Gambling in America: An Encyclopedia of History, Issues, and Society

Whether you believe that gambling is good for the economy or that the Mob runs Vegas, you cannot escape the fact that gambling is the fastest-growing entertainment enterprise in America. In this completely up-to-date volume, America's most renowned gambling scholar examines the history of gambling as well as its current legal, legislative, economic, and social environment. Some of the hundreds of entries in this massive and definitive reference examine: All the important names in the industry, from gambling's seamy past to the corporate "gaming" and "entertainment" present, including biographies of Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, Jimmy Hoffa, Arnold Rothstein, Stephen Wynn, Donald Trump, Kirk Kerkorian, and many more. The colorful games, rules, institutions, and traditions of American and global gambling, including individual entries on Gambling Terminology, Horse Racing, Indian Gaming, Internet Gambling, Jai Alia, and Lotteries. The development of the Las Vegas Strip. The international scope of gambling, with numerous entries treating individual countries Besides a vast A-to-Z section, Gambling in America is also packed with other features, including a historical introduction, thorough chronology, relevant and informative appendixes, diagrams, rich illustrations, and full cross-references and indexing. There are also end-of-entry references and an extensive annotated bibliography for those who would like to dig even deeper into America's most controversial industry.