1946
A Reno, Nevada casino hired a man, new to the city and gambling, as a shill. (A shill is paid to play games in a gambling house to entice others around to do the same.) The floor manager gave him $20 (about $300 today) to gamble with at a specific game, which he did for a while. Then the shill disappeared.
Just when the manager thought employee and cash were gone for good, the shill showed back up.
“Here’s $800” ($11,500 today), he said. “I couldn’t win in here, so I went into the club across the street and had a little better luck!”
The two guys split the winnings 50/50.
Source: Nevada State Journal, “Nevada Story: This Couldn’t Be Elsewhere,” March 3, 1946.
