|
Double or Nothing: How Two Friends Risked It All to Buy One of Las Vegas' Legendary Casinos | 
 enlarge | Authors: Tom Breitling, Cal Fussman
Publisher: Collins
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $12.99
You Save: $11.96 (48%)
New (26) Used (3) Collectible (1) from $12.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 5445
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 0060835834
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.7617950922793135
EAN: 9780060835835
ASIN: 0060835834
Publication Date: May 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW. NEVER OPENED. SHIPS TODAY.
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
If Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn had come of age at the end of the 20th century looking for an all-American adventure, they probably would've headed for Vegas. They'd have been hard-pressed to go on a wilder ride than the one taken by Tom Breitling and Tim Poster to the top of the famed Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino. Call them the Odds Couple. Breitling is the kid who lives next door if you grow up in Burnsville, Minnesota. He never saw a hundred dollar bill or The Godfather until he went to college. Poster comes from a family of oddsmakers who reach for the Doritos on football Sundays and scream for the point spread. He was whistling Sinatra and booking games at his Las Vegas high school. Their unlikely friendship began in college over an $8 veal parmigiana sandwich that led to a partnership in a hotel reservation business. Starting with a desk, a chair, a pillow, and a telephone, Tim and Tom grew a company that they sold during the dot.com boom for $105 million. This allows Tim to pursue his childhood dream of owning a casino and bringing back the glory days of Vegas. When Tim ups the odds and raises the limits to give gamblers the best game in town, a craps player nicknamed "Mr. Royalty," who's on one of the hottest winning streaks in history, heads for The Nugget. When he begins to take Tom and Tim for millions, the partnership is put to the test. But Tim refuses to back off on the odds or the high limits, telling his partner, "It's a ballsy proposition here. It's gonna be a roller coaster ride. But we don't have a public company to answer to. It's just you and me." When Mr. Royalty rolls twenty-two consecutive passes and rakes in a mountain of chips, he takes Tim and Tom to the brink. They must figure out a way to hold up The House. Just as they do, the roller coaster ride really gets rolling—and the ride becomes crazier than they'd ever imagined.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
 Electric and fun May 2, 2008
A testimony to friendship in an exciting journey. Fast, furious, electric.
As the reading progresses one feels as part of the adventure. A very easy and fun reading. What a treat!
Can't wait for the next one.
Marne
A must read May 1, 2008
"Double or Nothing" should be mandatory reading for any entrepreneur. This book is a captivating quick read and has the perfect mix of lessons and laughter.
Fun reading about great guys April 20, 2008
Tom and Tim made millions not once but twice in different ventures and they are still under 40! This book talks about the risks and rewards they have experienced in their business partnership and the challenges they have overcome. I can't wait to read about their next venture because I'm sure they have not slowed down after the Nugget!
 Gamblers' Luck April 17, 2008
Double or Nothing is Tom Breitling's side of an incredible story of how he and longtime friend, Tim Poster, created an internet travel business from scratch and sold it in just a few years for a $100 million profit. Even more incredibly, they used much of that money to help finance their purchase of the Golden Nugget casino and made another $100 million only one year later when they, in turn, sold that business to a Texas restaurant king who badly wanted into the gambling business.
Breitling's account is one in which he describes himself as the conservative one in his friendship and business partnership with Tim Poster, an old school friend of his who carried an image as an extreme risk taker even in high school. Ever the gambler, it was Poster who invited Breitling to join him in the fledgling travel business that ultimately financed the pair's entry into the Las Vegas casino scene as young owners of the legendary Golden Nugget casino. Breitling's role in both businesses was usually to be the one to "put on the brakes" in order to slow down some of Poster's more rash and overambitious ideas. The partners were well-matched, and the combination of their individual personalities and deep respect for each other created a highly successful business team.
Breitling tells his story in a conversational style that makes for easy reading but he focuses so much on his relationship with Tim Poster, and how much they have meant to each other over the years, that the more interesting aspects of the story are disregarded. Readers expecting to find behind-the-scenes details on the operations of a major Las Vegas gambling casino will be disappointed to find little of that in the book. There is considerable detail on the sale of the casino, including bits of gossip about the new owner and his family, but not much is revealed about the nature of the gambling industry itself.
One of the book's most interesting characters is the unnamed "Mr. Royalty," a big time gambler who went on a roll lasting almost a year and who caused Breitling and Poser great anxiety as they watched him take their new casino for some $8 million, finally forcing them to lower their betting limits in self-protection. Readers like me who realize that the gambling industry is based on one gigantic scam perpetrated on a gullible public will likely find themselves rooting for Mr. Royalty in what becomes his very personal competition with the Golden Nugget owners. The book begins and ends with a description of that epic battle.
Double or Nothing is an interesting book, especially if read as a business book, but the story is not as impressive as I imagined it would be. Breitling and Poser are brash risk takers for sure but the book exposes enough of their childishness to leave the impression that they are also two of the luckiest businessmen on the planet.
More Than Meets the Eye April 14, 2008
Make no mistake about it. Double or Nothing is more than another book about Las Vegas. Yes, Sin City plays a dominate backscreen, but this is a story about people; specifically, two friends who become partners, who after beginning one of the first Internet Travel Sites, which is sold eventually to Expedia, and the proceeds go to the biggest gamble of all: the purchase of the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas.
What will surprise you the most is the honesty of Tom and Tim and genuine love and respect they have for each other. The ups and downs and the wheeling and dealing it took to not only make the purchase, but to turn Downtown Las Vegas back to its heyday is extremely well-written and you'll find you can't put the book down.
It's an easy read that's fun, educational, interesting, and most of all, cathartic. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves Las Vegas.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
