The Last Act of the Notorious Howie Spira. The conventional shorthand for what George Steinbrenner did wrong, in press accounts of the mudslinging-and-extortion scandal, is this: The Yankees owner had an "association with Howard Spira." It made Spira sound menacing—this known gambler, this criminal element. He was the embodiment of the Yankees owner's dark side: Steinbrenner the Nixon bagman, the convicted-and-pardoned felon. Under questioning in court, Steinbrenner described their relationship in ominous terms. Did Spira "destroy" him? "As far as baseball is concerned, yes," Steinbrenner said. "He did a very good job."
posted by auto-correct
on Oct 29, 2011 -
2 comments
In March of 2009, the Japan Sumo Association
won a lawsuit against Kodansha, a large Japanese publishing house. Kodansha had alleged that match fixing was rampant in Sumo, even at the highest levels. However, in the last week, police have discovered
text messages between wrestlers showing proof of fixing, including negotiation over compensation.
[more inside]
posted by Ghidorah
on Feb 5, 2011 -
24 comments
After more threats of extinction than anyone could remember, the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation unexpectedly made good on a threat of its own and closed the doors to its parlors on Tuesday night. ... About 50 parlors around the city were shuttered. Some 1,000 employees lost their jobs. And a revenue stream that had funneled tens of millions of dollars a year to breeders, track owners and related businesses dried up. Another piece of gritty old New York had gone the way of the Automat and the Times Square peep show.
posted by Joe Beese
on Dec 9, 2010 -
35 comments
A simple idea: take an ordinary savings account, but instead of paying interest to account holders, hold a lottery to see who gets the lump sum. Freakonomics Radio investigates Prize-linked savings (PLS) accounts (
Part 1,
Part 2), which combine two things that seem completely at odds with each other: saving money and gambling. In Highland Park, MI,
PLS accounts have been very successful at converting "non-savers" into "savers". Why hasn't it caught on in the US? It's illegal in most states, of course.
posted by Jonathan Harford
on Dec 2, 2010 -
33 comments
The Bowler "Meet Rocky Salemmo. He’s a ramblin’ gamblin’ man. For the majority of his adult life Rocky has hustled bowling for a living." A short documentary by Sean Dunne. (NSFW language)
[more inside]
posted by fearfulsymmetry
on Jun 22, 2010 -
6 comments
Need to settle a dispute with a friend, but don't want to flip a coin? Try
Diabetting, a new way to settle decisions using the most-recently-updated blood sugar readings of a Type I diabetic web developer.
posted by Asparagirl
on May 13, 2009 -
32 comments
Several months ago, poker player
Tom "durrrr" Dwan issued an
unprecedented challange. In effect, he is offering 3:1 odds—his $1.5 million to the challengers $500,000—that, playing high-stakes heads-up (one on one) online poker, he will be winning after 50,000 hands. The challenge is open to anyone except for durrrr's good friend
Phil Galfond;
three players have reportedly
accepted, and play in the first match began yesterday. The results are being tracked in real time
here and
here; you can brave the inanity of twoplustwo (
previously) and read the ongoing match thread
here.
posted by cmyr
on Feb 20, 2009 -
27 comments
An online auction site called
Swoopo, once called TeleBid, has hit upon an ingenious way to make money. They are an auction site not entirely unlike Ebay - but using a different auction scheme. Where EBay uses a slightly modified
Vickrey auction system, Swoopo uses an auction system based on the "
Dollar Auction" game - with interesting results.
[more inside]
posted by Zarkonnen
on Oct 1, 2008 -
31 comments
Tokyo-Ga: this excerpt from a Wim Wenders film offers an interesting little glimpse into the world of
pachinko, a gambling obsession for so many in Japan. But while most are gazing hypnotically into the noisy little machines in order to win prizes or money, others are
circuit bending them to make them even
noisier.
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Oct 21, 2007 -
31 comments
Ashley Revell bet his life's savings on one spin of roulette. Watch the
video to find out what happened. The young Englishman sold everything he owned -- including rights to his name -- and put the entire proceeds on red (which he decided at the last minute, originally having fixed on black). After you've watched the video, read
an interview about the aftermath and about how Vegas
almost didn't take the bet. His wager topped Inside Poker magazine's list of "
Top 25 Most Outrageous Gambles."
posted by jeffmshaw
on Jun 18, 2007 -
39 comments
The Man Who Shook Up Vegas is a fascinating and relatively brief Wall St Journal article about Bob Stoll, a college dropout whose statistical wizardry seems to be forcing the $96 Billion U.S. sports wagering industry to jump through hoops. Even if you don't follow sports gambling at all, the article is a very compelling read.
note: since the wsj.com is subscriber only, link goes to a reprint of the article.
posted by jonson
on Jan 9, 2007 -
29 comments
Little Citadels. "Dine, shop, live, work, and be entertained in a unique and alluring environment," says the
Time Warner Center website - all without ever stepping outside your gleaming Manhattan skyscraper. San Jose's
Santana Row, which at first glance seemed no more than a
Beverly Center you can live in, is now being compared favorably to urban European living. And
MGM-Mirage's new,
mysterious and costly ($7 billion!)
Project CityCenter brings the trend to Las Vegas - with gambling, of course. They're not
Arcosantis - and they don't, as yet, require an
Oath of Fealty - but by all accounts they're
thriving. What do they have in common? Wealthy tenants, megacorporate sponsors, and a shared desire to integrate efficient, conspicuous consumption into every aspect of civic life.
Paolo Soleri may have been right after all - maybe he just forgot to
account for the effects of capitalism.
posted by ikkyu2
on Aug 28, 2006 -
24 comments
When it started more than 36 years ago, the World Series of Poker was more like a trappers' rendezvous than anything else: a small gathering of professional poker players and road gamblers getting together amongst themselves to see who was “the best.” Now, of course, it is an industry unto itself, with
extensive media coverage,
televised coverage on ESPN, and a large fan base that follows
the daily results of this now
six-week long series of tournaments, which culminates in the $10,000 buy-in “main event” to determine the “world champion.” In 1970, eight gamblers put up the $10k each to play in the main event; in 2005, that number had grown to more than 5600, making the total prize pool of $56M one of the largest ever contested, a number that is either exciting or appalling, depending on your point of view. The 2006 WSOP begins today with the casino employees event, and then the larger “open” events begin tomorrow, and continue until July 28, when the main event kicks off. This year’s main event has been lengthened to almost two weeks to allow for enough play to reduce the field from the estimated 6000 starting participants to the final 9 who will vie for an estimated first prize of $10M. Shuffle up and deal!
posted by mosk
on Jun 26, 2006 -
59 comments
The Great Zucchini Eric Knaus, aka "The Great Zucchini," is a 35-year-old community college dropout who works only two days a week. But he takes home over $100,000 a year because he knows how to make preschool children laugh. His "act" is largely improvised, his "props" are old, dirty, and in desperate need of repair. So how (and maybe more importantly,
why) does he do it? As Gene Weingarten, the author of this extremely funny, moving piece, says: "
if you want to know why … it's going to take some time." He’s not kidding – the story runs almost 10,000 words. Do yourself a favor and read every one. (via
Lileks)
posted by pardonyou?
on Jan 27, 2006 -
45 comments
