Playing the Cards that are Dealt : A Gaming Memoir: Mead Dixon, the Law, and Casino Gaming

Nevada is unique among the states in having an economy that is driven principally by the take of gambling casinos and related enterprises. In fact, the state's casinos project an image so magnetic in its appeal to the American imagination that their presence transcends economics'in the popular perception, casino gaming defines Nevada.Playing the Cards That Are Dealt breaks fresh ground. It contains a wealth of information about the gaming industry, previously unrecorded in any form. In a direct, authoritative, and sometimes provocative voice, this narrative derived from oral history interviews covers many of the principal factors and colorful figures in the industry's explosive growth. Mead Dixon began practicing law in Reno in 1950, and soon he was acting as counsel to established casinos and groups trying to open new ones in that community, at Lake Tahoe, and in Las Vegas. In 1957 Dixon became the principal attorney for William F. Harrah and his Harrah's Clubs, and by the late 1960s he was on the boards of Harrah's, the Showboat, and the Tropicana. Following Bill Harrah's death, Dixon was named the executor of the Harrah estate; shortly thereafter he was elected chairman of the Harrah's board and accomplished the 1980 merger of Harrah's with Holiday Inns, Inc. As a member of the Holiday board of directors, Dixon was instrumental in the subsequent expansion of Harrah's and Holiday into Atlantic City, and after returning to the Showboat board following his retirement from Holiday, he also guided that company's successful expansion into Atlantic City.Mead Dixon is extraordinarily knowledgeable about the inner workings of some of the most important casino gaming enterprises in America, and he has an expert's understanding of the effects of change over time in the economic, political, and regulatory environments in which casinos must operate. Through Playing the Cards That Are Dealt, the reader will encounter forty years of casino gaming history as lived and observed by one of the industry's most respected figures.Dixon, Louis Mead is the author of 'Playing the Cards that are Dealt : A Gaming Memoir: Mead Dixon, the Law, and Casino Gaming', published 2005 under ISBN 9781564753847 and ISBN 1564753840.