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Articles 1 - 19 of 19
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
A History Of Play In Print Board Games From The Renaissance To Milton Bradley, Kelli Wood
A History Of Play In Print Board Games From The Renaissance To Milton Bradley, Kelli Wood
Occasional Papers
This essay considers how a historical legacy of printed games dating back to the sixteenth century in Italy laid the foundation for modern board games like those produced by Milton Bradley. The technology of print and the broad publics it reached enabled the spread of a common gaming culture- one built upon shared visual structures in game boards. Modern board games, of course, relied upon similar rules and replicated the ludic functions of their Renaissance progenitors. But perhaps more importantly, they built upon and perpetuated entrenched narratives about how fortune and morality contributed to lived experiences, presenting their viewers and …
An Enchanting Witchcraft: Masculinity, Melancholy, And The Pathology Of Gaming In Early Modern London, Celeste Chamberland
An Enchanting Witchcraft: Masculinity, Melancholy, And The Pathology Of Gaming In Early Modern London, Celeste Chamberland
Occasional Papers
In seeking to illuminate the ways in which inchoate models of addiction emerged alongside the unprecedented popularity of gambling in Stuart London, this paper will explore the intersections between a rudimentary pathology of addiction and transformations in the epistemology of reason, the passions, and humoral psychology in the seventeenth century. By exploring the connections between endogenous and exogenous categories of mental illness, this study will examine the ways in which medicine, social expectations, and religion intersected in the seventeenth century alongside the historical relationship between evolving concepts of mental illness, stigma and the politics of blame and responsibility in the …
The Original Intent Of The Wire Act And Its Implications For State-Based Legalization Of Internet Gambling, Michelle Minton
The Original Intent Of The Wire Act And Its Implications For State-Based Legalization Of Internet Gambling, Michelle Minton
Occasional Papers
Recognizing the growing threat of organized crime, then U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy sought to get the “bankrollers and kingpins” by introducing the Federal Wire Act in 1961, which sought to target the mob’s most profitable racket—bookkeeping on horseracing and sports gambling by prohibiting such gambling on the nation’s communication system at the time (telephone and telegraph). More than 30 years later members of Congress sought to use the Wire Act to stop the rise of casino-style gambling on the Internet. However, the scope of the Wire Act has been disputed among lawmakers, courts, and federal agencies. In 2011 …
The Construction Of Spatial Imaginaries: Luxury, Spectacle, Cosmopolitanism, And The Formation Of The Casino-Resort, Robert Miller
The Construction Of Spatial Imaginaries: Luxury, Spectacle, Cosmopolitanism, And The Formation Of The Casino-Resort, Robert Miller
Occasional Papers
This paper examines Monte Carlo in the late-nineteenth century and Las Vegas in the mid-twentieth century, and explores how the cities forged specific identities centered upon their casino-resort industries. Civic planners, entrepreneurs, and tourists contributed to the formation of a spatial imaginary (the conception of a place, laden with symbols and infused with meaning designed to evoke certain feelings or experiences, which is also mediated and re-mediated through the imagination) in these gambling centers. Casino-resorts came to dominate the economies of these cities and casino-concessionaires, business bureaus, and elites consistently emphasized the luxuriousness, spectacle, and cosmopolitanism of their casino-resort towns. …
Learning From Las Vegas: Gambling, Technology, Capitalism, And Addiction, David T. Courtwright
Learning From Las Vegas: Gambling, Technology, Capitalism, And Addiction, David T. Courtwright
Occasional Papers
Gambling has always led to addictive behavior in some individuals. However, the number and types of addicted gamblers have changed over time and in response to specific gambling environments. Recent work by historians, journalists, and anthropologists, reviewed in this paper, suggests that the situation worsened during the modern era, and that it has become worse still during the last half century. Technological, organizational, and marketing innovations have “weaponized” gambling, increasing both the likelihood that people will gamble and that they will gamble compulsively—a phenomenon with parallels to several other consumer products, including processed food, digitized games, and psychoactive drugs.
Family-Friendly Las Vegas: An Analysis Of Time And Space, Diana Tracy Cohen
Family-Friendly Las Vegas: An Analysis Of Time And Space, Diana Tracy Cohen
Occasional Papers
This paper explores the rise and fall of the “family-friendly” Las Vegas marketing era. Through analysis of casino advertisements, internal and external building infrastructure, and qualitative in-depth interviews with industry insiders, this work investigates the city’s reinvention of the early 1990s. Key factors that set the stage for the emergence of targeted family marketing are identified, addressing why this advertising approach ultimately did not sustain. Unique marketing case studies are identified throughout.
Billy Graham Comes To Las Vegas: Faith At Work On The Strip, Michelle Robinson
Billy Graham Comes To Las Vegas: Faith At Work On The Strip, Michelle Robinson
Occasional Papers
An exploration of Billy Graham’s 1978 Christian Crusade in Las Vegas, this paper argues that the Billy Graham Evangelical Association (BGEA) developed distinctly Vegas-styled evangelical tactics to address challenges posed by the city’s fragile religious infrastructure and competing attractions on the Las Vegas Strip. To organize a spectacular and successful ecumenical event that would garner local and national attention, BGEA simultaneously leveraged popular notions of Vegas as “Sin City” while recruiting Christian evangelicals from beyond the city proper to temporarily transform the religious ecology of the Strip.
Moral Markets And The Problematic Proprietor: How Neoliberal Values Shape Lottery Debates In Nevada, Christopher Wetzel
Moral Markets And The Problematic Proprietor: How Neoliberal Values Shape Lottery Debates In Nevada, Christopher Wetzel
Occasional Papers
All but seven states have legalized lotteries since New Hampshire ushered in the modern lottery era in 1964. Although casino gaming has been permitted since 1931, Nevada has rejected multiple legislative proposals amend the State Constitution and create a state-run lottery. This paper theorizes the lottery’s absence in Nevada, focusing in particular on the role of the state. Lotteries are distinct from other forms of gaming because states act simultaneously as the operation’s regulator and proprietor. In this case, Nevada’s lottery legalization debates over the last half century reflect the profound moral valence of markets. The state as a potential …
From The Last Frontier To The New Cosmopolitan A History Of Casino Public Relations In Las Vegas, Jessalynn Strauss
From The Last Frontier To The New Cosmopolitan A History Of Casino Public Relations In Las Vegas, Jessalynn Strauss
Occasional Papers
This research chronicles the history of public relations by the gaming industry in Las Vegas. Reflecting larger trends in the field, public relations efforts by the casinos and hotels in this popular tourist destination have used a variety of communication tactics over time to promote themselves to potential Las Vegas tourists. Based on archival materials from over 30 casinos and gaming corporations, this paper identifies four ways in which public relations is practiced in the gaming industry and four macro-level trends in the evolution of casino public relations in Las Vegas.
The Fiscal Forensics Of The Las Vegas Strip Lessons From The Financial Crisis, Dean M. Macomber
The Fiscal Forensics Of The Las Vegas Strip Lessons From The Financial Crisis, Dean M. Macomber
Occasional Papers
Hitting with the force of a 100-year storm, the first two years of the financial crisis caused a $5.2 billion swing from profitability to loss for the top 22 performing Las Vegas Strip properties between peak fiscal year 2007 and 2009. By fiscal year 2011 visitor count had almost climbed back to peak levels but the aggregate loss is still stubbornly high at $ -1.6 billion. Other signs of recovery trickle in but are sporadic and volatile. This article is an attempt to disaggregate the variance and look at where Las Vegas has been, where it is now and how …
Halos, Alibis And Community Development: A Cross National Comparison Of How Governments Spend Revenue From Gambling, Lynn Gidluck
Halos, Alibis And Community Development: A Cross National Comparison Of How Governments Spend Revenue From Gambling, Lynn Gidluck
Occasional Papers
This paper provides a cross-national comparison of how governments around the world distribute revenues from state-directed gambling and how these choices have been justified by proponents and vilified by critics. Case studies where governments have popularized gambling expansion by “earmarking” revenues for particular good causes and where the state has collaborated with the voluntary sector to deliver programs from this revenue stream are examined. Lessons learned from challenges of various approaches are considered.
Containment And Virtualization Slot Technology And The Remaking Of The Casino Industry, Kah-Wee Lee
Containment And Virtualization Slot Technology And The Remaking Of The Casino Industry, Kah-Wee Lee
Occasional Papers
This paper examines how the casino industry was transformed by slot technology between 1950 and 1990. The criminalization of slot machines in the 1950s led to their massive evacuation into Las Vegas casinos. In this concentrated environment, slot machines revealed to casino operators an automated surveillance technology that could disassemble the player into streams of virtual data, not through any overt means, but through the very activity of play itself. Slot managers and gaming technologists found themselves empowered professionally as they experimented with ways to transform data into profits. From the 1970s to the 90s, this technological development effectively linked …
Souls/Soles Of Signs Tell Totems And The Sphinx Wager, Darryl A. Smith M.Div., Ph.D.
Souls/Soles Of Signs Tell Totems And The Sphinx Wager, Darryl A. Smith M.Div., Ph.D.
Occasional Papers
This paper develops a philosophy of play through an analysis of the foot wager of the Sphinx. Applying a construction of the cosmology of Plato along with a Socratic etymology of her riddle’s answer, it provides a reading of Sphingian contestation consistent with contemporary practices of deception found in modern games like poker. I argue that such deception is constitutive of the excessive illumination of signaling tells in games and that such excess, in turn, is indicative in allied political contexts of a covetous and acquisitive obsession with light. This theory makes use also of Ralph Ellison’s refiguring of Oedipal …
Betting On The U.S. Market A Discussion Of The Legality Of Sports Gaming Businesses, Glenn Light, Karl Rutledge, Quinton Singleton
Betting On The U.S. Market A Discussion Of The Legality Of Sports Gaming Businesses, Glenn Light, Karl Rutledge, Quinton Singleton
Occasional Papers
Over time, the US sports gaming industry has progressed dramatically beyond what the US anti-gaming law drafters envisioned. The result is a system of mostly antiquated laws controlling modern industry causing confusion across the board. This discussion, therefore, intends to shed light on the US sports gaming legal framework, including analysis of the preeminent US laws that regulate the sports gaming industry and a brief review of various sports gaming businesses that fall within the US legal rubric.
Where Locals Play: Neighborhood Casino Landscapes In Las Vegas, Rex J. Rowley Ph.D.
Where Locals Play: Neighborhood Casino Landscapes In Las Vegas, Rex J. Rowley Ph.D.
Occasional Papers
Neighborhood casinos—gaming properties that target a primarily local market—are an influential feature on the Las Vegas cultural landscape. Such institutions reveal a number of geographical patterns that have important implications in gaming and place studies. The distinguishing characteristics of neighborhood casinos underscore the importance of proximity to a market, a focus that is evident in their advertising strategies. Additionally, the prominence of such casino-resorts within their respective neighborhoods makes them important symbols and indicators of the character of the surrounding community. These unique institutions teach lessons that can potentially be extrapolated to other gaming markets around the country.
Taking The Points: The Socialization Process Of A Sports Book “Regular”, Frederick W. Krauss Ph.D.
Taking The Points: The Socialization Process Of A Sports Book “Regular”, Frederick W. Krauss Ph.D.
Occasional Papers
Patrons of a casino sports book use the environment for much more than the instrumental task of sports betting. It is also a place to congregate with other like-minded patrons and through this process complex interactional dynamics develop over time. The social world of the sports book emerges in a designated space for the betting act where patrons meet, interact, and establish a culture to which they adhere.
The Promise Of Gangster Glamour: Sinatra, Vegas, And Alluring, Ethnicized, Excess, Laura Cook Kenna
The Promise Of Gangster Glamour: Sinatra, Vegas, And Alluring, Ethnicized, Excess, Laura Cook Kenna
Occasional Papers
Las Vegas has been linked with Frank Sinatra since the 1950s. The highly‐publicized performances of the Rat Pack (consisting of Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford) at the Sands crystallized the image of Las Vegas as a place that mingled economic mobility with excess. This excess was often associated with ethnicity and frequently linked to crime. It was, however, the excess that made Las Vegas and Sinatra glamorous to many audiences.
Urban Dynamics In The Las Vegas Valley: Neighborhood Casinos And Sprawl, Pascale Nédélec
Urban Dynamics In The Las Vegas Valley: Neighborhood Casinos And Sprawl, Pascale Nédélec
Occasional Papers
Las Vegas is well known for its urban sprawl. While the casino industry has played an obvious role in the development of Las Vegas, no systematic study has evaluated the exact nature of urban growth and the rise of neighborhood casinos. This paper argues that neighborhood casinos, contrary to tourist‐oriented casinos, are not urban forces that drive the growth of an urban area but reinforce the status quo of residential developments. Neighborhood casinos have nevertheless become a major asset in the economic and social building of residential developments and community life.
Seeking Value Or Entertainment? The Evolution Of Nevada Slot Hold, 1992-2009, And The Slot Players’ Experience, David G. Schwartz
Seeking Value Or Entertainment? The Evolution Of Nevada Slot Hold, 1992-2009, And The Slot Players’ Experience, David G. Schwartz
Occasional Papers
Since the advent of the current economic decline, speculation about the impact of “tighter” slot machines on gaming revenues and visitation patterns has been rife. Indeed, it is easy to make an intuitive link between higher slot hold percentages—that ultimately make the slot playing experience either shorter in duration or more costly, or both—and declines in revenue, handle, and visitation. But examining the slot hold percentages and slot denomination mix in the context of the changes in slot technologies over the years 1992 to 2009, it becomes apparent that there was no sudden arbitrary decision by slot managers to increase …