The actors, athletes, musicians, and characters whose gambling lives became their own kind of legend. Some won quietly. Most did not.
Shannon Elizabeth was an actress. Then she became a professional poker player and kept her name in the game for twenty years. This is the story of that transition and what it cost.
July 31, 1969. The International Hotel. A 2,000-seat theater. Elvis stepped onstage and changed what a Vegas residency could be. Here's the story of that opening.
The movie "21" was entertaining fiction. The real MIT Blackjack Team story is better. Here's how the two differ and what actually happened.
Slots used to be mechanical boxes with spinning reels. Now they're cinema. The change happened quietly. Some operators led it. Others followed.
Stu Ungar died in a motel room. He was the greatest poker player who ever lived. He was also a man who couldn't say no to himself, and the game he mastered could not help him with that.
Kerry Packer, Australia's richest man in 1985, lost seven million dollars to a private banker at baccarat in Atlantic City. The banker was not a professional gambler. He was simply very good at understanding that Packer could not stop. Here lies the tragedy.
