Monthly Archives: July 2006

A Tale of Two Cities

July 31, 2006 1:51 pm

I think these two stories illustrate the differences between Atlantic City and Las Vegas. A major property in one is bringing itself boldly into post-1991 style, while the other is redefining the casino resort. First things first from the Press:

“Purple and pink. Aye-yai-yai-yai-yai,” Mark Juliano moaned with obvious displeasure. “Have you ever seen so many lavender acoustic ceiling tiles in your life?”

Juliano was surrounded by enough flamboyant pink and purple hues to make even Liberace see red. Carpets, walls and ceiling decorations all screamed out in a bizzare confection of some of the gaudiest color schemes imaginable.

The outrageous decor was what made Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort so … well, special, when the mammoth Indian-themed gaming palace opened in 1990. Now it’s what makes the Taj Mahal so outdated.

“It’s seen its day,” said Juliano, chief operating officer of Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. “You have to think back to when the casino opened. It was pretty amazing then. At the time, you had a color scheme that was hot, but it became dated. You can look at this place and know it was the late 1980s or early ’90s.”

Work crews are preparing to rip out the pink and purple decorations for a $50 million makeover that will give Donald Trump’s flagship casino a more stylish look. The interior upgrades are separate from a $250 million, 800-room hotel tower under construction at the Taj and scheduled to open in two years.

Trump Entertainment Resorts, the company formed to run Trump’s gaming empire following its exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year, is rebranding the Taj to appeal to a more sophisticated and upscale customer base.

Plans include overhauling the stark main entryway that Trump executives joke reminds them of a Garden State Parkway rest stop. The bleak hallway, leading from the parking garage to the casino, had come to symbolize Trump’s former financial troubles. Now it will be transformed into a promenade of retail shops, restaurants and bathrooms to give the Taj a more inviting entrance.

Construction barriers and workers crowd the hallway now, but there are signs of what it will look like when finished this fall. The promenade’s anchor store is called Trump Exchange, a retail outlet devoted to Trump’s personal line of products and merchandise from his NBC reality TV show “The Apprentice.”

Muted palette integral to Taj’s $50M. revamp

I’ve never met Juliano, but I’m a little taken aback with his disdainful attitude towards the existing casino design. Sure, it’s tacky, but thousands of patrons have put up with it for years. Some, I’m sure, even believed that they were going to a premier property. So are they now just supposed to think, “yeah, I was an idiot for liking this ugly place.” Instead, maybe they’ll head to Borgata or Resorts. Ditto for the one-liner about the main entryway looking like a rest stop. We get the point, there’ll be changes, but how does that make the current consumer feel? It probably doesn’t enhance the stock price in the short term, either.

If they’d have redone the Taj in 1999, I’m guessing it would have looked a lot like the Aladdin. For a few years, people would have raved about it. But today, they’d be dercying the “caroonish over-theming” and demanding changes. I’m sure that in ten years muted earth tones might seem dated, as well.

I’m all in favor of overhauling the casino to reflect what’s current in the market–in fact I think it’s long overdue. When it’s done, it’ll be a tremendous positive for the company and the city. But pointing out the obvious–pink and purple is dated–and badmouthing the existing property seems…in poor taste.

Compare that $50 million investment to the $7 billion Project City Center from MGM Mirage. This will change the Strip forever. From the LV Sun:

In a city of whimsical designs – think pyramid, castle and New York skyline – two leaning, curving high-rise towers seem destined to emerge as an architectural icon in Las Vegas.

All they’ve got to do now is build them – no slam-dunk because of their unique design .

The towers will house 810 loftlike condominiums, soaring 36 stories above Las Vegas Boulevard and prominently serving as the gateway to MGM Mirage’s $7 billion CityCenter.

MGM Mirage revealed the final design of CityCenter a month ago to plenty of murmuring, most of it directed at what some real estate folk were calling “the leaning towers of Las Vegas.”

The towers are the creation of German-born architect Helmut Jahn, known for sleek, ultramodern exteriors and unusual shapes. His Murphy/Jahn firm in Chicago built the seven-building Sony Center in Berlin and the United Airlines terminal at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

In order to plan CityCenter, the nation’s most expensive private construction project and its largest collaboration of name-brand architects, MGM Mirage split the project into three components, with the final piece – the retail and condominium area – coming together more recently.
Architects leaning toward Strip skies the sky in Las Vegas

I can’t help but notice no MGM execs are quoted as saying, “Excalibur is really dated. City Center is going be much better.”

Definitely read the article, which is very good.

I’ve got to respectfully disagree with Hess. I’m not an architecture critic, but I have researched the Strip pretty intensely. I think that the “leaning towers” might become the same kind of icon as the older ones he mentions. The problem will be that people associate the signs and buildings of Strip casinos with their times there. So everytime you see the Frontier sign, you remember how you got plastered and rode the mechanical bull for a brief, unsuccessful moment. I don’t think that a condo complex will have the same kind of personal significance for people.

That said, the Stratosphere tower, which is basically a generic (though impressive) observation tower has become a Vegas icon. I can see the leaning towers being the same kind of landmark as the Sydney Opera House–something whose visual impact transcends its actual day-to-day use.

Share|
Posted in atlantic city, life in vegasTagged ,

WSOP records

July 28, 2006 5:36 pm

I was down at the WSOP at the Rio yesterday, checking out the Gaming Life Expo and hanging around the media room. The Expo is huge. I remember at the 2002 WSOP (the first I went to), there was one guy with a card table outside selling jewelry and stuff, and another guy selling books.

This year, there are all kinds of vendors, and the big Internet sites have mega-booths with sometimes incongruous events. One of them had the always-popular money-blowing machine (you stand in a plastic pod and try to snatch as much of the cash swirling around as you can; but you can never get your dignity back), and another had a two-story booth featuring what appeared to be co-ed pillow-fighting.

Here is more on the WSOP from the LVRJ:

The attendance at professional poker’s signature event will see a marketable increase starting today.

The opening round of the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Texas Hold’em World Championship event will kick off at noon.

Through Monday, up to 2,000 players a day will play until 800 remain after each session. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the 3,200 surviving players will compete until 1,400 are left.

After a one-day break, the 1,400 remaining competitors will play on a daily basis beginning Aug. 4 until nine remain for the final table.

Two weeks after it all begins, the ultimate champion will take home at least $10.5 million, a figure that will increase as the number of tournament entries grows.

Harrah’s is anticipating close to 8,000 entries in the world championship event. As of Thursday afternoon, more than 7,500 players had signed up to participate.

The Rio’s makeshift tournament poker room in its convention center can accommodate up to 2,000 players per session, which is the reason for the four-day opening round.

Without a card having been dealt in the championship event, this year’s World Series of Poker has already rewritten the record book.

With 38 of the planned 45 events already completed, almost 36,000 players have competed, topping the more than 32,000 that participated in all 45 events last year. In 2005, a record $106 million was paid out in prize money. So far, $73 million in prize money has been awarded with seven events left to be played. As of Thursday, the main event had a prize pool of $72 million.

It’s called No-limit for a reason

I’ll be there to witness more history next week.

Share|
Posted in gambling & culture, life in vegasTagged ,

Craps, faith, and paradise

July 19, 2006 9:53 am

In what will hopefully be the first of three, I’ve got a new review up in, predictably, the review section. It’s about an excellent, excellent novel called God Doesn’t Shoot Craps:

The book is the story of Dante Alighieri “Danny” Pellegrino, a direct mail scam artist, who earns his bread from peddling holy water, chunks of the Blarney Stone, and “can’t miss” gambling systems, staying barely ahead of Richard Goldman, a criminal investigator for the US Postal Service who would like nothing better than to catch Pellegrino in an out-and-out fraud. Pellegrino’s life changes when he decides to test a system forwarded to him by one Virgil Kirk (are you seeing a pattern here). The system, based on the theories of Spanish physicist Juan Parrando (and therefore called “Parrando’s Paradox”) posits that, when properly combined, two losing games can yield a winning strategy.

This is, of course, the Holy Grail to any “serious” gambler, who knows that, in the end, the odds favor the house. I’m not going to pretend to understand the theory behind the paradox, or the Brownian ratchets that play a mysterious (for me) but nonetheless integral role. Pellegrino initially plans to send out a direct mail blast and make a tidy profit from selling yet another doomed “can’t lose” system. But while testing the system (not to see if it works, but merely to better appreciate its failings), Pellegrino discovers that it actually works. From there, the story really takes off, as something as mundane as a craps betting system (there are at least hundreds of them out there) becomes the Maguffin that speeds the plot along.

Armstrong knows how to create and maintain suspense, which keeps the reader not only in appreciation of the outstanding characters that populate the book, but eagerly anticipating the next twist, and the final resolution.

Review of Richard Armstrong, God Doesn’t Shoot Craps

I can’t say much more about how impressed I was. You can check out the book’s website for more information.

I’m off to tape an interview for “Face to Face with Jon Ralston,” which should appear on Las Vegas One tonight.

FYI, I’ve been called out of the office for a few days, so don’t expect any posts for the next week or so.

Share|
Posted in writingTagged , ,

DOJ vs. BOS

July 18, 2006 10:36 am

The US Department of Justice has dropped the gloves in its fight against online gambling by arresting Bet on Sports CEO David Carruthers. Direct from their press release:

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Missouri has returned a 22-count indictment charging 11 individuals and four corporations on various charges of racketeering, conspiracy and fraud, the Department of Justice announced today. The indictment was returned on June 1, 2006, and unsealed today.

BetonSports PLC, a publicly-traded holding company that owns a number of Internet sportsbooks and casinos, was among the companies charged in the indictment. The founder of BetonSports.com, Gary Stephen Kaplan, 47, was charged with 20 felony violations of federal laws including: the Wire Act, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Conspiracy, interstate transportation of gambling paraphernalia, interference with the administration of Internal Revenue laws and tax evasion.

Other defendants in the racketeering conspiracy include: Kaplan’s siblings, Neil Scott Kaplan and Lori Kaplan Multz; Norman Steinberg; David Carruthers, chief executive officer of BetonSports.com; Peter Wilson, media director for BetonSports.com; and Tim Brown, Steinberg’s son-in-law. The three other charged companies, all Florida-based, were Direct Mail Expertise, Inc., DME Global Marketing and Fulfillment Inc. and Mobile Promotions Inc. Also charged are William Hernan Lenis; Monica Lenis and Manny Gustavo Lenis, owners and operators of the Florida companies; and William Hernan Lenis’ son, William Luis Lenis.

“Illegal commercial gambling across state and international borders is a crime,” said U.S Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway of the Eastern District of Missouri. “Misuse of the Internet to violate the law can ultimately only serve to harm legitimate businesses. This indictment is but one step in a series of actions designed to punish and seize the profits of individuals who disregard federal and state laws.”

The indictment alleges that Gary Kaplan started his gambling enterprise via operation of a sportsbook in New York City in the early 1990s. After Kaplan was arrested on New York state gambling charges in May 1993, Kaplan moved his betting operation to Florida and eventually offshore to Costa Rica. According to the indictment, BetonSports.com, the most visible outgrowth of Kaplan’s sports bookmaking enterprise, misleadingly advertised itself as the “World’s Largest Legal and Licensed Sportsbook.” The indictment also alleges that Kaplan failed to pay federal wagering excise taxes on more than $3.3 billion in wagers taken from the United States and seeks forfeiture of $4.5 billion from Kaplan and his co-defendants, as well as various properties.

The indictment alleges that Gary Kaplan and Norman Steinberg, as the owners and operators of Millennium Sportsbook, Gibraltar Sportsbook, and North American Sports Association, took or caused their employees to take bets from undercover federal agents in St. Louis who used undercover identities to open wagering accounts. The indictment also alleges that Kaplan and Mobile Promotions illegally transported equipment used to place bets and transmit wagering information across state lines and that DME Global Marketing and Fulfillment shipped equipment to Costa Rica from Florida for BetonSports.com.

The racketeering conspiracy alleges that the defendants agreed to conduct an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering acts, including repeated mail fraud, wire fraud, operation of an illegal gambling business and money laundering.

In conjunction with the indictment, the United States has filed a civil complaint in federal court to obtain an order requiring BetonSports PLC to stop taking sports bets from the United States, and to return money held in wagering accounts to account holders in the United States. U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry issued the temporary restraining order today. A hearing in the civil case has been requested within 10 days. As authorized by federal statute, the FBI is issuing letters to four telephone companies, instructing them to stop providing phone service to the Internet sportsbooks and casinos operated by BetonSports PLC.

Gary Kaplan resides in Costa Rica and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. Neil Kaplan, 40, is in custody in Ft. Pierce, Florida. Carruthers, 49, a resident of Costa Rica and Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England, is in custody in Ft. Worth, Texas. William Luis Lenis and Manny Gustavo Lenis are in custody in Miami. Tim Brown was arrested near Philadelphia. Warrants have been issued for the other defendants not currently in custody. The United States will seek extradition of all defendants to St. Louis for prosecution.

The charges are the result of a joint investigation by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution is being conducted by the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Tampa Police Department, the Jacksonville, Fla. Sheriff’s Office, and NFL Security and NCAA Enforcement Office personnel also assisted in the investigation.

The charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations, and each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

#06-443: 07-17-06 Eleven Individuals and Four Corporations Indicted on Racketeering, Conspiracy and Fraud Charges

David Carruthers now finds himself in the same position as Jay Cohen, eight years ago: he is the CEO of a licensed online gambling company that is taking bets from the United States. The bets are legal in Costa Rica but not, according to the DOJ, in the US, where the bets actually take place.

At his trial, Cohen’s defense was that he was not a bookie, but a businessman. The jury was instructed to disregard this, and to vote to convict if his company had accepted bets from the US, a point that Cohen conceded. As a result, he spent the better part of two years in federal prison.

With the boom in both online poker and online sportsbetting, there is a great deal more public support of online gambling today than there was six years ago, when Cohen was convicted. The question is, if the Carruthers case becomes a cause celebre, will the results be any different?

Share|
Posted in gambling & cultureTagged

An election lottery?

July 17, 2006 9:27 am

Throughout history, many nations and cultures have used a random draw to select political positions. But an Arizona proposal could go one step further, merging voting with the lottery. From the NY Times:

To anyone who ever said, “I wouldn’t vote for that bum for a million bucks,” Arizona may be calling your bluff.

A proposal to award $1 million in every general election to one lucky resident, chosen by lottery, simply for voting — no matter for whom — has qualified for the November ballot.

Mark Osterloh, a political gadfly who is behind the initiative, the Arizona Voter Reward Act, is promoting it with the slogan, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Vote!” He collected 185,902 signatures of registered voters, far more than the 122,612 required, and last week the secretary of state certified the measure for the ballot this fall.

If the general election in 2004 is a guide, when more than 2 million people voted, the 1-in-2-million odds of winning the election lottery would be far better than the Powerball jackpot (currently about 1 in 146,107,962) but not nearly as great as dying from a lightning strike (1 in 55,928).

“People buy a lot of lottery tickets now,” Mr. Osterloh said, “and the odds of winning this are much, much higher.” (And most of the time there is not much lightning in Arizona.)

If some see the erosion of democracy in putting voting on the same plane as a scratch-and-win game — and some do — Mr. Osterloh sees the gimmick as the linchpin to improve voter turnout and get more people interested in politics.
…
Curtis Gans, director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate in Washington, said the idea of a voter lottery had come up in other states, but he could not recall any moving forward with it. And he’s glad.

“People should not go vote because they might win a lottery,” Mr. Gans said. “We need to rekindle the religion of civic duty, and that is a hard job, but we should not make voting crassly commercial.”

Editorial writers, bloggers and others have panned the idea as bribery and say it may draw people simply trying to cash in without studying candidates or issues.

“Bribing people to vote is a superficial approach that will have no beneficial outcome to the process, except to make some people feel good that the turnout numbers are higher,” said an editorial in The Yuma Sun. “But higher numbers do not necessarily mean a better outcome.”

The initiative calls for financing the award through unclaimed state lottery prize money, private donations and, if need be, state money. A spokeswoman for the Arizona Lottery Commission said its unclaimed prize pot fluctuated greatly, but it now stood at more than $1 million.

Mr. Osterloh said private donors could add their own incentives, like a car dealership offering a new car to a random voter.
…

“It’s clearly illegal,” said Jack Chin, a professor at the University of Arizona law school who has studied voting rights issues.

“This is cute and clever, but even though it responds to a real problem, it does so in a way that threatens to degrade the process,” Mr. Chin said.

Arizona Ballot Could Become Lottery Ticket – New York Times

Sitting in Las Vegas, all I can say is: “Gambling? Degrade the process? What’s that’s supposed to mean?”

Share|
Posted in gambling & cultureTagged

Bridge of the gods

July 14, 2006 12:47 pm

Native American casinos often have all of the amenities found in Las Vegas and Atlantic City resorts, and they often have a much more marketable heritage. Take, for instance, this new casino project, from KYZV:

The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs on Friday unveiled the name and vision for Bridge of the Gods Columbia River Resort Casino, the tribes’ controversial project proposed on vacant industrial land in Cascade Locks.

Tribal officials said the name and the identity are intended to recall the legend of Bridge of the Gods, a prehistoric land bridge spanning the Columbia River near the present-day town of Cascade Locks. The Bridge of the Gods was once used by Native Americans to travel between what is now Washington and Oregon.

“Our people have cared for this land and the mighty river for thousands of years, and have held the Columbia River Gorge and Bridge of the Gods sacred since time immemorial,” said Ron Suppah, chairman of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation. “In return the land and the river took care of us by providing food and shelter, and the name and vision for Bridge of the Gods Columbia River Resort Casino is a reflection of that relationship.”

The proposed $389 million project in the Columbia River Gorge would be less than 45 miles from Portland, but needs approval from federal agencies. It has drawn fire from the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, which currently has the closest casino to the lucrative Portland market, the Spirit Mountain Casino west of Salem. The Grand Ronde went so far in recent months as to offer to fund a new on-reservation casino, if the Warm Springs tribes would drop their off-reservation casino plans.

The new project’s identity features an artistic interpretation of the Bridge of the Gods, which is reflected in the waters of the Columbia River and separated by the text, “Bridge of the Gods Columbia River Resort Casino.”

At the center of the Bridge of the Gods facility design is a focus on the Columbia River, the dwellings that populated its banks and the people who were given this land by the creator since time immemorial. The facility is intended to reflect an ancient fishing village, appearing as a series of low-lying structures that vary in height, depth and composition.

Water plays a prominent role throughout the project, reminding us of a millennia of tribal life along the Columbia River. At the western entrance, a cascade of waterfalls known as Thundering Falls will tower above guests as they enter the building. The southern entry will be more representative of the region’s dry season, with trickling water and more exposed rock surfaces.

KTVZ.com – Central Oregon’s Local News – New casino’s name: ‘Bridge of the Gods’

As a historian, I know as well as anyone that all cultures and nations have fascinating histories, but you’ve got to admit that this is something else. I mean, Atlantic City’s idea of drawing on its “heritage” is to name its minor league hockey team the “Boardwalk Bullies.”

Share|
Posted in news about gamblingTagged , , ,

A great idea!

July 13, 2006 3:36 pm

Although the needless bureucratic closure of Atlantic City’s casinos has come and gone, some legislators want to help out the real victims–the workers who had a few days of involuntary unpaid vacation. From the AP:

State workers who got unexpected holidays last week because of New Jersey’s government shutdown will be paid anyway. Now Shore-area lawmakers are pushing for the state to reimburse private employers or give them tax credits so they, too, can pay workers for the lost time.

“Union workers on state-funded construction projects aren’t receiving any breaks. Tens of thousands of casino workers and racetrack employees aren’t receiving any breaks,” said Assemblyman Jim Whelan (D., Atlantic), a former Atlantic City mayor. “We need to establish a certification process to ensure that those who were genuinely impacted by this shutdown get a fair shake on whatever is owed to them, too.”

Whelan is drafting a bill, expected to be introduced this month, that would require the state to help workers who don’t draw paychecks directly from the state but lost wages as a result of the six-day shutdown.

Casino owners estimate that 36,000 employees lost $9 million in wages when the gambling halls had to close for three of the days because no state inspectors were on the job.

Unclear are how much Whelan’s bill would cost the state, how the money would be provided, and which state agency would be responsible for evaluating worker claims.

Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/13/2006 | Legislators urge compensation for idled private-sector workers

This shouldn’t be so hard for hourly and salaried workers, but calculating tip income is probably going to be a nightmare. If this ever happens–I suspect it’s just more political posturing.

As far as paying for it, the Guv seems to have money to burn (at least when it comes to other people’s money). But for a guy who spent $63 million on his Senate campaign, $9 million should be pocket change.

At the very least, workers should remember their “vacations” when election time rolls around.

Share|
Posted in atlantic cityTagged

House votes against online gambling

July 12, 2006 4:24 pm

The big news is about how the U.S. House of Representatives has voted to “ban” Internet gambling by making it impossible to use banks and credit cards to pay for it. From the Reno Gazette-Journal:

On Tuesday, U.S. House members took a step toward banning online poker and other forms of Internet gambling. Lawmakers voted 317-93 to approve a measure that would prohibit banks and credit-card companies from paying off debts incurred on gambling Web sites.

RGJ.com: Lawmakers move toward ban on Internet gambling

I’ve got a few problems with the way online gambling is being depicted–as something that seeps out of PCs and infects the unwilling. Pathological gambling is a problem for some, but isn’t a problem for many. Alcoholism plagues thousands, if not millions of Americans, yet our attempt at National Prohibition ended in failure in 1933.

Then there’s this quote:

“You can lose your house with a click of a mouse and never leave your home,” said Tom Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, which opposes all gambling. “Why would we not want to keep our homes off limits to illegal gambling?”

It started off like Dr. Seuss, but ended like something out of an Ed Wood movie.

Congress needs to carefully study Internet gambling as part of the larger economic, political, and social phenomenon of gambling in America. I learned while writing Cutting the Wire that attempts to “ban” gambling like this have usually ended in failure. We should learn from the past.

Share|
Posted in gambling & cultureTagged

Find your slot

July 11, 2006 9:03 am

Do you want to plan your next casino outing around your favorite slot machine? If you’re going to a Harrah’s property, you’re in luck, thanks to Harrah’s Slot Finder.

The Slot Finder lets you search by casino, denomination, slot name, or slot type. So if you are dead set on playing a 1-cent Milk Money game, you can rest assured that Harrah’s North Kansas City has it.

Right now, the Caesars Entertainment properties are not integrated, and the interface is at times clunky. And video poker players will be disappointed to learn that there is no pay table information on here: the machines could be 10/7 or 6/5, but you’d only find that out after showing up in person.

But this is the wave of the future. Will real-time customizable casino maps with someone’s favorite slots be next? I wouldn’t be surprised.

The step after that is for patrons to play their favorite casino slots at their computers, and earn loyalty program points towards a visit to an actual casino–if Congress doesn’t ban Internet gaming.

Share|
Posted in gambling & cultureTagged

Ducks now OK in Wisconsin

July 10, 2006 3:59 pm

People do all sorts of crazy things to raise money. How else do you explain cow pie bingo? But there is always tension between charities’ need for funds, and states’ protecting the public against rampant gambling.

Thankfully, Wisconsin’s gambling enforcers have stepped back from the brink, and are letting duck derbies continue. From WAOW-9:

The state is backing off its ban on ducky derbies.

Administrators initially said the rubber duck races held by many groups as fund-raisers were technically illegal in Wisconsin because they involve chance and a prize.

That drew criticism from organizations that wanted to hold the duck races, saying the state was being heavy handed.

The state Division of Gaming has denied requests from various organizations wanting to hold races, including the House of Friends in Owen. It’s an after school program for underprivileged children.

The organization’s president Penny Funk says she’s glad they will be able to hold their fund-raiser. But she says she’s disappointed that it took media attention to get the state to back off.

News – WAOW Newsline 9

I’m glad they allowed this. I suspect it’s far better than cow pie bingo, as fundraisers go.

Of course it will only be a matter of time before the Friends break down and just hold a Texas Hold’em tournament.

Share|
Posted in news about gamblingTagged , , ,