Next up is a big screen gamble with director Spike Lee's timely and edgy drama Chi-raq – set amid a backdrop of gun violence in Chicago – which heads to theaters later this year.
Mr. Ritchie, known for stylized, quick-talking, fast-moving films set among the criminals, lowlifes and hard men of London's underworld, would seem to be something of a gamble as director of such a big Hollywood extravaganza.
His enthusiasm for homes and furnishings designed by the Greenes was contagious, said Gamble House director Ted Bosley.
"People have been predicting dating back to 1955 that Las Vegas will reach a saturation point," said David G. Schwartz, author of "Roll the Bones," a history of gambling, and director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
When asked about the unhappy link between the homeless and their obsession with changing their luck, National Council on Problem Gambling executive director Keith Whyte kept repeating the word "co-morbidity".
They are willing to gamble on "new directors with quirkier sensibilities".
"Defaulting on any obligation of the U.S. government would be a dangerous gamble," Doug Elmendorf, the director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, told the House Budget Committee on Thursday.
"Giving a special break to weak companies with the worst-funded plans is a dangerous gamble," Steven A. Kandarian, executive director of the pension agency, said in a statement sent to news organizations last week.
The film's release Friday by Warner Bros. spells not just a risk for a Hollywood studio wading into the throwback waters of a character-driven family tale, but a gamble for its director and lead actor, each of whom makes a notable departure from his comfort zone.
"In this business, sometimes you've got to gamble," said Greg Russell, the director of coaches and technical development for the academy, which produced Jennifer Capriati.
UK gambling expert Simon Holliday, director of H2 Gambling Capital, warned the online gambling industry could face a massive confidence crisis.
