Word: dicing
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...winter long, while Communist armies moved relentlessly down from the north, U.S. businessmen had gathered at the long, polished bar of the Shanghai American Club for cocktails, a few rolls of liar's dice and endless conversation on the one question paramount in the mind of every Shanghailander: What would happen when the Communists took over? Many had thought that there might be a change for the better: the Communists would at least bring "order." By last week, most U.S. businessmen believed they had their answer. It was not so rosy as most of them had expected...
...shows" (the publicity handout said), bounced into a big, baroque Casino chamber, joined croupiers, cameramen and curiosity-seekers around the first crap table in the Casino's 71 years of existence. Blonde, white-suited Lillian Moore-"one of the 100 most beautiful girls in the world"-took the dice, shook them, blew on them, threw the inaugural roll...
Little Paris had suffered a spell of unaccustomed purity in 1947-48 under the racket-busting rule of deputy police director Pacifique ("Pax") Plante (TIME, Nov. 10, 1947). Pax had closed the dice games, bookies and brothels down tight...
Things began to relax as soon as Pax was suspended last year. By last week the fast-paced barbotte, Montreal's pet dice game, was rattling away all over town, and bookies were easy to find. Montreal's fabulous oldtime bordellos (evening dress only) were long gone, but there were plenty of girls operating from tourist homes and rooming houses...
Eventually teen-aged Paul, who thinks Dad is a stinker, pays his first visit to the gaming tables and sees Dad give a demonstration of character. Coolly and courteously, Gable stakes the entire family fortune on a throw of dice-and wins. That is enough for Paul. As a couple of gunmen close in on the swag, Paul springs to his father's side, a true blue chip off the old block...