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Carson City may be the Capital of Nevada, but the town of 50,000 is sometimes forgotten when it comes to casinos in the Silver State. Because Reno was the first (and most notorious) city in Nevada to embrace legalized open gambling in 1931 with many full-scale casinos, other towns were slower to get publicity.

Las Vegas got on the map because there was a dam being built somewhere in the desert, but it took another 15-years and a dead mobster named "Bugsy" Siegel to make the new gaming hot-spot international news. And then there is Lake Tahoe with the beautiful mountains and crystal clear lake and some nice big casinos, and, well, Carson City's casinos just never changed.

If you travel down highway 50 from Lake Tahoe and go left onto highway 395 towards Reno and Carson you will be in the Capital city in just a couple minutes. Most people continue on another 45-minutes to get to Reno, but Carson has a charm all its own.

While there are no "big" resorts with hotel towers and one-thousand slot casinos, Carson City does boast 15 places to plunk your coins into slots and video pokers. And, several of the clubs have been around for 50 years.

The photo above is of the Carson City Nugget, taken 30-years ago. The club has changed very little since that time, but it's a nice place to visit with the usual table games like blackjack, roulette and craps, and plenty of slots. If you're hungry, the Garden Cafe has reasonable meal prices.

Burgers are seven-bucks and come with fries. If you want to add other side dishes to your meal like a baked potato or cole slaw, they only run $1.25 Fresh baked deserts are a bargain too at just $3.29 for a big slice of pie. Shoot, I was in a restaurant yesterday and the deserts were $6.95 - that's not the progress I'm looking for.

Other clubs in town like Casino Fandango and the Carson Station have similar casinos with table games, slots and video poker. However, if you are driving an RV or want a nice resort to stop over at, the Gold Dust West Carson City Casino is just what you are looking for. Formerly the Pinion Plaza, the casino located at 2171 Hwy 50 East towards the town of Dayton is the city's only true casino resort.The property includes an RV Park, meeting facilities, and a bowling center and arcade.

The casino includes Keno, table games, slots, video poker and a race and sportsbook. If you are in the center of town the casino is about ten minutes away and worth the drive. So, Carson City does have casinos, it's just a small town - with a nice small town atmosphere!

Casinos in Carson City, Nevada originally appeared on About.com Casino Gambling on Wednesday, December 28th, 2011 at 13:20:14.

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So, it's all right to shoot craps left handed, right? I mean, really, that's a real question, but what's the scoop? Where do you stand on shooting dice left handed?

If I'm getting redundant, it's because a very nice lady at the craps game in the Aria the other night wanted to know how to shoot the dice - literally send 'em flying, and she and her boyfriend argued over which hand to use. So silly - use the lucky hand!

Personally, I can't shoot left-handed. Bowling, eating, writing, but not rolling the bones, oh no! No lefty, not for me. I shoot only right-handed, and I can't shoot backhanded. I want to either shoot from the right hand side of the table to the left with a sidearm motion, or I want to lob the dice form the far end of the table.

Why? Because the only great hands I've ever thrown have come that way. I'm terrible backhanded.

Sorry for the editorial, but that's the truth. Now the lady with the question, well, she was in a typically short Las Vegas outfit and high heels. And, she told her boyfriend she would shoot left handed or he could go to their room and use whichever hand he wanted, but she was staying at the craps table.

The cool part is that he sulked and went to a roulette wheel and she shot a half-hour hand and everybody got real healthy chip-wise. So, I love lefties, but I gotta know, how do you shoot?

Lefty Craps Shooters are All Right, Right? originally appeared on About.com Casino Gambling on Saturday, December 24th, 2011 at 01:16:27.

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What's coming this year in gaming? Well, more casinos than you can shake the dice at! There are more casinos coming in at least a half-dozen states and some of them may have enough to really upset the old gambling apple cart.

Casinos in Pennsylvania have had a serious impact on Atlantic City. The Old Lady along the Shore nearly dropped her teeth when Pennsylvania got slots, but the latest change - table games and hotels - has been a killer. What happens next with the opening of full casinos in Ohio is anybody's guess, but soon a much greater portion of each state's casino business may need to be geared towards local players.

Massachusetts is soon to vote on gaming, with Steve Wynn throwing his hat into the ring of contenders, but the nation's leading contender for having the greatest chance to make changes goes to Florida. If full casino gaming is voted in, the Sunshine State is going to steal the show, and the impact on several states, especially Nevada, may be severe.

For those of you chomping at the bit (this really is a cliche' festival) and ready to race to the new casinos, take a tip and don't forget there are things you should consider before you head to the casino with blinders on. After all, forewarned is forearmed.

When Gambling's New Year Hits the Fan originally appeared on About.com Casino Gambling on Monday, January 2nd, 2012 at 04:22:04.

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Much like Steve Wynn, who owns the Wynn casino in Las Vegas and Macao, Sheldon Adelson wants a Republican in the White House next year. Adelson, chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., which has properties on the strip and also in Macau, has investing $5 million in a "super PAC" trying to boost Republican Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign. According to the Associated Press (citing an unnamed source), Adelson is ready to contribute even more to try to win the White House for a GOP nominee.

At the same time, Las Vegas (and statewide Nevada casinos) properties are reporting their income is still lagging and the recession has not abated when it comes to gaming income. Both Adelson and Wynn have seen their Las Vegas resort income dwarfed by that made at their casinos in Macau. That's more a reflection of the great strides mainland China has made in the past few years economically, as the money flowing through Macau's 12 casinos is more than all Las Vegas casinos combined.

Wynn stated earlier this year that a change was needed in current US Government policies to ease the availability of loans and to give confidence to business owners/builders - both of which would help expansion in Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, expansion in other states continues, with Wynn considering a new casino venture in Massachusetts. Regardless of the impact of casinos in Mass. and Ohio, it is Florida that should have Las Vegas the most worried. Las Vegas may be "VEGAS" and the Bellagio may have its fountains and lake, but beautiful casinos along the shore of Florida will be a huge draw for casino goers.

Las Vegas Sands Owner Adelson Wants Republican in White House originally appeared on About.com Casino Gambling on Monday, January 9th, 2012 at 16:32:56.

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Photo Courtesy (Delphinium Books)

Do you ever pray to the Gods of chance? Do those pesky gambling Gods seem to be more mischievous than magical or mystical in your experience.

According to David V. Forrest, M.D., slot machine players love to gather in their respective casino churches and pray to the God of Chance. In his book, "Slots - Praying To The God of Chance," he tells stories about gamblers in general, but concentrates on slot players, a group he unabashedly aligns himself with.

The good Doctor never derides slot players, he simply informs his readers that slot play is fun, exciting, and occasionally addicting. Instead of admonishing gamblers, Dr. Forrest admits, "Risk is an inevitable part of living," and that we simply can't avoid gambling in some form or another. As such, the Doctor's book is a fun and entertaining read.

As for myself, I always assumed there were several Gods of Chance. When I play, I don't pray. I do, however, ask the question a million other gamblers have asked at one point or another, "How did that happen?"

As a practical man, and a numbers guy, I usually find myself looking at the odds of an event happening and then adjusting my play and expectations to the odds. Unfortunately, even when there is only one card that can sink my poker or blackjack hand, the card has occasionally popped up. That's when I ask, "how."

In my case, I'm still waiting for an answer from the God of Poker. As for blackjack, that God has quite a sense of humor. She just says, "Expect the unexpected." I do.

Praying to the God of Chance originally appeared on About.com Casino Gambling on Friday, January 6th, 2012 at 16:01:11.

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I've wondered about the eye-in-the-sky since I first heard a song by the same name. If you know the 1982 Alan Parsons Project song, "Eye in the Sky" then you might wonder if it has to do with casinos. I did. It does. A couple of great lines are: "dealing with fools, I can cheat you blind," and another is "looking at you, I can read your mind." I love the "Eye in the Sky" Buy Direct.

Now those lines may be a little esoteric, but the The Project's previous album was called "The Turn of a Friendly Card." Coincidence? Of course not.

Alan Parsons was an assistant engineer on the Beatles' "Abbey Road" and "Let It Be" albums. He also worked as the engineer on Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" album, all concept-based recordings. He met Eric Wollfson in the canteen of Abbey Road Studios in 1974 and the two musicians hit it off. Eventually they would form The Alan Parsons Project, and while not their first album, "The Turn of a Friendly Card" was certainly a story of its own.

If you don't know the album, don't feel bad, but the 1980 release tells the story (through light, progressive rock) of a middle-aged, frustrated and restless man who heads to the casino, ready to risk everything he has. Songs include titles like: May Be a Price to Pay, I Don't Wanna Go Home, Turn of a Lucky Card, and the hits Games People Play and Time. The latter, probably my favorite.

The album also includes Snake Eyes and Nothing Left to Lose, but Eye in the Sky came on the next album. Why? I can't figure it out.

Now the actual eye-in-the-sky that casinos use has been called many things. It's often referred to as the "peak" or the "tower," but one thing remains, it sees everything, if it is well designed and well-managed. While the "sky" used to consist of a guy laying on his belly across a dusty plywood beam in the cat-walks of the casino rafters training a pair of binoculars at the tables below, surveillance is very sophisticated now.

If you drop a dime on the floor, a good surveillance operator can switch cameras at the flick of the wrist, swivel a joystick to move a pan-and-tilt camera and zoom-in to read the date on the coin, in living color. That's why so many cheats are caught. It takes somebody, like an attentive pit boss on the gaming floor or a smooth operator (wait, that's another song) in the "eye" to know what to look for, but once a problem is detected, it's just a matter of time!

Ever Wonder About the Eye In The Sky? originally appeared on About.com Casino Gambling on Friday, January 13th, 2012 at 16:03:22.

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