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All in : the spread of gambling in twentieth-century United States
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- Summary
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"Gambling, the risky enterprise of chance, is one of America's favorite pastimes. Office March Madness brackets, a day at the race track, a friendly wager, the random ridiculous Super Bowl prop bet...
"Gambling, the risky enterprise of chance, is one of America's favorite pastimes. Office March Madness brackets, a day at the race track, a friendly wager, the random ridiculous Super Bowl prop bet, bingo night, or the latest media frenzy over the Powerball jackpot--all emphasize the ubiquity of this major economic force and cultural phenomenon. Approximately 70 percent of Americans regularly engage in some form of betting, amounting to over $140 billion in combined casino and lottery revenue every year. A hundred years ago, however, legal gambling was a rarity in the United States. A fresh take on the history of modern American gambling, All In provides a closer look at the shifting economic, cultural, religious, and political conditions that facilitated gambling's expansion and prominence in American consumerism and popular culture. In its pages, a diverse range of essays covering commercial and Native American casinos, sports betting, lotteries, bingo, and more piece together a picture of how gambling became so widespread over the course of the twentieth century. Drawing from a range of academic disciplines, this collection explores five aspects of American gambling history: crime, advertising, politics, religion, and identity. In doing so, All In illuminates the on-the-ground debates over gambling's expansion, the failed attempts to thwart legalized betting, and the consequences of its present ubiquity in the United States." --Publisher information.
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- Creator
- edited by Jonathan D. Cohen and David G. Schwartz ; foreword by Ann Fabian
- Format
- Books
- Language
- English
- Contributors
- Publication
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- Reno, Nevada : University of Nevada Press, [2018]
- Series
- Physical Details
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- xii, 284 pages ; 23 cm
- ISBNs
- 1943859612, 1943859604, 9781943859610, 9781943859603
- OCLC
- on1004770059, on1004769670
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Foreword / Ann Fabian -- Introduction / Jonathan D. Cohen and David G. Schwartz -- Part one. Policing. "The news from Brooklyn is disturbing"- corruption, big-city police, and the dilemma of gambling / Matthew Vaz -- "The ever watchful eye of the magnate"- policing and ballpark gambling in the twentieth century / Seth S. Tannenbaum -- Part two. Promoting. "Avoid advertising the obvious"- gambling and the Chamber of Commerce promotion of Las Vegas in the 1950s / Larry Gragg -- The business of gambling- how press releases helped legitimize the gaming industry in Las Vegas / Jessalynn R. Strauss -- Part three. Proliferating. Something for nothing- the fiscal alchemy of lottery legalization / Jonathan D. Cohen -- No end in sight- how the United States became a gambling nation, 1950-2000 / David G. Schwartz -- Part four. Praying. In the lion's den- evangelicals on the Las Vegas strip and the meaning of Billy Graham's 1978 Crusade / Michelle Robinson -- Sanctity, pragmatism, and paying the bills- the controversial use of bingo in synagogues / Dan Judson -- Part five. Playing. Rolling the dice- the rise of the reservation casino and the Native American fight for cultural survival / Seema Kurup -- The neoliberal lottery- Elliot Rodger and the affective economy of masculinity / Daniel Ante-Contreras