David G. Schwartz - Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling Casino Edition

Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling
Casino Edition

2013 David G. Schwartz

All rights reserved.

For Eric H. Monkkonen (1942-2005),
my dissertation advisor, mentor, and friend.

A portion of chapter 13, The Burger King Revolution, previously published in Gaming Law Review and Economics 14, no. 4 (2010).

First edition 2006 David G. Schwartz, published by Gotham Books, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Photo credits constitute an extension of this copyright page.

ISBN 978-1-939546-01-2 (ebook)

Cover design by Charles S. Monster, 15-North

Cover photo: courtesy Sands Collection, UNLV Special Collection s

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, this book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

WINCHESTER BOOKS

Las Vegas, Nevada

Contents

Acknowledgements

It goes without saying that a book is never an entirely solo effort, and Ive had a plenty of help getting here.

The book youre reading now happened in two stages: the original edition started with a call from Gothams Brendan Cahill, who persuaded me that a comprehensive history of world gambling could be written, and that I could do it. He did a great job of convincing me to attempt the book, and of shepherding me through the editorial process. He and Patrick Mulligan provided excellent suggestions for revisions, additions, and other changes.

At the University of Nevada Las Vegas, where Im the Director of the Center for Gaming Research in Lied Library, I got help from everyone then in Special Collections, including Peter Michel, Su Kim Chung, Toby Murray, Kathy War, Jonnie Kennedy, Joyce Moore, Michael Frazier, and Dana Miller, and the staff of Document Delivery, who answered my interlibrary loan requests with incredible speed. Thanks also go to Dean of Libraries Patricia Iannuzzi. At the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society, David Millman generously helped me find the only extant picture of Nick the Greek Dandolos that Ive ever seen.

I also had help at the University of Nevada Reno from Bill Eadington and Judy Cornelius at the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming, and visiting professor Ricardo Siu. Dr. Eadingtons offer of a guest lecture in his class let me try out some of the material from the first few chapters on a captive audience, and his friendship and encouragement over the years is much appreciated. The staff of UNR Special Collections, particularly Jacquelyn Sundstrand, was very accommodating, particularly in facilitating my access to the papers of Russell T. Barnhart.

A host of academic experts from around the world contributed their thoughts and, sometimes, bibliographies, including Larry Gragg at the Missouri University of Science and Technology; Annie Chan, Jason Gao, Davis Fong, and Carmen Cheng at the University of Macau,;Raymond Chan and Claudia Mendes Khan at the Macau Tourism and Career Center, Kai Cheong Fok at the Macau Millennium College, Il-Yong Yang at Cheju Tourism College, Mark Balestra and Sue Schneider at the River City Group, and Stephen M. Stigler at the University of Chicago.

In the gaming industry, several people granted me access to current operations and helped me track down information about the past, including Nick Spencer at the Hong Kong Jockey Club; George Tanasijevich and Lisa Cheong at Venetian/Sands Macau; Grant Bowie at Wynn Macau; Rich Westfall at Isle of Capri; Bruce Mac Donald at Foxwoods; Denise Randazzo, Roger Thomas, Steve Wynn and Elaine Wynn at Wynn Resorts; Tex Whitson (a font of information about Binions, poker, and the World Series of Poker); Crandell Addington; Debbie Munch of Caesars Entertainment; Yvette Monet and Alan Feldman of MGM Resorts International; and Mando Rueda.

For the current edition, Ive had a lot more help from a whole new set of friends and colleagues. UNLV Special Collections has had some additions including Claytee White, Barbara Tabach, Tom Sommer, and Kelli Luchs, whose photo assistance was invaluable. At Santo Gaming, Steve Rosen and Tony Santo have been great friends with a depth of knowledge about the industry that is hard to surpass. Roger Gros at Global Gaming Business has also been a true friend; the series of Atlantic City history articles that I wrote for Casino Connection gave me a much better insight into many casinos that Ive condensed into the new Atlantic City chapter here.

For the past two years, Ive also had the pleasure of writing about gaming and hospitality for Vegas Seven magazine. Working with everyone there, particularly Phil Hagen, Greg Blake Miller, and Paul Szydelko, has been great for me, and has helped to shape the recent history chapters of this book.

And Ive had a ball talking Vegas with a whole bunch of passionate, interesting people who Id never have met if it werent for the Internet. Called the Vegas Internet Mafia, the list starts with Hunter Hillegas and Chuck Monster, who Im privileged to join on the Vegas Gang Podcast, and Tim and Michelle Dressen at Five Hundy by Midnight, and includes all of the VegasTrippers and everyone in the Five Hundy community. There are also a ton of people who I interact with every day on Twitter (@unlvgaming), who always give me new insights and idea. Thanks.

My wife Suni has been a source of strength and clarity as I got this edition over the finish line, a process that wasnt always easy. And our two children are an inspiration and a joy every day.

For specific production-related gratitude: thanks go to Mike Gavin and Thomas Speak for unlocking the mysteries of InDesign for me, to Svetvlana Miller for her excellent copy-editing (and Greg Miller for his contributions there as well), and to Meg Daniel for her index. Chuck Monster designed the outstanding cover. And my beta testers Mike Adey, Steve Grantz, Katherine Jackson, Steve King, Barry Kuan, and Derek Miller caught plenty of mistakes that evaded me, for which I am grateful.

A heartfelt thanks goes to my agent, Susan Ginsburg of Writers House, who was able to get the rights to this book back to me, letting me take the big leap and get a new edition out. Throughout, she has given me sage advice and strong encouragement and put me in a position to be a better writer.

Id like to offer a thank you to all of the enthusiasts, scholars, and gamblers who left behind the collections of stories, legends, and facts that I pored over while putting this book together.

Finally, thanks to you, the reader, for having the trust that Im going to deliver on my promise to tell you a little about the history of gambling. I hope you have as much fun reading this as I did researching and writing it.

Authors Note on the Casino Edition

Whats new and different

Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling was first published in 2006 and mostly completed (on the authors end, at least) by the summer of 2005. If youre at all familiar with the casino business, youll know that there have been, to put it mildly, many changes since then. Thats the primary reason that Ive put together a new edition of the book, which focuses more strongly on elements that most readers found of interest and incorporates recent history into the story.

For American readers, the most obvious is the recession, which forced many changes in the gaming landscape, not the least of which was the sudden discovery that, perhaps, gambling was not as recession-proof as had earlier been assumed. The other change globally is the surging popularity of casino gaming in Asia, particularly Macau and Singapore.