In pre-1990s Las Vegas, casino marketing executives were all cut from the same cloth. Sharp-dressed, smooth-talking, and street-savvy, they rose through the ranks of operations—dealer, floor-man, pit boss, shift boss, and casino manager. When it was time to leave the trenches, they went "upstairs" into the executive offices, where they hosted a handful of established players according to
the unwritten rules of old-school Vegas.

Then Steve Cyr showed up.

A brash young telemarketer with a hotel-management degree from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and a "sales degree"
earned in Las Vegas' notorious boilerrooms, Cyr barged through the back door of the Las Vegas Hilton and turned the old-school system on its head. Busting established barriers and trashing traditional taboos, he introduced new marketing tactics that were
as scandalous as they were successful. In the process, he helped usher in a new style of luring the highest of high rollers:
the whales.

At the same time, Las Vegas was evolving from an outdated mob town to a world-class vacation destination, financed by the
deep pockets of Gaming Inc. Ravenous for new reserves of disposable income, today's megacasinos now hunt whales to the
ends of the Earth, landing them with super-stretch SUVs, palatial penthouse suites, Dom-and-Beluga cocktail parties, and the
most beautiful women on the planet. If their bets start at five figures a hand, Cyr and his fellow whale hunters are on their tails.

Whale Hunt in the Desert takes a definitive look at the shrouded world of ultra high rollers and the Faustian deals they forge
with the casinos via their hosts. This book examines the lifestyles and motivations of the world's biggest wagerers, lifting the
veil off the highly guarded inner workings of the most money-oriented culture known to man.