Back From Tahoe, Y'all

Thread: Gambling and Risk-Taking Conference

We recently made several presentations on Indian gaming at the 13th International Conference on Gambling and Risk-Taking in Tahoe, including a special evening symposium on our book, Indian Gaming and Tribal Sovereignty: The Casino Compromise and a presentation on our thoughts for how to “fix” the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. (Regardless of our recommendations, Congress may be headed in its own direction on law reform. See our thread on the “real deal” concerning “off-reservation” gaming.)

The conference attracts a diverse group, including scholars studying gambling addiction and practitioners who try to mitigate its effects, casino and cage managers, and mathematicians or professional “advantage players” who seek to “beat” the system (or, at least, to shift the odds at blackjack or poker in their favor). Held at a major casino resort and hotel, there was no shortage of opportunities to see presentations on the virtues or vices related to gaming –- or to drop a few dollars at the blackjack tables down the hall from conference panels.

We often get asked how much we won or lost at the latest gaming conference. Check back next time in this thread and we’ll let you know if theory met practice at the tables in Tahoe. (Maybe that’s the “risk-taking” part of the conference?) We’ll also tell you about the type of questions we received at our presentations about Indian gaming.