NATIONAL
April 1, 2006 | Miguel Bustillo, Times Staff Writer
Shortly after 9 a.m. last Saturday, amid the madness of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, a man dressed entirely in black studied the electronic board flashing point spreads at the Palms Casino Resort. He had already wagered more than $7,000 that morning, placing half a dozen bets on the Internet and in casinos on sporting events large and small, from arena football to college ice hockey to women's college basketball.
NATIONAL
January 3, 2009 | Joanna Lin
Two decades ago, real estate mogul Randy Black turned this blip on the Arizona border into a boomtown when he opened the first of four casinos. Nearly 1 million visitors a year followed, and hotels, restaurants and stucco homes seemed to sprout from sand. "It seemed to be one of those things that 'Geez, it's just going great. It's never going to end,' " said Victor Kotalion, who left Las Vegas in 1990 for this arid patch off Interstate 15.
MAGAZINE
December 10, 2000 | TOM GORMAN, Tom Gorman is a Times staff writer. His last article for the magazine explored the future of Las Vegas
Richard Milanovich, who doesn't like to gamble because he doesn't like losing money, grins broadly from the podium at the Spa Hotel and Casino in downtown Palm Springs as he gives away a million dollars of the casino's gambling profits. "Oh, this is so much fun," he says, announcing a $150,000 donation to the Palm Springs Fire Department.
HEALTH
August 8, 2005 | Marianne Szegedy-Maszak, Special to The Times
THE day that Marilyn Lancelot won the biggest jackpot of her life, she left the casino in Yuma, Ariz., with every penny of the $4,000 that had poured out of the slot machines. This time she knew that she would never gamble again. She was right, although not for the reasons she thought. The next day, seven police cars appeared in her Phoenix driveway and she was taken out of her house in handcuffs.
SPORTS
August 8, 2007 | Lisa Dillman and Jerry Crowe, Times Staff Writers
MONTREAL -- Players on the men's tennis tour have been the targets of anonymous phone calls in which they were asked to try to influence the outcome of matches, according to doubles star Bob Bryan, a member of the ATP Player Council. "I don't know of any players that have ever gambled on tennis," he said Tuesday at the Rogers Cup, a Masters Series tournament. "But there have been some anonymous calls to players' rooms with some monetary offerings. "I know that.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
December 25, 2004 | Glenn F. Bunting, Times Staff Writer
In the 1960s, a group called Concerned Citizens held barbecue dinners, car washes and fashion shows to help bring indoor plumbing to the Chumash Indian reservation here. The display of charity was not an isolated occurrence. Year after year, merchants donated toys and clothing to Indian children. Volunteers decorated the sparse tribal hall each Christmas and baked cookies for Chumash families.
NEWS
September 24, 1990 | VICTOR MERINA, TIMES STAFF WRITER
When Dan Montecalvo talks about the night of March 31, 1988, his Boston accent flattens and his voice slows as he gives his account of his wife's murder: Montecalvo had just returned from an evening stroll with his wife, Carol, when she entered their Glendale home alone. A moment later there was a startled shout and gunfire. As Montecalvo rushed inside, he was seized from behind and shot in the back as the assailants fled.
NATIONAL
January 18, 2008 | Peter Nicholas and Peter Wallsten, Times Staff Writers
Barack Obama has warned about the dangers of gambling -- that it carries a "moral and social cost" that could "devastate" poor communities. As a state senator in Illinois, he at times opposed plans to expand gambling, worrying that it could be especially harmful to low-income people. Today, those views are posing a problem for Obama in the gambling mecca of Nevada, which holds its presidential nominating caucuses Saturday. While his top rival, Sen.
SPORTS
August 5, 1990 | BILL BRUBAKER, WASHINGTON POST
In the wake of Pete Rose's expulsion from baseball for betting and George Steinbrenner's admission that he gave $40,000 to a gambler, sports and law enforcement officials say they are concerned about the growing influence of gambling on college and professional leagues.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
February 10, 2003 | Paul Pringle, Times Staff Writer
For California's casino customers, it's the real wild card -- a secret that the Native American gambling industry holds close to the vest. The mystery concerns the payout rates for slot machines: How much of the money pumped into the thousands of chirping contraptions -- the life's blood of the state's 50 Indian casinos -- is returned to players as winnings? Casino executives have the answer, but they tend to guard it like the house vault. State regulators are clueless.