The Casino

The Casino was an American reality television series broadcast on the Fox network in 2004 which followed two dot-com millionaires, Thomas Breitling and Tim Poster, as they manage the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino, located in downtown Las Vegas instead of the more popular Las Vegas Strip.

The show was created by Mark Burnett, the creator of Survivor. It was canceled shortly before the last three episodes of the series could be broadcast due to dismal ratings. However, sister station Fox Reality Channel picked up The Casino and broadcast the unaired episodes and then ran the series in re-runs until its cancellation from that network.

Production

Scenes of Tim Poster and Thomas Breitling were filmed around Las Vegas in January 2004. Filming at the Golden Nugget was initially scheduled to begin that same month, but was delayed and began instead on February 2, 2004.

Casinos such as the Aladdin Resort & Casino and Caesars Palace were initially considered rather than the Golden Nugget. An area of the Golden Nugget's casino was closed off to allow for filming of high-stakes gambling at a roulette wheel, a dice table, and four blackjack tables.The Casino was the first reality series to be shot with high-definition video cameras. Eighteen camera crews shot approximately 270 hours of footage for each hour-long episode. Executive producer James Bruce speculated that the show "could go on forever" because of its variety.

Schenley Park Casino

The Schenley Park Casino was Pittsburgh’s first multi-purpose arena. The facility was considered the envy of the sports and entertainment world during the early 1890s, with amenities that were unsurpassed anywhere on the globe. It was built at the entrance to Schenley Park in Oakland near the Phipps Conservatory, the Schenley Bridge and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. The University of Pittsburgh’s Frick Fine Arts Building currently sits on the site of the Casino. The Casino was the first place in Pittsburgh where organized ice hockey was played. The arena's artificial ice surface was the first of its kind in North America.

Construction and brief use

In the fall of 1893, The City of Pittsburgh pondered on the idea of multi-purpose facility that would be a place for theater, recreation and social gathering. The idea sputtered through a committee of capitalists until Casino manager, James Wallace Conant convinced political boss, Christopher Magee, that the new building could feature an indoor ice skating rink. The notion of indoor ice skating galvanized the Casino’s construction plan. As a result, investors were quick to agree to the $400,000 financing, and construction of the Casino was completed before opening to the public on May 29, 1895.

The Casino (film)

The Casino is a 1972 Hong Kong Shaw Brothers Studio film.

Plot

A gambler agrees to help an old friend defeat a crooked gambler that uses rigged dice.

References

External links