Michael Kaplan is a journalist based in New York City. He has written extensively on gambling for publications such as Wired, Playboy, Cigar Aficionado, New York Post and New York Times. He is the author of four books including Aces and Kings: Inside Stories and Million-Dollar Strategies from Poker’s Greatest Players.
He’s been known to do a bit of gambling when the timing seems right.
We all hope to hit it big at the casino. For most of us, winning a few thousand dollars would be the dream come true. Then there are those who lived the dream writ large. They won millions instead of thousands, and the payoffs were life changing.
We all need to get away. And if you’re like me, you want to go to one of the world’s top gambling cities, a place where legal gaming tops the menu. Casinos make great bases out of which to vacation.
Most of us don’t need excuses to visit Las Vegas, hang out in casinos, watch sports and gamble. But, for anyone who does, March Madness is a perfect time in which to touch down in Sin City and blissfully splash around chips.
Online slots are surging in the UK. According to the Guardian newspaper, billions of pounds are showering in, thanks to game-loving punters. Some 22.5 million Brits are said to be betting on slots.
Everybody loves to get casino freebies. Gamble for high enough stakes and you wind up with a hotel suite and dinner at the joint’s fanciest restaurant. Really fire it up, and the casino covers your airfare and may even send a private jet.
Gambling is a great leveler. Whether rich or poor, famous or anonymous, we all like to have a little something riding on the turn of a card or the outcome of a sporting event. In that regard, celebrities are just like the rest of us – albeit, to a degree.