damage. From the LV Sun: A Las Vegas real estate agent who landed a prominent role in a Time magazin...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Aug 24, 2009, 2:31 pm
A reminder that creating a casino industry isn’t just about waving the money wand and watching the dollars pour in. From the New Journal: Before the first hand of blackjack, the first spin of ...
Comment - Like

Dave S. posted an article on The Die is Cast - Aug 21, 2009, 5:27 pm
Frank Fertitta, Jr, whose sons currently run Station Casinos, has passed away. From the LV Sun: Frank Fertitta Jr., the patriarch of Station Casinos, died today after heart surgery in a California h...
Comment - Like