It's a Pleasure Barge: The Men Who Ushered in the Era of the Floating Casino

Details the rise of West Coast gambling ships, highlighting crime figures, rivalries, and their legacy.

Three miles outside California’s jurisdiction amid the second half of the roaring twenties, a handful of bootleggers, gamblers, Mafiosi, and political fixers sank their earnings into a boisterous new venture. From kidnapping to killing, bouts with lawmen and public officials, and feuds among competing factions, It’s a Pleasure covers the events that defined the gambling ship era, the vesse...