Americans have caught green felt fever, and gambling is staking its claim as one of the country’s hottest new pastimes. Now, revealing the smarts, loyalty, and sheer love of the game that would draw a nod from Danny Ocean, Tom Breitling—a guy who had never seen The Godfather or a $100 bill until he went to college—tells how he and his best friend Tim Poster made their second $100 million in Vegas by age 35. Double or Nothing: How Two Friends Risked It All to Buy One of Las Vegas’ Legendary Casinos (Collins; March 18, 2008; $24.95) is an engrossing true story of friendship, fearless gamesmanship, trust, risk-taking, and how Tom and Tim, the youngest casino owners in the history of Nevada, hit the jackpot in two industries.
Call them the Odds Couple. Tom, a self-proclaimed “square from Barnesville, U.S.A.,” is practical and precise (ploddish, Tim might say). Tim, with his brilliant mind for numbers and gambler’s instincts, was already doing brisk business as a bookie (and was once 20 grand in the hole) while attending Bishop Gorman High School, where casino chips were welcome in the chapel collection plate at graduation. Together, they called Barry Diller’s bluff, appeared on People’s 50 Hottest Bachelors list, starred in the reality TV show “The Casino,” partnered with Andre Agassi and Perry Rogers, and went on the ride of their lives.
In Double or Nothing, Breitling and co-author Cal Fussman retrace the astounding arc of Tom and Tim’s careers. A young college graduate hoping to be the next Bob Costas, Breitling landed his first broadcasting job at KHIZ-TV in California before joining Tim’s company, Las Vegas Reservation Systems, Inc., a hotel room rental business built around the merchant model Tim devised during an entrepreneurial class at USC. Tom added one of the first automatic online reservation systems that allowed people to search, compare, and reserve hotel space via the Internet. Playing their two great hands—the dot-com/Internet explosion and the Las Vegas hotel-building boom—they co-founded Travelscape. Selling the company in 2000 to Expedia, in a deal valued at more than $100 million, the partners’ next big score was The Golden Nugget hotel-casino property in Las Vegas.
It was a toss of the dice that put everything at risk—their reputations, their friendship, and every cent they had. “People in the know were truly scared for us,” says Breitling in Double or Nothing. Faced with inexperienced dealers, dishonest cashiers, and high rollers who took their house profits on half-a-million-dollar swings, Breitling and Poster
Double or Nothing takes us into the hurly-burly of big stakes gamblers and chumps, and into the heart of the phenomenally successful business partnership and friendship of Tom Breitling and Tim Poster. Introducing a host of unforgettable characters like Big Frank, The Captain, The Sniffer, and more, plus the behind-the-scenes secrets of counting cards and working blackjack, the scams players pull, and the value of a man’s word as his bond, Double or Nothing is a memorable and mesmerizing insider’s look at two great American arts—business and gaming.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Tom Breitling is the president of Breitling Ventures, a private investment company. Together with his friend and business partner Tim Poster, he made his second $100 million by age 35. A student mentor and on the Capital Campaign committee for the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, a K-12 model charter school, he is a graduate of the University of San Diego. Breitling lives with his wife in Las Vegas.
Cal Fussman has been a writer-at-large for Esquire magazine since 1997. He has interviewed Jimmy Carter, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen, Muhammad Ali, Robert DeNiro, Jeff Bezos, Michael Eisner, and Tommy Franks, among many others. Author of After Jackie: Pride, Prejudice, and Baseball’s Forgotten Heroes, an Entertainment Weekly Pick of the Week, he lives with his family in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.