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Last Bets: A True Story of Gambling, Morality and the Law
On a Sunday evening in July 2011, 40-year-old Anthony Dunning was pinned to the floor of Melbourne's Crown casino by security staff. Four days later, he died in the intensive care unit of the Alfred Hospital. The incident was reported to the police by two friends who were with Dunning on the night—not by Crown casino. Later that week, a spokesperson for the police said that even though Crown had no legal requirement to report such incidents, 'they probably had a moral obligation' to do so. Crown casino said that its employees were just doing their job. Three months later, a young security guard was charged with manslaughter.
Michaela McGuire follows the trial, trying to make sense of the gap between ethics and the law. She speaks to problem gamblers and psychologists, a casino priest and David Walsh, Australia's most notorious gambler. Last Bets is true crime writing at its best—disturbing, gripping, and unnerving. A must-read for gamblers, the gambling industry, law makers and everyone who cares.
Michaela McGuire follows the trial, trying to make sense of the gap between ethics and the law. She speaks to problem gamblers and psychologists, a casino priest and David Walsh, Australia's most notorious gambler. Last Bets is true crime writing at its best—disturbing, gripping, and unnerving. A must-read for gamblers, the gambling industry, law makers and everyone who cares.
- GenresNonfictionTrue Crime
192 pages, Paperback
First published May 27, 2014
2 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Michaela McGuire
14 books6 followersMichaela McGuire's first book, Apply Within: Stories of Career Sabotage, was published in 2009. She writes a weekly blog for The Monthly called Twirling Towards Freedom, and her Penguin Special A Story of Grief was published in 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 16, 2015
I would describe Last Bets as fascinating in subject matter but poorly written and edited.
A couple of the things that annoyed me: the author seemed to presuppose familiarity with the law, court process and David Walsh. I'm familiar with the first two, being a lawyer, but I think someone else would really struggle to follow what is going on, not least because McGuire jumps around incessantly.
This jumping around annoyed me throughout the book, with events appearing in the book before other events that they follow in real life. At one point, an interview with David Walsh was interrupted by one or more 'unrelated' chapters, and then the narrative returned to it. Confusing and unnecessary.
However, my biggest problem with the book was that it tried to tie two different concepts together as though they were mutually relevant, when they quite clearly were not. I felt - to use an analogy from the book's epilogue - like the author was a magician trying to razzle dazzle me into believing that the morality that surrounds gambling, casinos and additions was the same as the morality of accidentally killing someone and failing to notify the police. They are linked only by virtue of the fact that they both involve morality which is, inherently, ambiguous. The fact that the security guards killed a man in a casino does not link it to gambling. It is circumstantial. He could have been killed at any bar or nightclub in the same manner. Nowhere in the book is it even suggested that he was, at any point during the night, gambling. Ugh.
I find manslaughter and criminal trials interesting. I find the level of force that security guards can and do use interesting. I also find the morality of gambling and the sleazy and desperate atmosphere that permeates casinos interesting. But those are not the same thing as each other. The author would have done better to pick one and stick with it.
Finally, just one last complaint (I promise!). The author followed the trial of the security guards, but actually missed the verdict because the courtroom was too loud! Nowhere is it explicitly stated that Lawson was found not guilty of manslaughter. No reasons were given. Nada.
ANYWAY, this book reminded me a lot of Joe Cinque's Consolation in style and form. I think McGuire could possibly improve her writing and one day produce something very good indeed. She has an easy to read, friendly and personal way of writing, and it was for these reasons that I enjoyed the book despite my comments above.
A couple of the things that annoyed me: the author seemed to presuppose familiarity with the law, court process and David Walsh. I'm familiar with the first two, being a lawyer, but I think someone else would really struggle to follow what is going on, not least because McGuire jumps around incessantly.
This jumping around annoyed me throughout the book, with events appearing in the book before other events that they follow in real life. At one point, an interview with David Walsh was interrupted by one or more 'unrelated' chapters, and then the narrative returned to it. Confusing and unnecessary.
However, my biggest problem with the book was that it tried to tie two different concepts together as though they were mutually relevant, when they quite clearly were not. I felt - to use an analogy from the book's epilogue - like the author was a magician trying to razzle dazzle me into believing that the morality that surrounds gambling, casinos and additions was the same as the morality of accidentally killing someone and failing to notify the police. They are linked only by virtue of the fact that they both involve morality which is, inherently, ambiguous. The fact that the security guards killed a man in a casino does not link it to gambling. It is circumstantial. He could have been killed at any bar or nightclub in the same manner. Nowhere in the book is it even suggested that he was, at any point during the night, gambling. Ugh.
I find manslaughter and criminal trials interesting. I find the level of force that security guards can and do use interesting. I also find the morality of gambling and the sleazy and desperate atmosphere that permeates casinos interesting. But those are not the same thing as each other. The author would have done better to pick one and stick with it.
Finally, just one last complaint (I promise!). The author followed the trial of the security guards, but actually missed the verdict because the courtroom was too loud! Nowhere is it explicitly stated that Lawson was found not guilty of manslaughter. No reasons were given. Nada.
ANYWAY, this book reminded me a lot of Joe Cinque's Consolation in style and form. I think McGuire could possibly improve her writing and one day produce something very good indeed. She has an easy to read, friendly and personal way of writing, and it was for these reasons that I enjoyed the book despite my comments above.
July 2, 2022
An insight mostly from the outside, the poignant moments of this 200 page book were perhaps better suited to a series of longer newspaper/magazine articles.
January 3, 2015
(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)
On a Sunday evening in July 2011, 40-year-old Anthony Dunning was pinned to the floor of Melbourne's Crown Casino by security staff. Four days later, he died in the intensive care unit of the Alfred Hospital. The incident was reported to the police not by Crown Casino, but by two friends who were with Dunning on the night. Later that week, a spokesperson for the police said that even though Crown has no legal requirement to report such incidents, 'they probably had a moral obligation' to do so. Crown Casino said that its employees had just been doing their job. Three months later, a young security guard was charged with manslaughter.
Michaela McGuire follows the manslaughter trial of the Crown Casino bouncers, trying to make sense of the gap between ethics and the law. She speaks to problem gamblers and psychologists, a casino priest and David Walsh, Australia’s most notorious gambler. Last Bets is a book about how and why, when it comes to gambling, morals and the law are irrevocably intertwined.
I was quite interested in this story when I first started it: gambling, law and morality - woven around the true story of Anthony Dunning who died one night after an incident at Crown Casino. I was hoping that this book would really dip into the complexities of these issues, both separately and combined, but I was a little let down on both.
The author follows the court case of the accused bouncers quite closely. And the ins and outs of the trial were quite interesting. She covered the pre-trial and relayed the information that was going on quite clearly and accurately. The same goes for the actual trial. I appreciated that.
However, when she turned her hand to the morality of the law and gambling, I felt this book got a little bogged down. In particular, the interview she had with David Walsh, a notorious Australian gambler. That chapter of so is particularly jumbled and, I thought, far from relevant to the issue. Maybe speaking to people who have lost money gambling - lost their homes, their life savings etc - would have been a better approach and more likely to help gain an insight into what could be considered a "moral obligation" from the casino.
Ultimately, I would have liked to have seen the author write this book from only one angle: either the death of Anthony Dunning and the court case that followed, or the ethics, morals and inherent dangers of gambling and the law.
Still, a good read and one worthwhile if you are interested in the reading about true court trials.
Paul
ARH
On a Sunday evening in July 2011, 40-year-old Anthony Dunning was pinned to the floor of Melbourne's Crown Casino by security staff. Four days later, he died in the intensive care unit of the Alfred Hospital. The incident was reported to the police not by Crown Casino, but by two friends who were with Dunning on the night. Later that week, a spokesperson for the police said that even though Crown has no legal requirement to report such incidents, 'they probably had a moral obligation' to do so. Crown Casino said that its employees had just been doing their job. Three months later, a young security guard was charged with manslaughter.
Michaela McGuire follows the manslaughter trial of the Crown Casino bouncers, trying to make sense of the gap between ethics and the law. She speaks to problem gamblers and psychologists, a casino priest and David Walsh, Australia’s most notorious gambler. Last Bets is a book about how and why, when it comes to gambling, morals and the law are irrevocably intertwined.
I was quite interested in this story when I first started it: gambling, law and morality - woven around the true story of Anthony Dunning who died one night after an incident at Crown Casino. I was hoping that this book would really dip into the complexities of these issues, both separately and combined, but I was a little let down on both.
The author follows the court case of the accused bouncers quite closely. And the ins and outs of the trial were quite interesting. She covered the pre-trial and relayed the information that was going on quite clearly and accurately. The same goes for the actual trial. I appreciated that.
However, when she turned her hand to the morality of the law and gambling, I felt this book got a little bogged down. In particular, the interview she had with David Walsh, a notorious Australian gambler. That chapter of so is particularly jumbled and, I thought, far from relevant to the issue. Maybe speaking to people who have lost money gambling - lost their homes, their life savings etc - would have been a better approach and more likely to help gain an insight into what could be considered a "moral obligation" from the casino.
Ultimately, I would have liked to have seen the author write this book from only one angle: either the death of Anthony Dunning and the court case that followed, or the ethics, morals and inherent dangers of gambling and the law.
Still, a good read and one worthwhile if you are interested in the reading about true court trials.
Paul
ARH
January 26, 2015
This is so close to being a really good book and I think a good editor would have made all the difference. The subject matter is interesting and she can write well, but I had some pretty big issues with this book. Probably the biggest is the author's choice to write in the present tense. I am not really sure why she chose to do that, but it made for unnecessary confusion. In a story that jumped back and forth in time, her use of the present tense made for some pretty awkward wording and made it quite difficult to develop a clear timeline of events. Given that she was recalling the events, it gave a false tone to the book, I thought. It also made the storyline jerk around in an unnatural way that I felt like I needed to untangle all the time, which is exhausting when a coherent understanding of the plotline is so crucial to the story.
My next issue is that she uses a lot of courtroom jargon that the average lay person is not going to understand. She works as a legal secretary, so maybe she assumes people know as much as she does about how courtrooms work.
Finally, she was introducing so many witnesses that it got quite confusing... I never felt like I got a clear idea of who was who and ended up feeling pretty confused. I felt like I should write up notes so I could keep track of everyone.
It's a shame, I am guessing she did not have the budget to get a good editor, and if she had, this would have been a fantastic book, I'm sure. The subject matter was really interesting and thought provoking.
My next issue is that she uses a lot of courtroom jargon that the average lay person is not going to understand. She works as a legal secretary, so maybe she assumes people know as much as she does about how courtrooms work.
Finally, she was introducing so many witnesses that it got quite confusing... I never felt like I got a clear idea of who was who and ended up feeling pretty confused. I felt like I should write up notes so I could keep track of everyone.
It's a shame, I am guessing she did not have the budget to get a good editor, and if she had, this would have been a fantastic book, I'm sure. The subject matter was really interesting and thought provoking.
July 5, 2014
I had high hopes for this book, feeling the same mix of ambivalence and distaste for gambling as McGuire and hoping for something insightful and fresh on the topic from her book. The story is set up around the manslaughter trial of bouncers from Crown Casino, in a very similar way to the way that Anna Krien's Night Games uses the rape trial of a footballer to explore sex and gender issues in Australian sport. Unfortunately, McGuire's book didn't really take the broader story very far, instead getting hung up mostly on the trial (with a slightly out of place but interesting interview with David Walsh to break things up). As a story of a tragic death and troubling legal process the book works well, but as an examination of gambling, morality, regulation and law in Australia it falls a bit short.
October 16, 2014
Okay, quite understated, following in the Helen garner school of creative non-fiction.
April 22, 2017
Courtroom story around a Melbourne trial, with all the great ingredients for a grand thriller, such as Casino, Violent Bouncers, super ego Barrister,s and media rush rush... Liked the author writing style, but, as other already commented, the book lacked a good Editor to put things in more concise and efficient order.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews