https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/2013/02/ Betfair Poker's talented team of poker enthusiasts bring you the very latest poker news from around the globe. Covering both online poker and the live poker scene, the Betfair Poker blog is your one-stop site for the very best in poker related news, views and gossip. Along with select poker news stories, visitors will also find detailed reports and results of major online and live poker tournaments, interviews with some of poker's key figures and players and bespoke poker articles and editorials. Join Betfair Poker Now en Copyright 2026 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:27:00 +0000 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Recent poker news includes the crowning of a couple more champions in Remi Castaignon and David Tuthill, legal news involving Chris Ferguson and historic online poker-related legislation passed in Nevada, and a sad goodbye to friend of poker and the sports world, Jerry Buss. Castaignon Claims EPT Deauville Title We are reaching back a little more than a week for this news, but still wanted to report the latest from the European Poker Tour where Frenchman Remi Castaignon managed to top a field of 782 in the €5,000 Main Event to win the title and €770,000 first prize. After carrying a huge chip lead into the final eight-handed table with nearly a 3-to-1 advantage over Walid Bou Habib in second position, Castaignon dramatically lost that lead within the first orbit of that final table before recovering to regain the lead and ultimately outduel Habib heads up for the win. Other notables among the 120 who cashed in the event but fell shy of the final table included James Mitchell (12th, €39,000), Gordon Huntly (18th, €23,000), Sam Grafton (24th, €23,000), Lucien Cohen (28th, €19,000), Jason Koon (39th, €16,000), Ionel Anton (51st, €13,500), Pascal Lefrancois (54th, €13,500), Casey Kastle (59th, €11,500), Zimnan Ziyard (69th, €11,500), Matthias de Meulder (75th, €9,700), Fabrice Soulier (96th, €9,700), and Sandra Naujoks (116th, €8,000). Meanwhile, here's how the final eight finished: 2013 EPT Deauville Main Event final table payouts: 1st: Remi Castaignon (France) -- €770,000 2nd: Walid Bou Habib (Lebanon) -- €475,000 3rd: Roberto Romeo (Belgium) -- €275,000 4th: Enrico Rudelitz (Germany) -- €215,000 5th: Franck Kalfon (France) -- €165,000 6th: Joseph Khoury (Lebanon) -- €125,000 7th: Noel Gaens (Belgium) -- €87,800 8th: Jeffrey Hakim (Lebanon) -- €60,000 In other news from Deauville, it was Vojtech Ruzicka of the Czech Republic winning the €10,000 NLHE High Roller event, topping a field consisting of 85 entries (with 14 players rebuying) to earn a first prize of €313,000. Also making that High Roller final table were Martin Jacobson (4th, €83,200), Bryn Kenney (5th, €64,100), and Jonathan Duhamel (7th, €38,000). NBA Owner, Poker Player Jerry Buss Passes This week began with the sad news of the passing of long-time poker player and Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss following a year-and-a-half-long bout with cancer. Buss was 80 years old. Buss was best known for his ownership of the Lakers since 1979, with his teams winning 10 NBA titles during his tenure, thereby helping to be elected to the NBA Hall of Fame in 2010. But Buss was also an avid poker player and great friend to the poker community, participating regularly in L.A. cash games and making frequent appearances at the World Series of Poker.   Buss managed four WSOP cashes over the years, including final tabling the $2,500 Seven-Card Stud event in 1991 where he finished third. Buss additionally appeared on High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark. Tuthill Takes Down WSOP-C Caesars Palace The 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit continues to roll its way across North America, stopping at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas where a new Main Event champion was crowned earlier this week. David Tuthill of St. Petersburg, Florida finished atop the 744 entries in the $1,675 buy-in event to earn a $223,197 and WSOP-C ring. It was an all-American final table, with Tuthill outlasting A.P. Phahurat of Rogers, Arkansas heads-up for the win.  Others coming close to the final table included Gavin Smith (16th, $13,783) and David "Doc" Sands (23rd, $7,968). 2012-13 WSOP-C Caesars Palace final table payouts: 1st: David Tuthill -- $223,197 2nd: A.P. Phahurat -- $137,603 3rd: Shaun Suller -- $101,444 4th: Fabio Coppola -- $75,609 5th: Brian Kay -- $57,106 6th: Jeffrey Fielder -- $43,691 7th: Ping Liu -- $33,848 8th: Steven Goldberg -- $26,550 9th: Salvatore Dicarlo -- $21,018 The WSOP-C next moves to the Palm Beach Kennel Club in West Palm Beach, Florida later this month. Ferguson Settles Following the footsteps of fellow Black Friday defendant and Team Full Tilter Howard Lederer, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson reached a settlement with federal prosecutors on Tuesday regarding charges filed against him in the amended civil complaint. The agreement calls for Ferguson to forfeit $2.35 million plus additional funds in accounts previously seized by the U.S. government. The amount of the additional funds has not been disclosed. Ferguson also agrees to forfeit all interest and claims in Full Tilt Poker going forward, as well as not to become involved in any online poker rooms that might serve U.S. customers in the future. Meanwhile, the settlement also allows Ferguson to admit no guilt regarding the charges levied against him and FTP in the civil complaint. U.S. players continue to await word regarding the status of the funds in their Full Tilt Poker accounts, with the U.S. Department of Justice having offered no timeline for finding a claims administrator or facilitating the return of American players' balances. Nevada Passes Online Poker Bill Finally in other legal news this week concerning online poker in the United States, Nevada passed a bill that revised provisions of the state's law governing interactive gaming. After having earlier passed legislation to begin licensing operators, technology providers, and service providers to offer online poker with the state, the newly-passed bill now makes it possible for those companies to go live with their games. Also notable in the new bill is a section outlining how Nevada will be able to enter into agreements or "compacts" with other states to enable individuals outside of Nevada to play on the new NV sites. An updated opinion from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the Wire Act and its application only to sports betting appears to allow for Nevada to offers such "interstate" online poker. The bill was discussed by a joint committee Thursday morning which passed it unanimously, then it was soon afterwards passed by the entire NV legislature and signed into law in the afternoon by Governor Brian Sandoval. Other U.S. states are likewise considering offering online gambling as a means of increasing revenue, with New Jersey appearing on the verge of possibly passing its own law as soon as next week. The NJ law currently would allow for other gambling games in addition to online poker. Join Betfair Poker Now. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/the-week-in-poker-castaignon-tuthill-triumph-legal-news-and-a-sad-goodbye-220213-77.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/the-week-in-poker-castaignon-tuthill-triumph-legal-news-and-a-sad-goodbye-220213-77.html News Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:27:00 +0000 "The day the @WSOP comes out with the schedule is like Christmas morning for me."  So tweeted poker pro Eric Crain yesterday in response to the unveiling of the 2013 World Series of Poker schedule of events. A total of 62 bracelet events make up this year's schedule, with a number of changes including an creative response to the problem of men buying into the Ladies event. Once again the WSOP will be held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the first events starting on May 29 and poker being played every day through July 15. The $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em Championship, a.k.a. the Main Event, will begin on July 6, with the plan once more being to play down to a final nine, then halt play until November when the final table will play out nearly live on ESPN and ESPN2. The total of 62 events sets a new standard as the most bracelet events ever at the WSOP, exceeding last year's 61. WSOP officials hope this year's Series also exceeds the record-setting total of $222,035,192 in prize pools awarded in all events. "From the opening weekend, where we will make yet another millionaire, to the Main Event, which awards the largest single prize in the world, the WSOP is an annual affirmation about the strength and global appeal of the game," said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart in yesterday's press release accompanying the schedule's announcement. Stewart's reference to making "yet another millionaire" alluded to the inclusion of a special "Millionaire Maker" event on this year's schedule, a $1,500 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament in which the first prize will be guaranteed to be $1 million (Event No. 6). To do so, the usual payout schedule will be restructured in order to award more to the first-place finisher than is usually the case in the $1,500 NLHE events. Other highlights on the 2013 WSOP schedule include Event No. 2, a $5,000 buy-in eight-handed no-limit hold'em event that will likely attract many of poker's elite players while also building an especially large prize pool as the first high profile tourney of the summer.   Also happening early on is a $1,000 "re-entry" no-limit hold'em tournament that will allow busted players one chance to re-enter (Event No. 3).  Later on comes a $3,000 buy-in "mixed max" tournament (Event No. 27) such as has proven popular at WSOP Europe over the past couple of years. And a two-day, $1,000 "turbo" no-limit hold'em event (No. 34) will also likely attract a lot of attention. Other events bound to attract notice this summer will be Event No. 38, a $2,500 four-handed NLHE tournament, Event No. 45, a $1,500 "ante only" NLHE tournament, and the $50K Poker Players Championship (Event No. 55) which again will be played as an 8-game mixed tournament up until a NLHE final table. As had been announced shortly after last year's WSOP, there will be no $1 million buy-in "Big One for One Drop" this year, however there is a $111,111 buy-in "One Drop High Rollers" NLHE tournament (Event No. 47) for which $11,111 of every buy-in will go to the charity. There's also a "Little One for One Drop" NLHE tourney (No. 58) featuring a $1,111 buy-in, with $111 of each buy-in going to the One Drop Foundation. The $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship returns to the schedule (Event No. 26). Last year the Seniors event drew a whopping 4,128 entrants, creating the largest single-day starting field in WSOP history. The Ladies Event also returns (Event No. 51), although rather than the traditional $1,000 buy-in that the event has had since 1992, this year the entry fee has changed. Interestingly, the Ladies Event sports a $10,000 buy-in this time, except for women who will be eligible for a "Ladies Discount Price" of $1,000 to play. In other words, the WSOP has chosen a new approach when it comes to discouraging men from playing in the Ladies Event, something that has happened each of the last three years.  Now for a man to play, he'll have to pay 10 times the entry fee.  Such "differential pricing" is allowed under Nevada state law which permits businesses to offer "discounted pricing or special offers based on sex." The two different entry fees for the Ladies Event drew most of the attention yesterday and today as people began responding to the 2013 schedule, with many commending the creativity of the solution and a few suggesting it may create still more problems down the road.   Meanwhile, a $5,000 Open Face Chinese non-bracelet event has been announced as well, sure to excite the many players for whom the variant has become a new favorite game. Finally, all look forward to the Main Event which like last year will feature three Day 1 flights, followed by two Day 2s and the consolidation of the field from Day 3 onward. Players will play down to nine on July 15, then return November 4-5 for the delayed "November Nine" final table. Here's a full rundown of all 62 bracelet events on the schedule for the 44th annual World Series of Poker: Event #1: Casino Employees NLHE ($500) Event #2: NLHE, 8-max. ($5,000) Event #3: NLHE Re-entry ($1,000) Event #4: NLHE, 6-max. ($1,500) Event #5: Omaha Hi Low/7CS Hi Low ($2,500) Event #6: "Millionaire Maker" NLHE ($1,500) Event #7: NLHE ($1,000) Event #8: 8-Game Mix ($2,500) Event #9: NLHE Shootout ($3,000) Event #10: LHE ($1,500) Event #11: NLHE, 6-max. ($2,500) Event #12: PLHE ($1,500) Event #13: Stud Hi-Low ($5,000) Event #14: NLHE ($1,500) Event #15: H.O.R.S.E. ($1,500) Event #16: Heads-Up NLHE ($10,000) Event #17: NLHE ($1,500) Event #18: NLHE ($1,000) Event #19: PLHE ($5,000) Event #20: Omaha Hi-Low ($1,500) Event #21: NLHE, 6-max. ($3,000) Event #22: PLO ($1,500) Event #23: Stud ($2,500) Event #24: NLHE ($1,500) Event #25: Omaha Hi-Low ($5,000) Event #26: Seniors NLHE ($1,000) Event #27: Mixed Max, NLHE ($3,000) Event #28: NLHE ($1,500) Event #29: H.O.R.S.E. ($5,000) Event #30: NLHE ($1,000) Event #31: PLO Hi-Low ($1,500) Event #32: NLHE, 6-max. ($5,000) Event #33: Razz ($2,500) Event #34: Turbo NLHE ($1,000) Event #35: PLO ($3,000) Event #36: NLHE Shootout ($1,500) Event #37: LHE ($5,000) Event #38: NLHE, 4-max. ($2,500) Event #39: Stud Hi-Low ($1,500) Event #40: NLHE ($1,500) Event #41: PLO, 6-max. ($5,000) Event #42: NLHE ($1,000) Event #43: 2-7 Draw Lowball (NL) ($10,000) Event #44: NLHE ($3,000) Event #45: NLHE Ante Only ($1,500) Event #46: PLO Hi-Low ($3,000) Event #47: One Drop High Rollers NLHE ($111,111) Event #48: LHE, 6-max. ($2,500) Event #49: NLHE ($1,500) Event #50: 10-Game Mix, 6-max. ($2,500) Event #51: Ladies NLHE ($10,000; $1,000 for women) Event #52: NLHE, 6-max. ($25,000) Event #53: NLHE ($1,500) Event #54: NLHE ($1,000) Event #55: Poker Players Championship ($50,000) Event #56: NLHE ($2,500) Event #57: NLHE ($5,000) Event #58: Little One for One Drop NLHE ($1,111) Event #59: 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit) ($2,500) Event #60: NLHE ($1,500) Event #61: PLO ($10,000) Event #62: NLHE Main Event ($10,000) Full details regarding the schedule, including dates and (eventually) tournament structures, can be found on the WSOP website. Join Betfair Poker Now. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/2013-wsop-schedule-includes-62-events-millionaire-maker-one-drops-and-ladies-discount-150213-77.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/2013-wsop-schedule-includes-62-events-millionaire-maker-one-drops-and-ladies-discount-150213-77.html News WSOP Fri, 15 Feb 2013 16:38:00 +0000 Last week I reviewed David G. Schwartz's Roll the Bones: Casino Edition, an updated version of his terrific history of gambling that concentrates especially on the origin and growth of casinos throughout the world. I had a chance to talk recently with Schwartz about his background and current position as the Director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, as well as about his book, humans' urge to gamble, and how poker fits into the history of casinos. Short-Stacked Shamus:  Talk a little about the path you took that brought you to UNLV to head its Center for Gaming Research. David Schwartz:  I was born in Atlantic City and grew up there, then worked in a couple of casinos before going off to college. After that I decided I wasn't too interested in working in a casino again, and so went to graduate school to study history because I always enjoyed studying history. When it came time to write a dissertation, I was searching for a topic that hadn't really been written about before, and the idea came to me to write about casinos and how they developed and the history of gambling. SSS:  Because the topic hadn't been covered so much by others...? DS:  Right.  Later I found out there was a good reason people hadn't written a lot about the history of gambling and casinos, because it doesn't really make you the most marketable job candidate for a job in a history department. But at the time I was blissfully unaware and just plunged through and did it, with my research taking me to Las Vegas and UNLV along the way. When I finished I went back to Atlantic City and did end up working in a casino for a while in surveillance. Then I found out about the opening for Director of the Center for Gaming Research at UNLV and applied without really thinking they would ever hire me, but lo and behold they did. And here I am about 12 years later. SSS:  So you got to UNLV and eventually there came the first edition of Roll the Bones. Explain how this new version differs from the earlier one. DS:  Well, to go back... soon after I got to UNLV I published my dissertation as a book (Suburban Xanadu). Then I started on a second one about the Wire Act, online gambling, and the mob when I was approached by an editor from Gotham Books asking about my writing a big history of gambling throughout the world. This was about 2004, a time when the big thing in publishing were these books that told the story of the world via an unusual angle -- books like Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky or ones about tobacco and other things. And so Gotham was looking for that sort of big book but about gambling. At first I wasn't too sure I wanted to take on something that big, especially since I wasn't really a Europeanist and knew it would require a lot of time and work. Then they said there was an advance involved, and I said "Okay, sign me up!" SSS:  And that became the first edition of Roll the Bones. DS:  Right... it came out in 2006. Since then the book went out of print and Gotham let me get the rights back to the book. I basically had three options: (1) do nothing and be sad the book was no longer in print; (2) republish it as it was before; or (3) do a substantially different edition. I took the third option as a chance to redo the book in light of some readers' feedback and recent developments in gambling. SSS:  What are some of the differences, then? DS:  Well, some of the readers said they enjoyed the older material, but most tended to prefer the chapters covering later years and especially those dealing with casinos. So I took out some of the lottery and horse racing material and made the book's focus just on casinos. I also added material covering the years since the first edition discussing the recession and its effect on the industry as well as the growth of casinos in Asia. SSS:  It's kind of a unique decision, really, to carve an original book down and actually jettison some material rather than simply adding more. DS:  One reason why I did it is that I'm teaching a class called "The History of Casinos" and I wanted an edition of the book that I could assign to the students without telling them to ignore the first 200 pages. And I'm hoping perhaps some other people might teach similar classes and the book can be adopted for their courses, too. SSS:  In the book you cover a variety of gambling games and prove how gambling has been something humans have done pretty much in every culture throughout history. Do you think wanting to gamble is something humans are born with or are we somehow nurtured into acquiring that urge? DS:  Well, I'm not an expert in psychology, but my uninformed opinion is that the desire to gamble or take risks is something we're born with. We all know some people who really love gambling and who will gamble on anything, no matter the odds.  And then we know others that just don't go for it. But I think that for those who do like to gamble it is something they are born with... I don't think you can really learn to have that desire. I do think you can learn how to play gambling games, but you can't really teach that love for gambling that some people have and some people don't. SSS:  Would you say that this urge to gamble or take risks is maybe connected to our desire for self-preservation? That it's kind of part of our survival instinct? DS:  Yeah, I think it's there. I also think it's kind of a temperament thing where people have it to different degrees. But pretty much everyone likes some kind of risk-taking -- the question is how much or how little risk each person is willing to take. SSS:  Let me ask one other question of you about poker specifically.  Your book covers a variety of different gambling games, including poker. In our little poker world we're constantly talking to each other about how our game is different from other gambling games because of its skill component. That is to say, unlike roulette or craps or other casino games that are essentially chance-based, there is skill involved in poker. I'm wondering... would you call this effort to distinguish poker from other gambling games a recent development? DS:  Well, the definition of gambling has changed so much. There used to be a much bigger group of behaviors that were thought of as gambling. If you go back to the 17th century, people weren't really too sure about, say, insurance, because it seemed like a form of gambling. Aren't you betting your ship is going to sink (or whatever else you're insuring)? Or buying and trading stock... that was also considered gambling. What happened was this switch to commercial or mercantile gambling that started in the 17th century and really picked up steam in the 18th and 19th centuries, and that's when gambling started to become more narrowly defined as bank games or people betting "against the house." SSS:  Ah, yes... and poker is something different. We don't bet against the house but against other players. DS:  Right, poker is clearly not that. It's obviously a social game and resembles other social games that don't involve betting money. But it also resembles social games in which money is sometimes wagered. Take for example golf. That's a game which a lot of time involves gambling.   But ultimately poker is pretty unique. It's clearly not a "bank game." It also is different from the other casino games. And I think the argument for it being a skill game is very compelling. SSS:  So you might say it's a little strange that many people do group poker in with the other casino games, since it's so different in so many respects.   DS:  Yeah, it is kind of funny. In fact you'll find some people who think that video poker -- in which you do play against the house -- is actually somehow the proper form of the game, and this other version where people play against each other is not! Click here for information about how to obtain Roll the Bones: Casino Edition (available in both paperback and electronic editions). Join Betfair Poker Now. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/the-betfair-poker-interview-david-g-schwartz-080213-77.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/the-betfair-poker-interview-david-g-schwartz-080213-77.html News Fri, 08 Feb 2013 16:08:00 +0000 One day later than expected, the 2013 Aussie Millions has been completed and it is Mervin Chan who has had his name written into the history books as the man who conquered the tournament. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/aussie-millions/mervin-chan-wins-the-2013-aussie-millions-main-event-030213-162.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/aussie-millions/mervin-chan-wins-the-2013-aussie-millions-main-event-030213-162.html Aussie Millions News Mon, 04 Feb 2013 08:04:00 +0000 Sam Trickett has got 2013 off to a flying start by winning the $250,000 Challenge at the 2013 Aussie Millions. The Retford-born super star won AU$2,000,000 for this latest victory. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/aussie-millions/sam-trickett-wins-the-250000-challenge-at-the-aussie-millions-020213-162.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/aussie-millions/sam-trickett-wins-the-250000-challenge-at-the-aussie-millions-020213-162.html Aussie Millions News Sat, 02 Feb 2013 19:16:00 +0000 The 2013 Aussie Millions Main Event has reached its seven-handed final table, and it is high-stakes specialist Dan Shak who is the man to catch when play resumes at 14:30 local time (03:30GMT). https://betting.betfair.com/poker/aussie-millions/dan-shak-leads-as-the-aussie-millions-main-event-reaches-its-final-table-010213-162.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/aussie-millions/dan-shak-leads-as-the-aussie-millions-main-event-reaches-its-final-table-010213-162.html Aussie Millions News Fri, 01 Feb 2013 23:22:00 +0000 "Where did gambling come from?" asks David G. Schwartz at the start of his newly-published Roll the Bones: Casino Edition, a comprehensive history of gambling in general and casinos in particular. From there Schwartz carries the reader through the centuries-long tale of humans' fascination with gambling games, highlighting in particular the absorbing story of the birth and growth of casinos throughout the world.  Roll the Bones: Casino Edition not only provides the reader much to consider regarding the origins of man's gambling urge, but offers a thorough examination of the growth of gambling and casino culture over the last several centuries as well. Thus does Schwartz's book not only give readers an idea of where gambling came from, but also where it has been, and even where it might be going. For more than a decade Schwartz has served as Director for the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. There Schwartz oversees the Center's fellowship program while also helping maintain the world's largest collection of scholarly research and source documents on gaming. During his time at UNLV Schwartz has produced three book-length studies of gambling culture, including an earlier edition of Roll the Bones published in 2006.    As Schwartz explains in a prefatory note, this new "Casino Edition" of Roll the Bones omits some of the earlier version's discussion of non-casino games such as lotteries and horse racing. Meanwhile, material covering the birth and growth of Las Vegas has been expanded, as have discussions of Atlantic City. Additionally, attention is afforded to more recent developments happening since the book's original edition, including the recession's effects on the gambling industry in America and the rise of casinos in Asia (particularly Macau). Even with the paring down, the new edition still contains a wealth of information regarding gambling's early history and the many precursors to casino gambling. Schwartz spends the first four chapters accompanying the reader all over Europe of the early modern era, with visits to the ridotto and casini in Italy, the gambling spas in France, Germany, and Russia, as well as the English gambling houses along the way. Schwartz fleshes out the narrative with a thorough presentation of the various legal battles that have always been part of gambling's history. He also shares numerous anecdotes regarding notable gamblers from Casanova to Dostoevsky as they partook in a variety games including roulette, blackjack, craps, baccarat, and whist. From there Schwartz travels across the Atlantic to provide a detailed overview of the last two-plus centuries of gambling in America. Four more chapters move the story through the 19th century as Schwartz describes faro and poque games in New Orleans, card games on Mississippi steamboats, dice and poker during the Civil War, and gambling's "industrial revolution" including the first slot machines and poker machines. Next Schwartz tells of the relative successes of anti-gambling crusades in early 20th century America, followed by changing laws and in particular the rise of Nevada as the country's preeminent gambling destination. Here the author ably analyzes the many forces at play -- including that of organized crime -- from which emerged the first large hotel-casinos and formation of the Vegas strip. Each of the major Vegas casinos receives attention, from Bugsy Siegel's Flamingo to Binion's Horseshoe to Caesars, the Golden Nugget, and the first MGM on up through the Bellagio, Venetian, Wynn, and more. Gradual shifts of emphasis marking Vegas through the decades are outlined as well, including the industry's eventual shedding of its mob-influenced origins as well as attempts by Vegas to evolve into a vacation destination for families and non-gamblers. Schwartz then turns to discuss the emergence, growth, and struggles of Atlantic City as an alternative gambling destination for Americans in the late 20th century.  Schwartz also documents the growth of casinos to other states and reservations from the 1980s onward and the accompanying "mainstreaming" of gambling in the U.S. Latter chapters then look at more recent challenges being faced by the casinos, including the economy's downturn in recent years as well as the emergence of online gambling. Schwartz likewise dedicates a chapter to the rapid growth of casinos in Asia, including Macau's recent replacement of Vegas as the world's foremost gaming center. Roll the Bones: Casino Edition is a thoroughly engaging read, filled with entertaining and informative stories of visionaries, hucksters, criminals, and risk-takers of all stripes.  Indeed, like a busy casino filled with alluring attractions occupying every available space, each page of Schwartz's history should contain something of interest to anyone curious about humans' urge to gamble and how casinos came to be a favored place to satisfy that urge. Click here for information about how to obtain Roll the Bones: Casino Edition (available in both paperback and electronic editions). Join Betfair Poker Now. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/poker-book-review-roll-the-bones-casino-edition-by-david-g-schwartz-1-010213-77.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/poker-book-review-roll-the-bones-casino-edition-by-david-g-schwartz-1-010213-77.html News Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:31:00 +0000