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David G. Schwartz is a writer, historian, and Director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Schwartz’s areas of specialty include the history of gambling, casino surveillance and security, gaming and technology, and related issues.
Often quoted by local and national print and television media, his straight-shooting analysis, tempered by a genuine understanding of how the industry works, has made him a provocative interview. He has been dubbed “gaming’s leading historian” by Global Gaming Business magazine.
Born and raised in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Schwartz earned his bachelor’s degree (a double major in anthropology and history) as well as his master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania before seeking his doctorate in US History from UCLA.
He became the youngest Ph.D. in recent memory from UCLA’s history department, filing his dissertation and receiving his Ph.D. at the age of 26 in early 2000. His dissertation, Suburban Xanadu, charted the evolution of the casino industry on the Las Vegas Strip from 1945-1978. It is now a published book, the first of three currently available.
After completing his graduate studies, Schwartz worked in the surveillance department of an Atlantic City casino resort and taught casino history, communications, and hospitality courses as an adjunct professor.
Since 2001, Schwartz has been in charge of the Center for Gaming Research within Special Collections in UNLV’s Lied Library. In addition to overseeing the holdings of the Gaming Collection, Schwartz designed and maintains the university’s gaming studies portal, http://gaming.unlv.edu.
With the release of Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling, Schwartz has established himself as one of this generation’s foremost voices on the often-controversial topic of gambling. His experience in researching this epic history of world gambling gives his analysis a rare depth.
Outside of his work at UNLV, Schwartz remains busy as an author, speaker, and consultant. He lives in Las Vegas.
Dr. Schwartz’s opinion pieces appear biweekly in the Las Vegas Business Press, and his articles on Atlantic City and Las Vegas history appear monthly in Casino Connection. His commentaries on gaming and related issues regularly air on KNPR News 89.7, Nevada’s Public Radio. His three books are available online and at booksellers everywhere.
He has been quoted by writers for the Associated Press, UPI, Reuters, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Wired, Congressional Quarterly Weekly, Indianapolis Star, Philadelphia Inquirer, New Orleans Times-Picayune, International Gaming and Wagering Business, Player, San Francisco Chronicle, Crane’s Business, Los Angeles Times, Reno Gazette Journal, Las Vegas Sun, Las Vegas Review-Journal, and many other newspapers and magazine.
He has appeared in news stories about Las Vegas and gaming on CNN, CNBC, Speigel TV (Germany), Court TV, National Public Radio’s Marketplace, The Savvy Traveler, All Things Considered, and Morning Edition, CBC Radio, Swiss National Radio, CNN Radio, and on local news programs in Las Vegas, San Diego, Philadelphia, Lake Charles, Louisiana, and New York City.
He has appeared onscreen in several documentaries, including “Secrets of the Palms,” “Secrets of New York New York,” “Vegas Whales Tales” (Travel Channel); “The History of Poker,” “Modern Marvels: Casino Technology,” and “Anything to Win” (History Channel). He has served as an offscreen consultant for these and several other programs.
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What does “Die Is Cast” mean?
When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49 B.C., he knowingly triggered a Roman civil war that could only end with his death as a traitor or his command of the Roman Republic. As he ordered his troops to cross the river, he is reported to have said, “the die is cast.”
He meant that he had made his decision, and success or failure was now in the hands of Fortune. This was one of the most momentous decisions in Roman history, and therefore Western Civilization, and its author put it down a roll of the proverbial dice.
Much of the modern world is still at the mercy of fortune, chance, divine providence, or whatever you want to call the unknown. In these pages, I do my best to point out some patterns in what seems like the capricious swings of fortune, or at the very least give some people a good laugh when we roll a collective snakeeyes.
It is also the title of chapter two of Schwartz’s big book, Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
