1937-1938 Within a year of becoming the Maricopa County Attorney, John W. Corbin began work to expose the illegal gambling taking place in the Arizona region. He set his sights on busting the game operators and the public officials taking money to ignore their activities. “Gambling houses have been running on a wide-open basis, and slot…
1934 After Nevada legalized gambling in 1931, a faction opposed to the industry fought to have it eradicated. “A group of Nevada citizens felt there was a growing protest against the injury being done our state by gambling — not only because of the evil done in depriving needy citizens of their depressed earnings without…
1913 As what the Los Angeles Times called the “the first sally in the greatest campaign that has ever been waged for the elimination of gambling” (April 7, 1913), Los Angeles Chief of Police Charles E. Sebastian offered a $100 reward ($2,500 today) for information that led to the arrest and conviction of anyone operating an…
1911-1912 A San Francisco, California ordinance outlawed bucket shopping in 1911 — no longer was running or visiting such an enterprise legal — and one operator didn’t like it. Henry A. Moss, a bucket shop owner and Nevada citizen, vowed to fight the new law, as it prohibited him from running his four San Francisco branches, which…