Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling

Casino Edition

This revised, updated, and extended new edition of the original, award-winning Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling traces the development of gaming from the first rolls of the bones in paleolithic time to the current growth of online poker. 

Some of the topics covered include:

• Early gambling
• The first casino
• Frontier gambling and gamblers
• The development of Monte Carlo in the 19th century
• How American illegal gambling became such a lucrative business
• Reno’s stint as the nation’s gambling captial
• The rise of Las Vegas
• The role of the mob in building up the Las Vegas gaming industry
• Atlantic City’s spin of the wheel
• Indian casinos, riverboats, and nation-wide casino expansion
• Las Vegas strikes back
• The brief history of online gambling
• The recession’s impact on Las Vegas
• The Asian casino explosion of the past seven years

If you're curious about why and how casinos have become so widespread, this book has some of the answers.