Review of Blackjack and the Law
- Title:
- Blackjack and the Law
- Author:
- I. Nelson Rose and Robert A. Loeb
- Publisher:
- RGE Publishing
- Date:
- 1998
- ISBN:
- 0-910575-08-8
- Pages:
- 243
- Price:
- $24.95
January 31, 1999
With the expansion of legal gambling throughout the United States, the
game of Blackjack has never been so widespread, and its legal status
has never been so difficult to understand. In the old days of Las Vegas,
an undesirable patron would typically be unceremoniously thrown out
at the whim of a casino's management with no recourse. These days, with
lawsuits over a casino's right to bar players, court cases testing device
and cheating
statutes, and gaming commissions who have their own ideas on how to
regulate games operating independently in over a dozen states, one needs
a road map to navigate through the state of the industry. Blackjack
and the Law attempts to provide such a road map.
The book is based on a series of articles written by the person most
experts consider to be the foremost authority on the legal aspects of
gambling in the United
States, I. Nelson Rose. These articles have appeared in various
publications, such as Card Player and Blackjack
Forum since 1985, and update the high quality, but long out of
date and out of print, material that appeared in Rose's previous book,
Gambling
and the Law. Each article is then edited and amended by the
book's second author, Robert Loeb, considered by most to probably be
the second authority on the legal aspects of gambling in the United
States. Loeb also adds commentary after each article, providing his
viewpoint and addenda since the essay was originally written.
This is a powerful one, two combination that leads to some truly
thought provoking investigations into the legal situation surrounding
the game of Blackjack.
Many topics are covered in various chapters which include the legal
status of card counting and barring, casino countermeasures, back rooming,
device laws, taxes, Internet gambling, gambling on Indian reservations,
and many other issues. Especially interesting to me are the essays by
Rose on the boom and bust cycles of legal gaming in the history of the US,
criticisms of most states' lottery systems, and his daring projections
on the future of gambling in this country. These are not conventional
projections at all, but the arguments for why the country may head
in the direction he predicts are quite visionary and extremely compelling.
The book is not focused entirely on Blackjack, but most of it is.
Even for the prospective reader who has been tracking Rose's articles
religiously, Loeb's commentary and addenda appear here for the first
time. As the legal sands shift, it is important for those who need to
keep track of the law's status to be able to have a snapshot available of
its current incarnation
now and again to help reestablish their bearings and
clear up the rumors and innuendo that are circulated by armchair lawyers
trying to trudge their way through a legal minefield. This book succeeds
amply in accomplishing this goal.
Of course, this book isn't for everyone. The casual gambler or low
stakes card counter probably won't find a lot here that changes how
or where they play. Even the high stakes players may not make a lot
of changes, but will likely sleep better if they know what they might
be up against. The book will also likely become quite obsolete due
to changing regulations over the next five years, but today it is a
godsend to those who need to know the state of Blackjack law and
of interest to those who enjoy tracking the history and state
of the game. I recommend it for those who might have interest, but
those who don't play on the edge or don't have an interest can skip
it if they want.
Capsule:
A very good book, Rose and Loeb define the state of the law surrounding
the game of Blackjack in the United States. Not everyone needs to
read this book, of course, and so those who do not find the topic
fascinating, or who don't play Blackjack, can probably safely pass
on reading it. However, it is very well written, and for those for
whom the topic is of interest, reading Blackjack and the Law
will prove to be quite informative and rewarding.
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