Riverboat gamble

Posted by ESC on January 15, 2007

In Reply to: Riverboat gamble posted by Gareth Jenkins on January 15, 2007

: Does anyone know the origin of the phrase 'riverboat gamble'? It was mentioned on Channel 4 news last week and I can't seem to trace it back any further than a political discussion on Reaganomics.

: Cheers,
: Gareth.

"It's more than a risk, it's a riverboat gamble," said Leon E. Panetta, a Democratic member of the Iraq Study Group and former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton.
www.ndnblog.org

"Tom Daschle has made a riverboat gamble, and he stands to lose his political shirt." www.nationalreview.com/ kudlow/kudlow010902.shtml Accessed January 15, 2007.

I can't find it in my reference books. But I am guessing that it means the odds are stacked against you. And that in the past riverboat gambling was fixed so the house won most of the time.

• Riverboat gamble ESC 15/January/07