High Noon – Something for Your Money: A History of Las Vegas Casinos (Virtual Zoom)

High Noon September 17, 2026 Noon Register for this Lecture: Title: Something for Your Money: A History of Las Vegas Casinos Speaker: Dr. David G. Schwartz, historian and director of the UNLV Center for Gaming Research Talk Summary: Las Vegas has been a gambling town since its 1905 founding. Its gambling halls, casino hotels, and resorts made it first a local curiosity, then a national obsession, and finallySomething for Your Money front cover a global destination. The modern American casino resort was born on a lonely stretch of road that, within a decade, would become known as the Las Vegas Strip. This was a place where America could cut loose, enjoying pleasures denied at home. As visitors flocked to Las Vegas, casinos became a business and then an industry. Today, with casino gambling widely proliferated, Las Vegas still is the pinnacle of American gambling, be it on slot machines, blackjack, sports betting, or poker. This book shares stories about how Las Vegas became—and stayed—America’s gambling capital, focusing on the casinos that made it famous and the hustlers, gangsters, number-crunchers, and dreamers who made them. Those who fought against Las Vegas show up as well: the senator whose campaign against legal gambling magnificently backfired, or the pair of muckrakers who made Las Vegas seem more tantalizing than ever before—and gave the town its defining myth. Dr. David G. Schwartz Speaker Bio: David G. Schwartz, Ombuds, professor, and gaming historian at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, studies conflict resolution, gambling and games, and history. He is a Certified Organizational Ombuds, credentialed mediator, and part-time AEMT. An Atlantic City, New Jersey native and former casino employee, Schwartz has written and edited several books, including Something for Your Money, At the Sands, Cutting the Wire, Roll the Bones, Grandissimo, and Boardwalk Playground. He earned his Ph. D. in United States History from UCLA, and teaches several classes, including casino history, video games, conspiracy theories, alternate history, and jazz history. Add to calendar Google Calendar iCalendar Outlook 365 Outlook Live