Double or Nothing and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more

Buy New

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime Free Trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn More
Buy Used
Used - Good See details
$3.87 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
Kindle Edition
 
   
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Double or Nothing: How Two Friends Risked It All to Buy One of Las Vegas' Legendary Casinos
 
 
Start reading Double or Nothing on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Double or Nothing: How Two Friends Risked It All to Buy One of Las Vegas' Legendary Casinos [Hardcover]

Tom Breitling (Author), Cal Fussman (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)

List Price: $24.95
Price: $20.27 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $4.68 (19%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Only 6 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).
Want it delivered Wednesday, February 1? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition --  
Hardcover, Bargain Price $9.98  
Hardcover, March 18, 2008 $20.27  
MP3 CD, Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged $15.59  
Audible Audio Edition, Unabridged $17.95 or Free with Audible 30-day free trial

Book Description

March 18, 2008

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.


Frequently Bought Together

Double or Nothing: How Two Friends Risked It All to Buy One of Las Vegas' Legendary Casinos + Winner Takes All: Steve Wynn, Kirk Kerkorian, Gary Loveman, and the Race to Own Las Vegas + Running Scared: The Life and Treacherous Times of Las Vegas Casino King Steve Wynn
Price For All Three: $43.33

Show availability and shipping details

Buy the selected items together


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In less than a decade, friends Tom Breitling (the conservative one) and Tim Poster (the risk taker) founded a successful Internet travel business and sold it for millions. Then in 2003, the pair bought the legendary and past-its-prime Golden Nugget casino for $215 million. Las Vegas has always been a magnet for anyone who wanted to take his life to a new place, Breitling explains. It embraced anyone who wanted to take a risk and wanted to make it better. His account of those heady, hardworking times features a doomed reality show; an arrogant, very lucky gambler dubbed Mr. Royalty; and appearances by the likes of Steve Wynn and Andre Agassi. It's astounding, with such volatile circumstances and a Vegas backdrop, that Breitling's book is so bland. His average-guy approach loses its flavor quickly as his narrative trades insight for clunky, oft-repeated metaphors in which the author compares himself to a point guard in basketball. What should be a story of two young guys trying to steer a risky business in America's playground reads too often like a business seminar transcript with hint of a scandal. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Beyond all of the colorful stories in Double or Nothing, beyond the eye-opening success of two young American entrepreneurs, there is the most important story of all: a story about friendship and loyalty.” (Andre Agassi )

“[A] delightful and insightful travelogue...Breitling presents a tale of a remarkable friendship interwoven with indelible portraits of various players…. But the book is more than a series of memorable characters…It also provides details of gigantic transactions that make you a fly on the wall of boardrooms with legends.” (Las Vegas Sun )

“There’s no shortage of nuggets in...Double or Nothing. Breitling reveals the tense times with his Golden Nugget partner, Tim Poster…,and the hardball deals.... Masterful writing and reporting by co-author Cal Fussman take the reader on the wild ride that made [Breitling and Poster] millionaires in their 30s.” (Norm Clarke, Las Vegas Review Journal )

“[A] fantastical story…. The book is full of interesting tidbits…. But the big “aha!” in the book might be the realization that they sold out too soon. It will be interesting to see the next trick up Breitling and Poster’s sleeves.” (Associated Press )

“Tom Breitling and Tim Poster are the ultimate American entrepreneurs. Tom has a great story to tell.” (Tony Bennett )

“For whatever misguided reasons, Tom Breitling says he grew up wanting to be me. Instead, he wound up owning The Golden Nugget and making two deals each worth upwards of a hundred million dollars. Looks like he grew up to be A-Rod instead.” (Bob Costas )

“A great read, and a true rags to riches American success story…The narrative goes down smooth as a good scotch, with a rhythm that would have made Sinatra proud!” (Ben Mezrich, bestselling author of Bringing Down the House and Rigged )

“Tom Breitling’s inspiring and jealousy-inducing story of the entrepreneurial bravado that led him and a friend to own The Golden Nugget.” (Esquire )

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: HarperBusiness; First Edition edition (March 18, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060835834
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060835835
  • Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #800,100 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

 

Customer Reviews

35 Reviews
5 star:
 (24)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (35 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Insights into *three* oft-neglected areas of profound interest..., March 22, 2008
By 
This review is from: Double or Nothing: How Two Friends Risked It All to Buy One of Las Vegas' Legendary Casinos (Hardcover)
... to the "college lit" crowd: the internet, gambling, and reality TV.

Tom Breitling and Tim Poster first pioneered a visionary approach to online hotel room sales, and then sunk their profits into the same resort that launched Steve Wynn's career: the venerable Golden Nugget. The latter adventure was recorded by the producers of *Survivor* -- and this is where the story takes a particularly human, uniquely 21st century turn. Breitling laments a professional and personal life lost to the condensed and overly dramatic needs of reality television, and his genuine disappointment upon seeing the finished (and nationally televised) product gives this book an honest and thoughtful tone.

Another element I enjoyed: this is an author who clearly gets Las Vegas, and who obviously has deep admiration and affection for the place. The book is filled with behind-the-cultural-scenes glimpses of the Las Vegas community (and no, that sentence contains no typos: Las Vegas indeed has both a culture and a community).

Contrast this with the recently released *Winner Takes All,* which belongs firmly in the "loathing Las Vegas" literary tradition. An uncritical read of *Winner* leaves you with the impression that all of the city's key players are actually losers -- or at the very least, they all engage in self- (which is to say Las Vegas-) loathing introspections. Breitling's tale, on the other hand, reveals a very human, very decent, and very proudly Las Vegas story -- albeit one that exists beyond the reach of the typical narrative woven by the city's critics.

This book deserves a place atop the college lit bestseller list, in the tradition of *Bringing Down the House* and *Moneyball.* It shares the a "generation next" Las Vegas theme with the former book, and it shares with the latter one a different analytical lens to appreciate the complex intersections of the internet and 21st century tourism.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars best friends, business deals and Las Vegas, March 20, 2008
By 
This review is from: Double or Nothing: How Two Friends Risked It All to Buy One of Las Vegas' Legendary Casinos (Hardcover)
This is a great read about two kids who met in college and went on to create a success story in Las Vegas - they couldn't be two different types of people - but they forged a partnership which withstood the challenges of a tough and fast paced business environment.

It is a very enjoyable read and when I go to Las Vegas next time - would be fun to meet them!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Story but an Incredibly Disappointing "Memoir", October 7, 2008
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Double or Nothing: How Two Friends Risked It All to Buy One of Las Vegas' Legendary Casinos (Hardcover)
This book had the potential to be very good - the story was interesting, the backdrop was the Internet Boom and Vegas, and the main characters were fairly original. However, as a result of the puff piece writing, this turned out to be one of the worst "memoirs" (if you can even call it that) I have ever read.

The major problem with this book is that it just skims over the real interesting parts of the story. For example, these two guys purchase the Golden Nugget, which is inherently interesting. Unfortunately, the author spends no more than 4 pages discussing exactly how the multi-million dollar deal went down. It was like giving a Cliff Notes version of the critical part to this story.

In addition, Fussman feels the need to remind the reader of the great friendship the two main characters have no less than 200 times during the course of the book. Ok, we get it. They are good friends. The problem is that Fussman barely spends time discussing the real fights they have (as any partnership does) and the most time discussing one fight is about when one of the guys dates Jamie Pressly.

Finally, the name dropping in this book is beyond absurd. Again, we get it - we know these guys know celebrities but the constant references to "we were having dinner with Tony Bennett and....." is annoying.

In all, the overall story is interesting but a story this good deserved to be told by a much better author.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews











Only search this product's reviews



Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
gaming license, offending driver, dummy hand, roulette player
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
The Nugget, Las Vegas, The Golden Nugget, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tony Bennett, The House, Uncle Jimmy, Barry Diller, Wall Street, The Captain, Tim Poster, The Sniffer, The Crazy, Bishop Gorman, Station Casinos, Where's Tim, Tilman Fertitta, Uncle Jack, Treasure Island, Jaime Pressly, Joe Pesci, Mark Burnett, Fremont Street, Gaming Control Board
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:


Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums



So You'd Like to...



Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject