Casino [ptz]
formerly the Gaming Studies Weblog

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Friday, November 21, 2003

This legend will be missed

Claude Trenier, founding member of the legendary Treniers lounge/rock group, passed away this week at the age of 84. From reviewjournal.com:

As the driving force of the Treniers, a group he formed with his twin brother Clifford and college classmate Don Hill, Trenier first worked on the Strip in the late 1940s and continued to be a fixture of Las Vegas and Atlantic City lounges until last year.
'I can't imagine how many shows they did and how many people enjoyed them over the years,' Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt said Tuesday. 'Claude was definitely among the pioneers of our Las Vegas entertainment scene.'
'We had no hit records per se,' says Skip Trenier, Claude's nephew who performed with the group since 1959. 'We just performed as an act, but the act was solid. It was like a three-ring circus.'
Trenier's last Las Vegas performance was in a special one-night show at The Orleans on Nov. 12, 2002, with his golden-age peers Freddie Bell and Sonny Turner. His final performances were a showroom engagement at the Sands in Atlantic City in August, with Bell and Sam Butera.
The group officially retired in mid-2002, but Trenier noted a few months later: 'When you retire, the first thing you have is a stroke. I keep moving.'
Claude and Clifford were identical twins born in Mobile, Ala., on July 14, 1919. In 1939, they enrolled in Alabama State College to prepare for careers in teaching. They met saxophonist Hill there and formed their first band, dropping out of school in 1941.

World War II scattered the group, and Claude joined Jimmie Lunceford's band in 1944. He made his first recordings, "I'm Gonna See My Baby" and "That Someone Must Be You," with Lunceford's band. The latter started to catch on just when Claude was drafted, so Clifford stepped in as a replacement.

After the war, both twins worked for Lunceford before spinning off on their own. Their first recording for the OKeh label, "Go! Go! Go!", was recorded in 1951 and "was one of the first real rock 'n' roll records to come out of New York," author Nick Tosches wrote in the liner notes of an OKeh compilation. "Though it was to be their only, short-lived hit, it was the beginning of their period of greatest influence."

The Treniers and Bill Haley worked side by side in Wildwood, N.J., clubs promoting the phrase rock 'n' roll. The Treniers came up with song titles such as "Rockin' is Our Business" and "It Rocks! It Rolls! It Swings!"

"Rock and roll hadn't got big yet. It was really rhythm and blues ... mostly triplets," Trenier recalled in the 1990s. "The white kids would listen to it because their parents didn't want them to listen to it."

While "rock" would go on to be defined more by the electric guitar sound and Elvis Presley, the Treniers would become a cornerstone of the Strip's swinging lounge sound.

Trenier did not recall the date the group first played Las Vegas, but he guessed it was in 1947 at the Flamingo, setting up in the casino beside a free buffet after finishing their short showroom act with Myron Cohen.

"We just liked to play. We would have played for nothing," he recalled. It was "more or less the forerunner of lounge."

The act started visiting Las Vegas more and more in the early '50s, becoming more or less a permanent fixture by 1955.

FULL STORY

I was lucky enough to have known Claude, and he was a great guy and a dedicated entertainer. The Treniers really defined an era of lounge music.

Although he wasn't always a winner at keno, with a chance to do something he loved--performing onstage--for over sixty years, you'd have to count Claude as one of the truly lucky ones.
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posted by Dave at 12:03 PM

Harrah's hotel advances

Harrah's New Orleans has gotten another approval to build a 27-story hotel next to its casino on Canal Street. From theLas Vegas SUN:

A unanimous vote by the City Council on Thursday clears the way for construction of the $100 million project to begin in mid-2004. The 450-room hotel is scheduled to open in mid-2006.
The casino received authorization from the Legislature to build the hotel in 2001 as part of a bankruptcy reorganization plan. Under the 1992 law that legalized the casino, Harrah's could not have its own hotel.
A city preservation agency complained that Harrah's hotel plan did not go far enough in preserving the buildings.
The hotel project still needs the City Planning Commission to endorse a traffic impact study and the Historic District Landmarks Commission staff to approve exterior design details, but the council's vote was the last major hurdle it faced.
The council also demanded that Harrah's return before the end of the year with a plan to develop commercial space on the casino's vacant second floor.

FULL STORY

The decision was a compromise between historic preservationists and the casino.
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posted by Dave at 11:52 AM

Monday, November 17, 2003

Class II makes all the difference

New CA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to squeeze tribal casinos for a cool billion--but thanks to a recent decision on Class II games, he may not have the leverage. Under the current compact, tribes are limited to a maximum of 2000 slots per casino. Arnold would allow the tribes to have more slots in exchange for a bigger cut of the revenue.
But with some of the ambiguities around Class II machines, which are considered electronic bingo machines rather than slots, Arnold could have little to offer. From sacbee.com:

In late September, the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) issued an opinion that spells out what the commission would consider a Class II game. The opinion says that as long as the machine has some form of bingo card visible on the screen; has a pre-determined outcome set by a remote master computer (unlike traditional slots, which each have their own computer that doesn't decide the outcome until the game starts); and is linked to other machines and players like a bingo game, it is a bingo game and not subject to state regulation.

"I believe that with the (September) opinion, we're going to see a significant number of Class II machines at California casinos in the near future," NIGC chairman Phil Hogen said in an interview last week, "especially at casinos that can't get more Class III machines and have unsatisfied demands from their customers."

The ruling has whetted the appetite of major gambling machine makers. International Games Technology (IGT), the Reno-based firm that is to slot machine manufacturers what King Kong is to monkeys, unveiled a Class II prototype two weeks ago that the company says will appear to players extremely similar to a regular slot.

Last week, another big slot maker, Alliance Gaming Corp., bought a smaller private company that designs Class II games, in order to get deeper into what analysts say will be a growing market.

In a Nov. 5 analysis of IGT, Maria Rickert of the equity research firm Jefferies & Company, Inc., estimated California's Indian casinos might accommodate as many as 55,000 Class II games. That would nearly equal the 62,000 slots now in the state.

FULL STORY

Hopefully Arnold's braintrust has a plan B.
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posted by Dave at 2:08 PM

Gaming Studies@UNLV | Casino [ptz] | Archives | Email

I am the maker of rules, dealing with fools/I can cheat you blind

What is Casino[ptz]?

In a sentence: "A weblog featuring news, notes, and opinions from the world of casinos and gambling."

Casino is self-explanatory; ptz refers to a surveillance camera that can pan, tilt, and zoom, thus offering the operator a better perspective and more detailed shot.

Casino [ptz] was maintained by Dave Schwartz, coordinator of the Gaming Studies Research Center at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

As of now, Casino [ptz] is not being updated. Instead, you can find Dave's wit and wisdom on his own website, www.dieiscast.com. \

Go there now, for casino carpets and more.

The opinions expressed are those of Dr. Schwartz and not those of UNLV or any of its students, staff, or faculty.

If you have any questions, please direct them to Dave at dgs@unlv.nevada.edu.

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You can't win money here, but you can take a quiz or two.

Quizzes

Test your knowledge with two quizzes I have devised for your enlightenment and entertainment.

1. Do you know gambling?

If you've read this weblog, I'll bet you do.

Take the...

Gambling quiz

(view the Scoreboard)

This quiz features ten questions about gambling, mostly in casinos.

2. Do you know casino history?

Take the...

Suburban Xanadu quiz

(view the Scoreboard)

This quiz features ten questions taken from the pages of Suburban Xanadu.

If you've read the book, the quiz should be a snap.

Or, take the quiz and see what you are missing.

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Read about strange slots and more.

Classic posts

Bashing the Donald

Betting on cheating

Las Vegas bites!

What happens in Vegas...

Porn or advertising?

New Jerseyans talk funny?

Mystery Creature from Maryland
Update: Mystery solved

Seven questions

Dave's book quoted in Parliament

Bird gets Trumped
(Fuzzy Zoeller unleashed)

Merger update, 7/04

A game called hope

Casino blocking monument?

Slots, urban design, and destination dreams

BJ by the sea

News of the Inane

Dogs not playing poker

My book is a buzz word

Mega merger mania

Stripped of dignity?

Of sleaze and goldmines

The Real Addicts

WSOP thoughts ('04)

Sweet Georgia busted

Secret to a long life

Don't be afraid, the clown's afraid too

Failed casino marketing

Out of this world?

It's a Hard Rock Life

Hastert blasts casinos/2 tiger tales

Russian Regulation?

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In Memoriam

Claude Trenier

Shannon Bybee

Si Redd

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These bloggers are in the Casino[ptz] club.

Other blogs

Alberta Gaming Research Institute Library

Bill Barol's Blather

Love and Casino War

Online Casino Legalization Blog

Poker Babe's
Game Journal

Presence of Mind

PokerProf's Pokerblog

Email Dave if you want him to add your blog.

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Who is Dave Schwartz?

Dave Schwartz is the coordinator of the Gaming Studies Research Center at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, which means that he spends most of his time at work doing three things:

1) Extending and improving the collection of books, journals, and primary materials about gambling known as the Gaming Collection.

2) Working on digital initiatives, such as this weblog and the GSRC site, that facilitate the understanding of gaming research and gaming issues.

3) Answering questions about gambling from media and researchers, or directing them to the answers.

Atlantic City, NJ-you can see Dave's home in this photo, but he won't say where.

Before coming to UNLV, Schwartz worked in the Atlantic City casino industry as a surveillance officer. He is also the youngest person known to have received a Ph.D. in History from UCLA.

Schwartz is the author of Suburban Xanadu: The Casino Resort on the Las Vegas Strip and Beyond, which is an intelligent, accurate account of the creation and legacy of the Las Vegas Strip. Click on the link for more information about this best-selling book, or just buy it from amazon.com.

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In his own words:

"To answer the biggest question I get, no, I don't gamble. I know the odds and, having spent more hours than I care to remember watching people gambling, it doesn't excite me at all. So why do I study gambling? Because the industry and the interactions fascinate me.

"Las Vegas is an interesting place to live, and my job gives me a good window on the city. In a typical day, I might go from talking about gambling books with a system player to answering a question from a reporter from a major newspaper to meeting with casino executives. So I think I can bring a unique perspective on the industry and the people who make it work."

To learn more about Dr. Schwartz, go here.

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The unofficial Casino[ptz] mascot

It's the mystery mammal, of course. Dave is currrently developing a "Mystery Mammals" cartoon idea. Hey, if "Father of the Pride" works, maybe animal cartoons will become the next big thing.

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Just because

Dave just likes these images, and hopes you do as well.

You'll find strange non-sequiturs in many Las Vegas casinos, but none as heart-warming (literally) as this dragon. He once belched flames and terrifying townsfolk, but now he stands watch over some nickel progressives.

It's always important to remember your roots. Dave has chosen this image to constantly remind him just where he came from. It is a heraldic crest gone wrong.

Oh yeah, Dave also likes to see his name in lights. This is a genuine, non-photoshopped image...or is it?

Casino carpet is almost (but not quite) abstract art. This is from a real casino floor in a real Las Vegas Strip casino. Guess where and win a prize!

Here are some closing thoughts from Orff's Carmina Burana, "Fortuna, Imperatrix Mundi" (Fortune, Empress of the World):

O Fortune,
like the moon
you are changeable,
ever waxing
and waning;
hateful life
first oppresses
then soothes
as fancy takes it;
poverty and power,
it melts them like ice.

Somehow I don't think you'll find that in any casino advertisements. But Carmina Burana would be a great casino show, particularly sectons 2 and 3, which deal explicitly with gambling, drinking, debauchery, and sex.

The opera is almost an adaptation of the 13th century version of "what happens in Vegas (or, in this case, Beuren), stays in Vegas. Certainly it has all the elements of a great revue extravaganza.

people have panned, tilted and zoomed since July 2004.