Brief: New book rips gambling

Monday, Nov. 2, 1998 | 3:35 a.m.

"Bad Bet -- The Inside Story of the Glamour, Glitz and the Danger of America's Gambling Industry," chronicles the expansion of gambling from Las Vegas to most of the rest of the nation.

A Business Week review says O'Brien "thinks gambling stinks and that its ubiquity is an abomination. He shows that since the odds always favor the house, the vast majority of gamblers are suckers. Furthermore, as he ably demonstrates, gambling usually doesn't bring the economic boon it promises to cities and states, attracts crooks galore and bilks the poor.'

But a Business Week reviewer noted O'Brien doesn't address the essential fact that many Americans indulge in vices like smoking, drinking and gambling simply because they enjoy them.

archive