Whale hunting

By on November 5, 2004

Often, people from other countries or even other states think that government regulation of gambling is faintly repressive–that the Nevada Control Board works hard to limit gambling in Nevada. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. As this story from the Sun shows, the GCB actually is pushing casinos to attract more gamblers:

State gaming regulators on Wednesday asked two of Nevada’s largest casinos to make like Capt. Ahab and hunt more vigorously for so-called “super whales.”

Representatives from Caesars Palace and Mandalay Bay came to the Sawyer Building seeking Gaming Control Board approval to continue operating private gaming salons in their respective Strip casinos.

Both officials got what they came for, but only after board members spent several minutes chastising them for failing to meet past promises that the salons would attract more high rollers, or “whales,” to Las Vegas rather than other international gaming destinations.

Board member Bobby Siller said he was discouraged that Caesars has only lured one new customer, and just two players overall, to its private salon during its first two years of operation. He was more upset when a Mandalay executive added her resort’s private gaming area was only used 10 times by six players, all existing customers, during that same span.

“It just seems like no one is making an effort to go after this selective group,” Siller said of extreme high rollers, which he dubbed super whales. “What have you been doing the last two years?”

When gaming companies in 2002 asked the state to overturn a law that required all gaming to take place in public, Siller said the casino industry indicated a pool of high-end players had been identified and was seemingly waiting in the wings to gamble privately in Nevada. Though he does not oppose salons, Siller wondered why those players have not materialized.

“It just seems like you’re not holding up your end of the commitment to create new customers,” Siller said.

Casinos save whales’ salons: Officials told to work harder to lure bettors for high-roller rooms

Only in Nevada. I love this state, where gaming regulators want to attract high rollers more than casino marketing people.

This entry is filed under life in vegas and tagged .

Young gamblers are losers…statistically speaking

By on November 3, 2004

Remember a while back there was a flurry of stories about how seniors that gambled were healthier than those who didn’t? At the time, I predicted that before long there would be another study that contradicted those findings.

Well, the other shoe has dropped. Here comes a study, from Yale no less, that claims (based on a statistical sample of 1076) that teenagers who gambled were more likely to use drugs and alcohol than those who didn’t. From Yahoo News:


Young gamblers also reported higher rates of addiction to alcohol or drugs, and appeared to be at higher risk of depression. Moreover, adults who started gambling before age 18 were also more likely to report using drugs and drinking alcohol, and be addicted to both, than adults who did not gamble.

These findings suggest that unhealthy habits may be contagious, Dr. Wendy J. Lynch told Reuters Health, and starting to gamble early in life puts people at particular risk of having problems immediately or later in life.

Just why getting an early start on gambling appears to up the risk of other problems is unclear, she said. People who gamble at young ages may simply have a “vulnerable personality” to other unhealthy behaviors, or the “thrill-seeking” nature of gambling may sensitize them to other, thrill-seeking activities like drugs and alcohol.

“I don’t know that one thing causes the other,” the researcher, based at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, said.

Regardless, gambling among teenagers may serve as a warning sign that they are at risk, Lynch said, and dealing with the gambling may help protect them from other troubles.

Despite the fact that gambling is largely illegal for teenagers, up to 90 percent of people between the ages of 12 and 17 say they have gambled within the last year, according to the Archives of General Psychiatry report.

Start Gambling Early, Get a Losing Hand


For feedback, here’s John Noslots, and antigambler, and Juan A. Winmore, a gambling industry advocate:

John: This study proves that gambling is bad. People who gamble also drink and use drugs. Clearly, gambling is a form of self-destructive behavior.

Juan: I don’t think so. As far as alcohol goes, this study hardly posits a link between alcohol abuse and gambler; it defines alcohol use as one or two drinks a month, something well within accepted social practices. Some doctors even tout the health benefits of a daily glass of red wine.

John: It certainly seems that if young gamblers also drink and use drugs, there might be a common underlying personality trait that drives people to compulsive behavior.

Juan: While I don’t condone doing anything to excess, I’m not seeing any evidence of that here. In fact, the young people in the survey said they usually gambled for social reasons, not to win or lose money. It could be that the young gamblers are simply more socialized into their peer group.

John: But you can’t deny that this study provides some statistical proof for the anecdotal evidence of casinos as places where people drink, smoke, and gamble to excess. The people there are jsut pre-disposed to thrill seeking behaviors.

Juan: Again, I’m just not seeing that. I’d hardly describe having one or two beers a month as thrill seeking. I don’t see this study as saying anything about whether gambling is morally, economically, or psychologically good or bad.

Clearly, this debate will continue.

This entry is filed under Uncategorized and tagged .

Strike is over!

By on November 2, 2004

The rancorous monthlong strike that pitted Local 54 against7 Atlantic City casinos is over. Given that the new contract is five years, rather than the three wanted by the union, I’d say this was a victory for the casinos, though of course everyone lost with the disruption of the strike. From CBS via AP:

The union representing about 10,000 striking bartenders, cocktail servers, housekeepers and other service employees approved the five-year deal late Monday. It calls for significant gains in wages and benefits and guards against the casinos’ practice of leasing space to non-union restaurants and bars.

“Given our starting point, we had thought we needed a three-year contract to reach those goals, but we achieved all that and more during the course of this strike,” said Robert McDevitt, president of Local 54 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union.

A vote by rank-and-file members was planned for Wednesday. Workers could be back on the job as early as Thursday, according to union officials.

The union went on strike Oct. 1 against seven of the city’s 12 casinos, turning operations in the 24-hour gambling halls upside down. While revenue figures for the month � quantifying the amount of lost business � have yet to be released, the strike was clearly bad for business.

About 10,000 casino workers � not including dealers � walked out at Harrah’s Atlantic City, Showboat Casino-Hotel, Resorts Atlantic City, Bally’s Atlantic City, Caesars Atlantic City, Tropicana Casino and Resort and the Atlantic City Hilton.
The main sticking point was the length of the contract. Union officials wanted a three-year deal whose expiration would coincide with contracts of sister unions in Las Vegas, Chicago and elsewhere.

Casino officials objected, fearing coinciding contract expirations would give the unions the power to shut down casinos in Atlantic City, Las Vegas and other jurisdictions.

Under the agreement, the union said, members would get:
A 28.3 percent increase in the total “economic package” over five years, which includes boosts in wages and pension contributions.

Continuation of fully funded health care, sparing union members from having to contribute to their insurance through payroll deductions.

Protection of members and their union when a casino changes ownership.

N.J. Casino Workers Reach Deal | November 2, 2004�13:26:14

Hopefully, everyone can get back to work now, and there will be some peace and quiet around the hospital, which is adjacent to struck property Bally’s. Also, when I make my tour of AC casinos to snap picture of casino carpet, I’m not going to have to cross picket lines.

This entry is filed under atlantic city and tagged .

Ultimate Robbery Championship

By on November 2, 2004

Let’s say you’re a little short of cash, but you’ve got a gun. No problem, you think. Just walk into a restaurant and hold the place up. It seems like a great plan, until you run into some guys who actually train in physical combat. From Fox News:


Russell R. Rogers, 64, walked into Elmer’s Restaurant in the Portland, Ore., suburb at about 2 p.m. Oct. 24, brandishing a gun and demanding money, customers and staffers told the Longview, Wash., Daily News.

Enjoying a late Sunday brunch at the restaurant were “extreme fighting” pro Benji Radach, 25, and his sparring partner, Dennis Hallman, 28, along with two women.

As other customers ducked under tables or ran out the doors, and the cashier started to hand over money, Radach and Hallman snuck up behind Rogers.

“I kind of went over it in my mind, and walked over there,” Radach told the newspaper.

Rogers looked to his left and shouted out that he had a gun. Radach came up behind on the right, grabbed Rogers with a wrist lock and got the pistol out of the gunman’s hand.

Radach then forced Rogers’ hands back behind him and pushed him face-first to the ground as Hallman frisked him for more weapons. Radach then knocked Rogers out with a blow to the head.

Radach is an expert in Pankration, an ancient Greek combination of boxing, kickboxing and wrestling. Also known as “The Razor,” he has a 23-3 record in freestyle wrestling and Ultimate Fighting.

“I just know that I’ve been training for a long time and more than most people,” said the 6-foot, 185-pound Radach. “Especially more than someone who’s a crook and probably doesn’t train.”

Stickup Man Smacked Down by Customers

This is why it’s a good idea to train, even if you’re not going to compete–at least you’ve got an option in a situation like this. Radach is right–I’m sure that good old Russell didn’t spend the week before the robbery practicing his takedown defense.

If you’re curious, here’s Sherdog’s page for Victory Athletics, which is where Radach and Hall train. This is just a reminder that you never know who you’re dealing with. Two guys enjoying a late brunch ended up knocking this guy out cleanly.

This entry is filed under haphazard world.

Keyed up

By on November 1, 2004

In a real crazy day, where I’m already stretched to the limit, I get this breaking news from the VegasResource.com newsletter:

The Key Largo Hotel and
Casino, on Flamingo, just 2 blocks east of Bally’s, is
closing permanently on January 17, 2005. A developer
has bought the property and will demolish the Key
Largo and proceed with their construction plans.

This is too bad. I stayed at the Key Largo when I was a struggling graduate student doing research in the Gaming Collection., and I always thought it was a cool place. Plus, it was right down the street from where I live, and they have cheap drink specials. It was nice knowing that, if I wanted to, I could get totally hammered on dollar well drinks any night of the week. I never did, but it was nice knowing that the option was there.

I can only imagine what will take its place. My money is on timeshare resorts, but we’ll see.

I’m off to shoot some commentary for Breaking Vegas, a series that you’ll be able to see on the History Channel next year. As always, it’s going to be fun. Two hours of interviewing will probably be distilled into 30 seconds of onscreen commentary.

This entry is filed under life in vegas and tagged .

T-shirt fun at political rallies

By on November 1, 2004

This past week, for some reason I’ve had every elected Democrat in the state call me at home, begging me to get out and vote for John Kerry. This is curious because I’m registered as a non-partisan and have never donated money to either political party. Yet, for some reason, Kerry’s having all of his friends call me and millions of others to reassure us that he really really likes us and needs his vote. One live volunteer, who interrupted me while working on my “Crime and Criminals” entry for the Encyclopedia of American Urban History, went so far as to tell me exactly where to vote and ask if I needed a ride. Now that’s service. I do need a ride to the airport this Thursday, but apparently the Kerry campaign won’t help me with that.

I would say that the barrage of well-meaning Democratic phone calls has driven me irrevocably into the Republican camp, but I’ve had the exact opposite problem there. The GOP hasn’t seen fit to break off one call to me to ask how I’m doing and to encourage me to vote. Honestly, I don’t know which is worse. And, as I told John Kerry in the weird dream I had last week, I’m not telling anyone how I’m voting anyway. Usually when people discuss politics they just want re-affirmation of their own indignant principles, so I’ve learned that it’s best just to smile and nod.

The t-shirt fun comes from this story I got from ABC News via Drudge. Its sad but true, wearing t-shirts for the other party will get you crowded off TV at campaign events:


ABC News conducted a bipartisan experiment in which producers and volunteers went to rallies for each candidate wearing the other party’s T-shirt, and found that each campaign had its own methods of preventing the shirts from being seen.

“We’ve reached a sad state of affairs when a T-shirt is that offensive,” said Yale professor Robert Post, a specialist in First Amendment law. “It tells me that these are photo opportunities, and not about dialogue.”

The rules were to behave exactly the same at each rally, to be polite participants and to leave when asked. The ABC News team obtained tickets for all of the events attended � tickets for Kerry events can be attained from the official campaign Web site and tickets for Bush events from local Republican party or campaign offices.

At an Oct. 21 Kerry rally in Minneapolis, ABC news producers were surrounded and followed by a team of dancing Kerry campaign workers with large signs, effectively obstructing the Bush-Cheney T-shirts from the view of the national press.

“My job tonight was to run interference so that we didn’t have any negative situation on our hands,” said a female Kerry campaign volunteer. “Our job was to stand in front of them and make sure that, number one, that press had access to Kerry stuff and not necessarily Bush.”

The Bush campaign was even more aggressive in its response to the opposing party’s T-shirts.

When ABC News volunteers Matt Walter and Sherrie Varpula tried to attend an Oct. 23 Bush rally at Space Coast Stadium in Melbourne, Fla., they were told by event volunteers the Kerry-Edwards T-shirts they were wearing would cause them not to be admitted.

Campaigns Rally Against Wrong T-Shirts

This is just fantastic, isn’t it? The candidates can’t articulate lucid plans to deal with problems like terrorism, environmental degradation (or the nuclear waste dump planned for Yuuca Mt), or even the economy, but their people are Johnny-on-the-spot when it comes to getting unfriendly t-shirts off the air.

Here’s the problem with politics today: all style, no substance.

But please, don’t tell me how “bitterly divided” the country is today. We could go back to the 19th century, when voter turnout was much higher, and most urban electioneering was done by gangs of shoulder hitters. Election violence and even rioting was common. So, comparatively speaking, this campaign has been pretty civil.

That’s all you’ll hear from me about the election, unless an electoral college deadlock forces me to revive the idea of election by lottery.

This entry is filed under haphazard world and tagged , , .

Slots and Christmas don’t mix?

By on November 1, 2004

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, has been calling itself “Christmas City” for a while now. Click the link to see why. Some there are up in arms about a plan to leave something new under the stocking…a slot parlor. From McCall.com:

When some Lehigh Valley leaders began lining up behind a proposal to bring a slot machine parlor to the city, opposition arose from those who believe the glitz of gambling would quickly eclipse the quaint historical character of the town.

For them, even a $10 million host fee from the slots operator for the city and another $10 million for Northampton County aren’t worth the crime and traffic that could come with gambling.

”I think whoever gets the casino is going to be regarded as a Johnny One Note � that will become the reputation of the town,” said city Councilman Joseph F. Leeson Jr. ”It would eclipse everything else.”

BethWorks Now, a group of New York investors, recently purchased 120 acres of former Bethlehem Steel property on the South Side and plans to apply for a slots parlor license.

Pennsylvania’s gaming law allows slot machines at up to 14 locations � seven licenses will go to race tracks, five to nontrack parlors and two to resorts. For the five nontrack parlors, two licenses are reserved for Philadelphia and one for Pittsburgh, leaving two in play.

Leeson recently investigated the possibility of passing a city ordinance that would require council to approve a slots parlor, but City Council solicitor Christopher Spadoni said communities have no say in where a slots parlor can be located.

Gaming ”shall not be prohibited or otherwise regulated by � any political subdivision,” Spadoni wrote in a Sept. 23 memo. In short, the gaming legislation allows slots parlors to be placed wherever the state Gaming Control Board decides.

Sensing backlash from communities that may not want to have a slots parlor, some legislators are trying to change the law to allow local zoning to regulate their placement.

Slots and Christmas City don’t mix, say some

It’s funny, but the Bethlehem, PA website already has gambling. In an effort to make the site “sticky,” the webmaster added links to lottery results. That doesn’t mean anything, but apparently the lottery, which has a hold over about 50%, isn’t inimical to the spirit of Christmas, while slots, which have hold percentages of 10% or less (unless the slot owner tightens them up), are disruptive.

I’m seeing a made-for-TV special here, something like, “A Jackpot Christmas.”

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Traveling again

By on October 29, 2004

It seems that I’m on the road once more. Today, I’m checkling in from the Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino in San Diego County. I’m doing some preliminary oral history interviews down here. It’s fascinating stuff. There’s nothing better than being able to listen to people who have been in the gaming industry longer than you’ve been alive tell their stories.

Very nondescript travel for a change–I just woke up at 4 and was driving to SD by 5. According to the odometer, it’s just 50 miles more than the trip to LA, but it seems much longer.

It’s funny how distances are relative. I mean, saying that it’s 50 miles more means nothing out here. It’s like, “Oh yeah, another 1/2 hour or so driving.” Back on the east coast, that would put you into a different state, and you’d probably have to pay 5 tolls along the way. It seems like such a haul to drive up to Philly from Atlantic City, but it’s just a 60 mile trip. Even so, I’d think twice about driving up to Philly for a 10 AM appointment. Here, it’s just, “I guess I’ll have to wake up a few hours early.”

On the positive side, the mountains are draped in snow, which looks pretty impressive. If I was a total moron, I would have tried to take a picture with my digital camera while I was driving, instead of just seriously considering it for a few seconds.

This is my first time at Barona, and I’m very impressed. My room is really nice–nicer than most of the casino rooms I’ve ever stayed in. I would say it’s the nicest, but that honor has to go to the Conrad Jupiters in Gold Coast, where I had a suite bigger than my apartment.

Also, the computer I’m using in the business center has a trotting unicorn bookmarked. Go figure.

I didn’t see too many stories worth passing on, so no news links today. Have a safe and spooky Halloween.

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Negotiations over…for now

By on October 28, 2004

The US has broken off its negotiations with Antigua over that nation’s successful WTO challenge of US restrictions on cross border trade in gaming services. From Yahoo News:


“Unfortunately we were not able to reach a settlement,” despite several meetings over the past four months,” said Richard Mills, a spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative’s office.

Online gambling has grown rapidly, with spending of around $7.5 billion this year, according to industry estimates.

In a decision that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick called “deeply flawed,” a World Trade Organization (news – web sites) panel agreed earlier this year with Antigua and Barbuda’s claim that the United States’ ban on Internet gambling violated global trade rules.

Although Zoellick said the United States would appeal, the two sides suspended litigation in June in the hopes of reaching a negotiated settlement.

“Our delegation presented a number of proposals for the U.S.’s consideration, but, sadly, they were not prepared to accept them,” Harold Lovell, minister of tourism, foreign affairs and international transport and trade for the twin-island Caribbean state, said in a statement last Friday.

“What they offered as an alternative was not acceptable to us,” Lovell added.

Trade officials said Antigua and Barbuda was expected to formally notify the WTO on Nov. 4 that it wants to resume the litigation process. That would clear the way for the WTO to publicly release the panel ruling and for the United States to proceed with its appeal.

Yahoo! News – US, Antigua Break Off Talks on Internet Gambling

My guess is that since Antigua didn’t knucle under in negotiations, the USTR is doubling down, hoping to get the decision overturned.

It’s a risky move, though, because (I’m guessing) the WTO could order the US to open its borders to offshore gaming operators, something that would no doubt trigger some kind of debate over the meaning of borders in the Internet age.

Still, this case flies below the radar, while reality TV shows and criminal trials fill up the news.

This entry is filed under news about gambling and tagged , , , , .

Turning whales away

By on October 27, 2004

Some casinos chase high rollers, which can be risky–a lucky weekend for them can turn into a quarterly loss, something that shareholders hate to see. The Hard Rock casino (right down the street on Harmon Ave.), apparently burned once too many times by lucky whales, or mega-high rollers, has decided to stop catering to the capricious gamblers. From the LV Sun:

The latest case in point is the Hard Rock, which says it will no longer accept high-roller action from gamblers with million-dollar credit lines who have the potential to lose — or win — millions from the casino.

“That’s not really our core business,” Kevin Kelley, Hard Rock president, said. “We don’t have enough of those customers, nor do we have the type of amenities to handle those types of customers.”

Only a few players make the list of top-tier gamblers in Las Vegas, often called “whales.” For smaller casinos like the Hard Rock, even one player can mean the difference between a quarterly profit and a loss.

In the fourth quarter of 2002, for example, Hard Rock earnings took a hit after one player walked away with $3 million.

Plenty of players and potential customers have credit lines in the $10,000 to $250,000 range and will continue to be welcomed at the Hard Rock, Kelley said.

Las Vegas SUN: Hard Rock takes action to stem unpredictable high-roller wins

I’ve always wondered how much money one would have to make in a year to enjoy a $250,000 credit limit, or to be able to lose tens of thousands gambling and chalk it up to entertainment.

The rest of the article has some interesting stuff on how different casinos cater to high rollers. It’s not stuff I’ve seen in print too much, so I would definitely check it out.

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