Joseph Jaggers

Joseph Hobson Jaggers (1830–1892) was a British engineer, referred to as, but not an exclusive holder of the title of, the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo.

Jaggers gained his practical experience of mechanics working in Yorkshire's cotton manufacturing industry. He extended his experience to the behaviour of a roulette wheel, speculating that its outcomes were not purely random numbers but that mechanical imbalances might result in biases towards particular outcomes.

In 1873, Jaggers hired six clerks clandestinely to record the outcomes of the six roulette wheels at the Beaux-Arts Casino at Monte Carlo, Monaco. He discovered that one of the six wheels showed a clear bias, in that nine of the numbers (7, 8, 9, 17, 18, 19, 22, 28 and 29) occurred more frequently than the others. Exploiting this characteristic, Jagger swept through his first day earning USD 70,000. Over the next three days, Jaggers amassed $300,000 in earnings with other gamblers in tow emulating his bets. In response the casino rearranged the wheels, which threw Jagger into confusion. After a losing streak, Jaggers finally recalled that a scratch he noted on the biased wheel wasn't present. Looking for this telltale mark, Jaggers was able to relocate his preferred wheel and resumed winning. Counterattacking again, the casino moved the frets, metal dividers between numbers, around daily. Over two days Jaggers would lose, giving up, he took his remaining earnings, USD 325,000, and left Monte Carlo never to return.

In 1892, Fred Gilbert wrote a popular song, The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo that is mistakenly attributed to Jaggers' exploits. Instead, the song is a celebration of Charles Wells, another Englishman, who in 1891 won handsomely in Monte Carlo.

Staking systems for BEAT THE BOOKIE !!

Many people have formulated staking systems in an attempt to "beat the bookie", but most still accept that no staking system can make an unprofitable system profitable over time. Widely-used systems include:

* Fixed stakes – a traditional system of staking the same amount on each selection. This method suits conservative punters if the stake remains below 5% of the bank.
* Fixed profits – the stakes vary based on the odds to ensure the same profit from each winning selection. This method suits conservative punters well, although if the profitability of one's bets varies independently of the odds the bettor simply reduces his or her cash flow.
* Due-column betting – A variation on fixed profits betting in which the bettor sets a target profit and then calculates a bet size that will make this profit, adding any losses to the target. For example, to make a target of $100 profit a bettor would wager $50 at odds of 2 to 1. If the bet loses, the target becomes $150. If the next bet is also at odds of 2 to 1, the wager therefore becomes $75. This type of wagering can prove ruinous in the long run.
* Kelly (optimal) – the punter needs to estimate fair odds (in the European/decimal format) and then calculate the stake using :

Stake= (Odds/(Fair odds-1))/(Odds-1) Many times used with a divider (most commonly 4 or 8) depending on your bankroll (for betting)

This system developed for baccarat, but many people recommend it for horserace betting. In betting on horse-races, punters further adjust the stake to allow for inaccuracy in estimating fair odds. Computer simulations suggest that in betting horseraces Kelly betting increases losses during losing streaks, that it fails to demonstrate superiority over fixed-stakes betting unless making large numbers of bets (a drawback in horserace betting because the bettor usually has no reasonable expectation that any betting advantage he or she has will last over a long series of bets), and that inappropriate statistical analyses have exaggerated its profitability.

* Martingale – A system based on staking enough each time to recover losses from previous bet(s) until one wins. The Martingale guarantees failure - it would only work if the bettor has an unlimited bankroll, the bookmaker has no limit on the size of bets and neither party ever dies.

offshore gambling

As Bay Staters plunk down their cash on today's Kentucky Derby, millions will be flowing offshore to unregulated online casinos that lure gamblers away from the state's racetracks with plum rebates.

"We've got one arm tied behind our back and both legs shackled," Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park owner George Carney said of the impact online gambling has had on his business. "It shouldn't be legal. It should be regulated."

What happens about offshore gambling ?

Lobbyists for the state's racetracks have been pushing unsuccessfully for slot machines for years but Bay Staters need only turn on their computer to bet - legally - on slots, poker, craps, blackjack, sports or any other game of chance. Besides the convenience, many of the online casinos offer 10 to 15 percent cash rebates on all bets. Gambling watchdogs estimate that as much as $10 billion will be bet online this year nationwide - all of which is tax free (offshore gambling)

Federal courts have suggested that Internet gaming may be illegal under wire transfer laws, but offshore casinos continue to explode unchecked, taking bets from anyone with a credit card or checking account. There is no state law banning online gambling and a spokeswoman for Attorney General Tom Reilly said the issue remains a gray area of offshore gambling.

"It's running rampant right now and it's hurting us," said state Rep. David Flynn (D-Bridgewater), who said he plans to seek an outright ban on online betting in the Bay State. "I think we've been very lax as far as protecting this industry that employs more than 6,000 people. We're really promoting the death knell for racing and that's sad."

In addition to online competition, racetracks now face added pressure from satellite TV which allows gamblers to set up wagering accounts and legally bet live racing from their couch. And while TV and online gaming allows unlimited betting on tracks worldwide - including today's Kentucky Derby - the state limits off-track betting at Bay State tracks.

"They're actually bookies, there's no regulation and they're killing the (racing) industry which is so regulated," said Raynham- Taunton assistant manager Gary Temple.

Rep. Daniel Bosley (D-N. Adams) said simulcasting limits likely won't be lifted because some tracks would suffer from the increased in-state competition. As for online gaming, Bosley said a recent federal ruling that allowed a crackdown on cyber betting parlors in Antigua and Barbados could lead to better regulation.

Gambling on horse races

Gambling on horse races

One of the most widespread forms of gambling involves betting on horse races, most commonly on races between thoroughbreds or between standardbreds.

Wagering may take place through parimutuel pools; or bookmakers may take bets personally. Parimutuel wagers pay off at prices determined by support in the wagering pools, while bookmakers pay off either at the odds offered at the time of accepting the bet; or at the median odds offered by track bookmakers at the time the race started.

In Canada and the United States, the most common types of bet on horse races include:

• win – to succeed the bettor must pick the horse which wins the race.
• place – the bettor must pick a horse which finishes either first or second.
• show – the bettor must pick a horse which finishes first, second, or third.
• exacta, perfecta, or exactor –the bettor must pick the two horses which finish first and second and specify which will finish first
• quinella or quiniela – the bettor must pick the two horses which finish first and second, but need not specify which will finish first.
• trifecta or triactor – the bettor must pick the three horses which finish first, second, and third and specify which will finish first, second and third.
• superfecta – the bettor must pick the four horses which finish first, second, third and fourth, and specify which will finish first, second, third and fourth.
• double – the bettor must pick the winners of two successive races; most race tracks in Canada and the United States take double wagers on the first two races on the program (the daily double) and on the last two (the late double).
• triple – the bettor must pick the winners of three successive races; many tracks offer rolling triples, or triples on any three successive races on the program. Also called pick three.
• sweep – the bettor must pick the winners of four or more successive races. In the US, this is usually called pick four and pick six, with the latter paying out a consolation return to bettors correctly selecting five winners out of six races, and with "rollover" jackpots accumulating each day until one or more bettors correctly picks all six winners.

Win, place and show wagers class as straight bets, and the remaining wagers as exotic bets. Bettors usually make multiple wagers on exotic bets. A box consists of a multiple wager in which punters bet all possible combinations of a group of horses in the same race. A key involves making a multiple wager with a single horse in one race bet in one position with all possible combinations of other selected horses in a single race. A wheel consists of betting all horses in one race of a bet involving two or more races. For example a 1-all daily double wheel bets the 1-horse in the first race with every horse in the second.

People making straight bets commonly employ the strategy of an 'each way' bet. Here the bettor picks a horse and bets it will win, and makes an additional bet that it will show, so that theoretically if the horse runs third it will at least pay back the two bets. The Canadian and American equivalent is the bet across (short for across the board): the bettor bets equal sums on the horse to win, place, and show.

In Canada and the United States punters make exotic wagers on horses running at the same track on the same program. In the United Kingdom bookmakers offer exotic wagers on horses at different tracks. Probably the Yankee occurs most commonly: in this the bettor tries to pick the winner of four races. This bet also includes subsidiary wagers on smaller combinations of the chosen horses; for example, if only two of the four horses win, the bettor still collects for their double. A Trixie requires trying to pick three winners, and a Canadian or Super Yankee trying to pick five; these also include subsidiary bets. The term nap identifies the best bet of the day.

A parlay (US) or accumulator (UK) consists of a series of bets in which bettors stake the winnings from one race on the next in order until either the bettor loses or the series completes successfully.

(Similarly, greyhound racing offers a popular betting alternative to horse racing in many countries.)

Gambling

Gambling (or betting) is any behavior involving risking money or property (making a wager or placing a stake) on the outcome of a game, contest, or other event in which the outcome of that activity depends partially or totally upon chance or upon one's ability to do something.

Believers in the old saying about "never putting good money after bad money" offer this wisdom as a good way to keep gambling an entertaining pleasure and to stay away from gambling addiction. The saying suggests that after losing wagered money one should stop gambling and just accept the loss, instead of continuing to bet and losing even more.

In extended usage, gambling may also refer to engaging in any high-risk behavior in which decisions occur based upon incomplete knowledge - for example, high-risk stock investments (see speculation), difficult and potentially costly business or non-business ventures, or even personal relationships.

Gambling games may predate recorded history, with examples recorded in virtually all of the ancient civilizations.

Because religious authorities generally frown on gambling to some extent, and because of various perceived social costs, most legal jurisdictions censure gambling to some extent. Islamic nations officially prohibit gambling; most other countries regulate it. In particular, in the majority of circumstances - and perhaps all cases - the law does not recognise wagers as contracts, and views any consequent losses as debts of honour, unenforceable by legal process. Thus organized crime often takes over the enforcement of large gambling debts, sometimes using violent methods.

Because contracts of insurance have many features in common with wagers, legislation generally makes a distinction, typically defining any agreement in which either one of the parties has an interest in the outcome bet upon, beyond the specific financial terms, as a contract of insurance. Thus a bet on whether one's house will burn down becomes a contract of insurance, as one has an independent interest in the security of one's home.

Furthermore, many jurisdictions, local as well as national, either ban or heavily control (license) gambling. Such regulation generally leads to gambling tourism and illegal gambling - the latter often under the auspices of organized crime. Such involvement frequently brings the activity under even more severe moral censure and leads to calls for greater regulation. Conversely, the close involvement of governments (through regulation and gambling taxation) has led to a close connection between many governments and gambling organisations, where legal gambling provides much government revenue. Note Monaco.

There is generally legislation requesting that the odds in gambling machines are fair (i.e. statistically random), to prevent manufacturers from making some high-payoff results impossible (since these have very low probability, this can quite easily pass unnoticed).

Though many participate in gambling as a form of recreation or even as a means to gain an income, gambling, like any behavior which involves variation in brain chemistry, can become a psychologically addictive and harmful behavior in some people. Reinforcement phenomena may also make gamblers persist in gambling even after repeated losses. Because of the negative connotations of the word "gambling", casinos and race tracks often use the euphemism "gaming" to describe the recreational gambling activities they offer.

The Russian writer Dostoevsky portrays in his short story The Gambler the psychological implications of gambling and how gambling can affect gamblers. He also associates gambling and the idea of "getting rich quick", suggesting that Russians may have a particular affinity for gambling. Dostoevsky shows the effect of betting money for the chance of gaining more in 19th-century Europe. The association between Russians and gambling has fed legends of the origins of Russian roulette.

Many organizations exist to help individuals with a gambling addiction. They include Gamblers Anonymous and Gambler's Help (Australia).

"Beatable" casino games

With proper strategy, a smart player can create a positive mathematical expectation.

* Poker (Also recognised as a game of skill)
* Blackjack -- with card counting
* Video poker -- with proper pay table or progressive jackpot
* Pai Gow Poker and Tiles -- player-dealt
* Sports betting
* Horse racing (parimutuel)
* Slot machines -- only linked, multi-player jackpots whose prizes have reached a certain point


"Unbeatable" casino games

All players must lose in the long run, no matter what strategy they choose.

* Baccarat
* Craps
* Roulette
* Keno
* Casino war
* Faro (All but extinct in recent times)
* Pachinko
* Sic Bo
* Let It Ride
* 3-card Poker
* 4-card poker
* Red Dog
* Pyramid Poker
* Caribbean Stud Poker
* Spanish 21 -- without counting

Non-casino gambling games

* Lottery
* Mahjong
* Fan-Tan
* Dice-based
o Backgammon
o Liar's dice
o Passe-dix
o Hazard
* Card games
o Liar's poker
o Bridge
o Basset
o Lansquenet
o Piquet
o Put
* Coin-tossing
o Head and Tail
o Two-up (Australian casinos offer versions of two-up)
* Confidence tricks
o Three card monte
o The shell game
* Carnival Games
o The Razzle
o Hanky Pank
o Penny Falls
o Six-Cat
o The Swinger
o The Push-up Bottle
o The Nail Joint
* Con Games (in bars)
o Put and Take
o The Smack
o The Drunken Mitt

Ralph Reed Attracts Indian Casino Cash

As executive director of the Christian Coalition in the 1990s, Ralph Reed toed a hard line against the spread of legalized gambling. Reed took the common Religious Right view that gambling is anti-family. He once called it, "a cancer on the American body politic" that was "stealing food from the mouths of children."

Nowadays, as a high-paid political operative and consultant, Reed is apparently singing a different tune - in whatever key those who pay him request. The Nation magazine reported July 12 that Reed has been working to help a Native American tribe in Louisiana eager to fend off competition from another tribe that wanted to open a casino.

The tribe, the Coushatta, has been running a huge gambling casino in Louisiana near Lake Charles and wants to stave off competition from another tribe eager for some gaming action of its own.

According to The Nation, the other tribe, the Jena Band, had hired former GOP chairman Haley Barbour to press its case with the Bush administration. Knowing of Barbour's strong influence in Republican circles, the Coushatta's lobbyists, Jack Abramoff and Mike Scanlon, former spokesman for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), sought another well-connected Republican to balance him out. They chose Reed.

The Coushatta Tribe, The Nation reported, which was already paying Abramoff and Scanlon $32 million a year, picked up Reed as well but made sure his hiring remained under the radar. Two casino lobbyists say they were in a meeting in early 2002 and heard William Worfel, vice chair of the Coushatta tribe, say he planned to hire Reed. Reed's job, according to a third lobbyist at the meeting, was to "mobilize Christian radio and ministers against the casino."

Thus, Reed could claim to be working against legalized gambling while he was in fact on the payroll of an existing casino operation that wanted to protect its turf (and its massive profits of $300 million a year). Documents obtained by The Nation show that Reed's Atlanta-based Century Strategies consulting firm received a quarter of a million dollars from one of Scanlon's companies. Another Reed firm, Capitol Media, received $100,000.

Reed's role in the mess came to light during a Justice Department investigation of alleged improprieties between Scanlon, Abramoff and Republican campaigns. Reed, who is currently working on the Bush re-election campaign, is not accused of any illegal activity. As Nation writer Jack Newfield noted, "This was not a crime, just furtive hypocrisy."

The investigation is ongoing, and a federal grand jury has subpoenaed the financial records of the Coushatta Tribe.

Reed issued a statement denying the allegations. He attacked The Nation story as "filled with falsehoods and inaccuracies and liberal bias."

WorldNetDaily, a conservative online news site, asked Reed's spokeswoman, Sarah Few, to respond to Newfield's allegation that he had uncovered bills Reed sent marked only for "Louisiana Project Mgmt. Fee." Few called the allegations "false" but would not comment further.

In other news about the Religious Right:

* "Christian nation" advocate David Barton has been touring the country speaking in churches at the behest of the Republican National Committee. Barton, who serves as vice chairman of the Texas Republican Party, says his goal is to urge churches to conduct non-partisan voter registration drives.

But one attendee at a Barton appearance in Eugene, Ore., in July begged to differ.

"The whole structure of the event is meant to support the Republican Party and meant to cast negative views on the Democrats," Bruce Holler told the Portland Oregonian. Holler said Barton criticized the Democrats for supporting legal abortion and same-sex marriage.

* Leaders of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) have dropped language from a statement on religion and politics that seemed to warn against conservative Christians getting too closely identified with one political party.

The statemenl originally read that evangelicals "must guard against overidentifying Christian social goals with a single political party, lest nonbclicvers think that the Christian faith is essentially political in nature."

NAE leaders quickly dumped the new language when news reports about it surfaced.

"We changed that line today," Rich Cizik told World magazine June 21. "We had been in the process of doing so, but we knew today that we had to."

* John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute has warned conservative Christians not to align themselves with political power.

"As Christians in past regimes have found, identifying with the establishment, as much of modern evangelicalism is doing, can present a grave danger - the establishment may easily become the church's enemy," Whitehead wrote in a recent column. "Not only is it perilous to identify with the established powers, it also negates the true mission of the church. The church is not Io identify with power but to speak truth to power - even at great costs. Martyrs, past and present, testify to this."

* The Christian Coalition is once again facing a lawsuit for failing to pay its bills. The once-powerful Religious Right political outfit is being sued in Tarrant County, Texas, by an Oklahoma direct-mail firm that alleges that the Coalition owes it $87,000.

The company, Global Direct of Tulsa, said the Coalition agreed to provide a mailing list that would be used to conduct a mass solicitation to pay off the debt, reported the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. But Global Direct says the list has not been turned over and the debt remains outstanding.

Although based in Washington, D.C., the Coalition is incorporated in Tarrant County. The organization assumed the tax-exempt status of its Texas chapter after the Internal Revenue Service denied the national office tax exemption in 1999.

After spending more than $700,000 ...

After spending more than $700,000 to lobby for slot machines in the District of Columbia, reserving real estate for casinos, and collecting more than 20,000 signatures to conduct a referendum, Black promoters suddenly discovered that the U.S. Congress would not permit gambling in the nation's capital, the mecca of millions of tourists yearly visiting the historic shrines. The winner of the area's first slot machines well may be the neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia ..

The Gambling Bill is a safe bet

I was sorry to read about James Burton's problems with "virtual roulette" machines ("The machines that ate my life", 21 February). His experience reflects why we need to introduce the new protections of the Gambling Bill. The machines operate in a legal limbo, governed only by a code of practice that limits their stakes, prizes and speed of play. That's because laws passed in the 1960s never envisaged a gaming machine operating from a remote computer sitting in a room miles away. The Gambling Bill modernises the law and gives us powers to control these machines. I made clear at the second reading that they are on probation and reminded the Commons at third reading that without the bill, there will be no powers to deal with them.

Tessa Jowell

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

Letters should be as short as possible and should give a full postal address. We reserve the right to cut or edit letters

Pathological Gambling

Pathological Gambling

Nancy M. Petry

American Psychological Association

750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242

apa.org/books

1591471737 $59.95 1-800-368-5777

Psychiatry professor Nancy M. Petry presents Pathological Gambling: Etiology, Comorbidity, And Treatment, a scholarly discussion of psychological problems related to gambling. Drawing quite heavily upon extensive scholarly research, Pathological Gambling informatively discusses advanced psychological concepts, and although readable for lay people, is especially geared toward field students and professionals. Diverse anecdotes help to flesh out the specific issues and obstacles that challenge those trying to help pathological gamblers reclaim their lives. Pathological Gambling is a welcome, timely, and much-needed contribution to gambling addiction treatment resource shelves.

Dr. Sigmund Freud RULEZ!

Gambling with SMS

Byline: Vince Vittore

A recent study from Juniper Research pegged the wireless gambling market at $18 billion annually by 2008. That may sound wildly inflated, but consider 2004, when online gambling took in more than $6.5 billion for casinos and other operators. In the U.K., where gambling on pretty much any conceivable event is legal, one company is combining the highly addictive and interactive elements of gambling with the coach potatoes' favorite activity - staring at a TV.

Zone4Play, which has a U.S. office in Delaware, earlier this year acquired MiXTV, which allowed it to extend its existing wireless gaming platform to the traditional broadcast market. In April, the company launched Broadcast SMS-TV Interactive fixed-odds betting together with The Poker Channel.

By sending text messages, users with accounts already set up can bet on a variety of propositions. In another scenario, subscribers could send a text message saying that they want to place a $10 bet on any number on a roulette wheel. From the carrier perspective, the service helps drive users to their premium SMS offering, which is required by Zone4Play.

"At first I thought in Europe, putting premium SMS rates would cause a lot of potential players to not play," said Idan Miller, senior vice president of marketing and sales for Zone4Play. "But the reality shows that if the content is good enough, people don't care."

The carrier also keeps about 10% of the revenue generated. (Zone4Play takes 50% and the other 40% is divided by the broadcaster, the producer and the SMS broker.)

In the U.S., the company has started supplying Cablevision with games for its iO digital TV service. And while wireless gambling remains illegal in most states, the company is talking to horse track owners and other content producers to figure out ways to blend SMS and game play. Additionally, Zone4Play is discussing with state lottery commissions a service where users could receive lottery tickets through their TV, with SMS.

"Whenever a TV program adds SMS to an existing program, the first thing that happens is ratings of the show increase," Miller said. "You also create a new type of experience and of course the SMS response creates new income."

Business user satisfaction index

According to a survey of users conducted earlier this year

Aiding and betting: online gambling crackdown

IF YOU LIKE to gamble, you might want to go to 888.com, where you can play blackjack, poker, craps, slots, and roulette. If you prefer sports betting, try betonsports.com.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, publishing the previous paragraph may be a felony. Federal prosecutors say helping Americans find online casinos or sports betting operations could amount to "aiding and abetting" illegal gambling, a crime punishable by up to two years in prison.

Last year, Deputy Assistant Attorney General John G. Malcolm sent a letter to media trade groups warning that their members could be breaking the law by accepting ads for gambling sites. Meanwhile, Raymond W. Gruender, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, convened a grand jury in St. Louis that started issuing subpoenas to companies that do business with the online gambling industry.

This campaign of intimidation already has yielded results. Since last fall several media companies, including infinity Broadcasting, Viacom Outdoor, Discovery Networks, and Clear Channel Communications, have stopped running ads for online casinos and betting services. In April, Google and Yahoo!, two of the most widely used Web search engines, also caved. Although Googie was vague about its motivation, Yahoo! said "a lack of" clarity in the environment" made gambling ads "too risky."

The Justice Department maintains that online gambling is illegal under the 1961 Wire Act, even when the casino or betting parlor is located overseas. But since it's hard to prosecute gambling operations based in other countries (and since placing a bet is not necessarily illegal, depending upon the state where the gambler lives), the government is threatening middlemen instead. Given how broadly the Justice Department seems to be interpreting "aiding and abetting," it could bring charges against not just ad carriers but marketing consultants, banks, Internet service providers, telecommunications companies, computer professionals, and anyone else who facilitates online betting.

Casino Moscow - Review

CASINO MOSCOW by Matthew Brzezinski Free Press, $25.00

MUTUALLY ASSURED HEADLINES was the operational doctrine of newspapers during the height of the outwardly cool, yet constantly simmering, conflict between Moscow and Washington that ended nearly a decade ago. Since that time, Russian news has slowly, yet steadily, migrated from Page 1 to the business sections of American dailies.

Chandra replaced Chechnya in the news hole as the Soviet superpower broke down from a threatening nuclear adversary to a diminished (though nuclear-armed) Russian state. The prevailing news trend gives the popular impression that Russia is on the irreversible--if somewhat rocky--road to a functioning market economy and electoral democracy.

Two new books chart that progress and fill in the missing context and color of the often ignored, but dramatic story born in revolution 10 summers ago. Russia's Unfinished Revolution by Michael McFaul and Casino Moscow by Matthew Brzezinski are unintentionally complementary volumes. McFaul gives an erudite and well-documented history of the last 15 years, from Gorbachev to Putin. Brzezinski's personal anecdotes and journalistic observations flesh out McFaul's solid outline. Most of us lack the power of President George W. Bush to divine instantly a Russian leader's soul and intentions, so a historical review of how Russia got to Putin is helpful in guessing its future moves. McFaul starts his story with Gorbachev, the once all-powerful, all-controlling Soviet leader who introduced perestroika and glasnost into a system where "simultaneous political and economic change had a logic of their own that eventually could not be controlled." The details of these developments do not get lost in McFaul's telling of the story, and his step-by-step analysis of political and electoral events reinforces their significance.

McFaul deftly takes us through the failed first republic that culminated in the shelling of the Russian White House and the establishment of a new political order in 1993--what he refers to as the second Russian republic. The result is a country where, despite the many imperfections of its electoral democracy, leaders are voted in and the law has a basis in the constitution.

The author, a political science professor at Stanford and a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, came to study the Russian revolution somewhat by accident; he was focusing on revolutionary change in Africa and while researching such movements in Moscow, found that he was in the midst of something too big to ignore.

McFaul brings striking firsthand experience to bear: The access he managed to obtain, and the time he spent with the revolution's various political players, brings fresh material and keen insight to the story.

Brzezinski's book opens with an incident of startling violence: a break-in at the author's Kiev apartment during which he is beaten to a bloody pulp during a fruitless robbery attempt. Brzezinski, who was then a Wall Street Journal-stringerand later a staffer, uses his survivor's perspective to highlight the grim absurdity of the event that nearly left him dead.

Casino Moscow is a personal look at expatriates, economics, ethically challenged politicians and businessmen, and the place of the ex-Commie cowboy in the "Wild East" during the latter part of McFaul's second Russian republic. Brzezinski, a Canadian of Polish extraction (and nephew of Carter National Security Council chief Zbignew Brzezinski), seems to appreciate the eastern European absurdist tradition, which allows him to maintain an ironic distance between observation and emotion.

Or perhaps Brzezinski's perspective is less absurdis, than it is reflective of the humorous vein that foreign correspondents use to speak to each other about the daily routines and small ironies we're subjected to while reporting. We all have our favorite stories, and love to share details of the Aeroflot flight from hell or the meal that bites back. And we all love to characterize the dire situation in Russia by using the time-honored form of the revealing Russian anecdote: for the economy, the woman on the sidewalk with only one sock to sell, and for alcoholism, doing shots of NyQuil after the vodkas run out. But Brzezinski has done a remarkable job of collecting those anecdotes and creating a cohesive, enlightening collection of stories that adds individual, ephemeral, and entertaining detail to McFaul's grand historical sweep.

Brzezinski brings to life the characters of modern Russia's greed and adventure--larger than life figures like the cosmopolitan Chechen Umar Dzhabrailov, on whom the author Frederick Forsyth modeled the mafia-like character in his book Icon. "Umar," as the press referred to him, was the hotel-owning business partner of Paul Tatum, the American with whom Umar had a public disagreement and who later was assassinated in front of his landmark Radisson Slavyanskaya.

As the Bush administration prepares to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the victory over Soviet communism, the Russia that's emerged continues to play a critical role in today's foreign policy initiatives, from the ABM treaty to Chinese containment. And while Putin may not have the charisma to capture American headlines, Russian oil reserves will continue to entice speculators. McFaul and Brzezinski have done a good job at helping the claim jumpers and latter-day Cold Warriors ground any fantasies they may have in the accurate and often gritty reality.

MARKOS T. KOUNALAKIS was the NBC-Mutual News Moscow correspondent from the August coup in 1991 through the First Russian Republic.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Washington Monthly Company
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group

Casino craze

SOME PEOPLE BRAKE FOR GARAGE SALES. I'M PROgrammed to detect any sign that says "casino." Strictly a slots player, I love the rapid-fire dinging when three matching symbols appear, and my heart beats a little faster at the clatter of coins cascading into the tray of a slot machine--specially when it's the one I'm playing and not the one next to me.

I'm not the only one who enjoys casino gambling; according to the Travel Industry Association (TIA), it's a common activity on many trips and one that is growing in popularity. TIA says that in 2002 eight percent of all U.S. travel trips included gambling, a figure that tied with nightlife/dancing. And casino gambling isn't limited to a specific segment of the population--it attracts males and females of all ages. Some parents even tote children along to destinations known for gambling, especially where there are family activities. Whether the allure is the possibility of striking it rich or just the exciting atmosphere, casinos seem to be here to stay, and new ones are being built all the time.

Gambling has been around in one form or other since ancient times, and in this country has passed in and out of legality. It's been in for some time now, and casinos can be found from north to south, east to west, on land and sea.

Nevada became the first state to legalize casinos. Las Vegas, with more than 50 casinos, is truly America's gambling mecca. Famous casino hotels along "The Strip" include the Mirage, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, Tropicana, Paris Hotel and Casino, and many more. The excitement sometimes begins outside the hotels, where crowds gather to enjoy spectacular free shows such as the Bellagio's 900-foot-long dancing water fountains and the Mirage's erupting volcano.

Additional hotels and casinos are located in downtown Vegas, including the 50-plus-year-old landmark, the Golden Nugget, home to the world's largest single gold nugget. It stands tall beneath the razzle-dazzle of the Fremont Street Experience, a four-block-long, 90-foot-high electronic canopy of sight-and-sound shows.

Visitors to Vegas often take a side trip to another Nevada resort destination, Laughlin. Although it's small, with 11 casinos, Laughlin attracts around five million visitors annually. A bridge across the Colorado River links Laughlin with Bullhead City, Arizona.

Native Americans operate casinos in many Arizona towns, including Scottsdale, Prescott, and Tucson. I fondly recall Cliff Castle Casino in Camp Verde, where I walked away from a $1 slot machine $900 dollars richer than when I started. The beautiful casino has more than 560 slots, eight table games, a hotel and convention center, bowling center, eight restaurants, even a licensed child care facility.

In the area of New Mexico's stunning Sangre de Cristo Mountains are a number of casinos, including the totally smoke-free Taos Mountain Casino at historic Tans Pueblo. About a half hour away, more than 700 slots and table games await at Ohkay Casino Resort at San Juan Pueblo.

Casinos are one of the growth industries in California with dozens around the state. A favorite with visitors and locals is Black Oak Casino in Tuolumne. Built in 2001 and still growing, it soon will boast 940 slots and 24 table games, plus a theater-style entertainment venue, restaurants, and more.

With such legendary names as Wild Bill Hickock in its past, it's hard to envision Deadwood without gambling, but for many years, playing for money in the South Dakota town was illegal. After facing economic difficulties, Deadwood in the 1990s became the nation's third site to allow legalized gambling. Casino revenues have enabled the preservation and restoration of the city's historic gaming halls, so Deadwood is alive and well once again, with more than 85 casinos inviting visitors to try their luck.

In Colorado, Cripple Creek, dubbed the "World's Greatest Gold Camp," boasts a Victorian charmer, the 1896 Imperial Casino Hotel, while a soaring, stained-glass, barrel-vaulted ceiling highlights the Double Eagle Hotel Casino. Other old mining towns, Central City and Black Hawk, also offer casino action.

The Midwest has a fair share of casinos on riverboats, some of which are permanently docked while others actually go out on cruises during warm weather months. Laws regarding gambling boats change occasionally--the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Illinois, had offered cruises but now is stationary--so it's wise to double check. Iowa cruise boats venturing out in warm weather include the Mississippi Belle II in Clinton, the Ameristar Casino in Council Bluffs, and the Isle of Capri Casino in Marquette. In Indiana, the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City and Harrah's East Chicago offered cruises but now are stationary. Missouri's offerings include Harrah's St. Louis Casino and Hotel, Ameristar casino hotels in St. Charles and Kansas City, and President Casino in downtown St. Louis.

In Louisiana, Baton Rouge has a couple of riverboat casinos, and several are in New Orleans. Bally's Casino Lakeshore Resort is docked on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Harrah's New Orleans Casino is the only land-based one in the state, a huge affair right in the downtown area.

Given the current heightened security everywhere, casino visitors should be prepared to present identification if requested, and when parking, open the car's trunk. And remember, like anything else, casino gambling can undergo changes. Not only do casinos differ in the types of games offered and hours of play (some are open 24/7), but rules and laws--like betting limits and legal gambling ages--vary from state to state.

Cleaner hands for slot machine patrons appears to be the wave of the future as some casinos are eliminating paying off in coins in favor of paper. The slips can be used in other designated machines or redeemed at a window.

Slot machines can range from penny slots all the way up to the $500 slot machines found in Atlantic City's recently unveiled Borgata. With 2,002 guest rooms and suites and some 125,000 square feet of gaming, the $1-billion resort is the first new hotel casino to open in Atlantic City in 13 years. The Borgata is located on the marina; most of the others are on the historic Boardwalk. The city opened its first casino in 1978 and now has a dozen, making it the East Coast's answer to Las Vegas.

The exterior of Connecticut's Foxwoods really lights up the night sky, always reminding me of Oz's Emerald City. With over 6,700 slot machines, countless table games, bingo, race book, three hotels, 25 food and beverage outlets, and top-notch entertainment, it's the largest resort casino in the world. Off premises is the tribally owned and operated Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, which spotlights the heritage of American and Canadian Native tribes.

Running a close second in size is Connecticut's other casino, Mohegan Sun. A recent expansion included Casino of the Sky, topped by the world's largest, fully functional planetarium dome, a waterfall, and a luxury hotel. In 2001, the Sun paid out Connecticut's largest slot jackpot in history--a whopping $6,355,858.

Heading southward, Georgia has no land-based casinos but has a gambling cruise ship leaving out of Brunswick, the Emerald Princess Dinner Cruise & Casino. A second one in the works, Millionaires Casino, will depart from Savannah. The cruises will head out (weather permitting) three miles to international waters, where gambling is legal.

Florida features both land-based Native American casinos and gambling cruises. The Seminole Tribe has several casinos, including the Naples area's Seminole Casino-Immokalee. The tribe's newest venture is the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa.

With all the water surrounding the Sunshine State, gambling boats are a natural. SeaEscape, leaving from Fort Lauderdale, offers entertainment, buffet brunches, and gourmet dinners, plus gaming tables, and slot and video poker machines. SunCruz runs boats from such locations as Hollywood, Jacksonville, and Daytona. The Palm Beach Princess in Riviera Beach is one of the larger ships in South Florida.

On land and on sea, from every direction, casinos are calling to travelers. Their answer is a resounding "yes." Casinos are here to stay, and that's something you can bet on.

CASINO CONTACTS

Casinos mentioned in the accompanying article are listed below, state by state:

ARIZONA

* Cliff Castle Casino, (928) 567-7900; www.cliffcastle.com.

CALIFORNIA

* Black Oak Casino, (877) 747-8777; www.blackoakcasino.com.

COLORADO

* Imperial Casino Hotel, (800) 235-2922; www.imperialcasinohotel.com.

* Double Eagle Hotel Casino, (719) 689-5000; www.decasino.com.

CONNECTICUT

* Foxwoods (800) FOXWOODS www.foxwoods.com.

* Mohegan Sun, (800) 226-7711, www.mohegansun.com.

FLORIDA

* Seminole Casino-Immokalee Naples, (800) 218-0007.

* Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tampa, (800) 937-0010.

Casino royale: visit a Southern California landmark as it turns 75 years old

The Catalina Casino is the most famous structure on Catalina Island, a great, round, 12-story layered wedding cake of a building that commands Avalon Harbor. For generations, it has announced to island visitors that they have arrived at a place very different from the one they just left behind.

Despite its name, the casino wasn't built for gambling; swing was king here, with the circular ballroom hosting Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and other big band-era legends. On guided tours, you can see the ballroom--still the largest of its type in the world--and the Catalina Island Museum on the bottom floor.

The Avalon Theater features daily movie showings, but its design is the real show. I once paid good money for a ticket to the movie The Real Inspector Gadget, just so I could see the theater's interior before the lights dimmed.

Beneath the theater's enormous domed ceiling, elaborate art deco murals created by John Gabriel Beckman portray island and early California scenes, while the main drape depicts surfers on a breaking wave. Idealized and idyllic though they may be, the murals do have a way of conjuring the unspoiled spirit of Catalina itself.

INFO: Casino tours are offered daily through Discovery Tours ($14, including museum admission; www.catalinachamber.com or 800/626-1496). In September, the Catalina Island Museum ($3; 310/510-2414) will feature the annual Catalina Tile & Pottery Extravaganza. Call the Avalon Theater (310/510-0179) for showtimes.

Reed admits taking casino lobbyist fees

Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition and now a Republican strategist, admitted that he accepted $1.23 million in consulting fees tied to Indian-run gambling casinos, the Washington Post has reported.

Reed, who also serves as Southeast regional chairman for the Bush-Cheney campaign, received the fees from two lobbyists whose ties to the Indian tribes are now the subject of a federal investigation.

Sources told the Post that Reed's Atlanta-based Century Strategies was paid $1.23 million by public relations executive Michael Scanlon, whose clients included a Louisiana Indian tribe that was trying to prevent other tribes from opening competing casinos. Part of Reed's job was to mobilize Christian ministers and activists against the new casinos.

Century Strategies also received an unspecified payment from another gaming lobbyist, Jack Abramoff. Abramoff's former firm, Greenberg Traurig LLP, said in March that Abramoff was no longer part of the firm because his "personal transactions" were "unacceptable" to it.

In a statement to the Post, Reed said he never worked in law favor of gambling, a vice that many Christian leaders consider immoral. "I have worked for decades to oppose the expansion of casino gambling, and as a result of that, Century Strategies has worked with broad coalitions to oppose casino expansion. We are proud of the work we have done. It is consistent not only with my beliefs but with the beliefs of the grass-roots citizens we mobilized. At no time was Century Strategies ever retained by, or [has it] worked on behalf of any casino or casino company."