You might know Moby Dick as a seminal 19th century American novel. Or, if your tastes run that way, a John Bonham drum solo vehicle. But it was also the name of a seafood restaurant at the Stardust that opened in the late 1950s.
There’s plenty more about casino restaurants (but, regrettably, not much about cetaceans) in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
A winning streak helped to make Bad Homburg’s reputation as one of Europe’s elite gambling resorts. In September 1852, the Prince of Canino, Charles Lucien Bonaparte, won more than a half-million francs from that spa town’s casino. The big win gave the casino plenty of “free” publicity, though, and in the end helped draw more visitors to the town.
You can learn more about Bad Homburg and other 19th century spas in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
Chapter 6, “Wild Cards,” summarized by the author—including material about gambling in New Orleans, riverboats, the Civil War, the Gold Rush, and woman gamblers on the frontier.
In addition to the two features (Light and space) in this week’s Vegas Seven, I have a Green Felt Journal, which talks about the probably impact of MGM’s proposed Park development:
How about getting back to urban basics and creating a worthwhile street-level experience? That’s what MGM did on April 18 with the formal announcement of The Park, comprised of retail/dining development on underutilized land between New York-New York and Monte Carlo, a renovation of the Strip-front facades of both resorts and a 20,000-seat arena operated by international sports and entertainment giant AEG.
via MGM’s Park, and Competition With Linq, Will Be Good for Vegas | Vegas Seven.
It’s a project that I think is correctly scaled to what Las Vegas is today. And from what people say about it, I’m looking forward to the Shake Shack, if nothing else.
I already shared one feature I had in this week’s Vegas Seven: my piece on space tourism and Vegas with a sidebar on Zero-G, which currently flies out of McCarran. I also wrote a feature on the evolution of nightclubs, as seen in the soon-to-open Light at Mandalay Bay:
With all that success, it’s no wonder today’s nightclub scene is crowded. Meanwhile, clubs are working themselves more deeply into the weft of resort fabric, with dayclubs and vibe dining carrying them into new areas. At the turn of the millennium, nightlife started going Vegas. Now Vegas has gone nightlife.
One of the things I like best about the online version is the link back to my January Green Felt Journal, which wondered if Las Vegas had a nightclub bubble.
For years, Nevada casinos could not legally collect debts from gamblers they’d extended credit (or, in the industry parlance, given markers) to. That changed in 1983, when the state legislature amended the law to allow casinos to prosecute deadbeat marker-takers for writing bad checks.
That’s one of the interesting facts about the changing legal face of Nevada gambling you’ll learn in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
A few weeks back I got an email about an event connected to the launch of Virgin America’s thrice-daily LAX-LAS flights. I usually don’t go to those kinds of events–there’s not too much to “cover” outside of photo ops. But I got thinking…wouldn’t it be fun to ask Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson how Vegas might factor in his plans for regular open-to-the-public spaceflights?
That’s the genesis of this feature in Vegas Seven:
Could Las Vegas become a launching pad for a new type of tourist—the kind who’s looking for a thrill ride that can’t be found behind the velvet rope?
In the past five years, ideas that once seemed outlandish—medical tourism, a tech corridor, green energy—have been seriously considered as viable tools for our economic development. Why not space tourism?
I also did a companion piece about a company that’s already flying out of McCarran. It won’t take you to space, but it will get you weightless:
You want to experience the feeling of spaceflight, but you don’t have the 200 grand to fork over to Sir Richard. What to do?
As always in matters of semi-sane wish-fulfillment, Las Vegas can help. The Zero G Weightless Experience—available several times a year at McCarran International Airport—never leaves Earth’s atmosphere, but does let participants leave gravity behind.
Between this and last week’s video game wagering piece, I’m all about proposing strange new worlds for Las Vegas to consider.
It didn’t take long for the Windy City to develop a reputation as a center for illegal gambling. By the 1850s, there were a host of upscale but dishonest skinning houses near Lake and State streets, and lower-amenity gambling in a rough part of town known as the Sands (this area has no known connection to the later Las Vegas casino of the same name).
You can learn plenty more about Chicago’s long gambling historyin Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
Here’s the author discussing chapter 5, “Star Spangled Gamblers,” of Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling (Casino Edition).
You’ll notice the t-shirt is subject-appropriate.
This period image shows roulette play at Bad Homburg, one of the most important casino spa resorts on the 19th century.
Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling has plenty of fascinating detail about the evolution of European spa casinos like Bad Homburg.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
In the news
Subscribe to this site's RSS feed.