1938 Esquire* Harry T. Clifton was a wealthy Englishman who owned racing stables and often visited Southern California. During his visit there in April 1938, he gambled with Lew Brice and Tommy Guinan in a Long Beach hotel. Brice was the brother of comedienne Fanny Brice, and a former stage dancer and comedian in his…
1968 For a few months, Harolds Club expanded its exhibited items beyond antique guns and Old West memorabilia. The Reno, Nevada casino displayed a collection of 150 dolls — including the 1930s Shirley Temple — in two areas, flanking the Roaring Camp Bar on the second floor and opposite the elevator on the third level.…
1957-1959 During Nevada’s 1957 legislature, State Senator Kenneth Johnson (R-Ormsby), voiced his concerns about some of the state’s gambling licensees* simultaneously co-owning Cuban casinos. He feared that: • Nevada licensees might form alliances with U.S. Mobsters in Havana, who primarily ran gambling there • Nevada licensees might use those relationships to hide Mob interests in…
1939 A Fred Martens, or “Fritz the Rooster,” sat at a table in a Las Vegas gambling house playing poker with some men. After a streak of bad luck, he seemed headed for a possible straight. Suddenly, though, he suffered a heart attack and died, right in the chair. One of his opponents yelled to the owner,…
1967 After a demonstration of the game, Nevada gambling regulators, for the first time, allowed pai gow — a Chinese version of dominos — to be offered in its casinos. The clubs with pai gow, however, were required to have a bankroll of $10,000 per game on hand should a patron win big. The New…
1958-1959 (Part I ran last week. If you missed it, it’s available here.) The Nevada Tax Commission withdrew the gambling license of the New Star operators — Brent Mackie and Kenneth Henton — in July 1958 after investigators allegedly witnessed 21 dealers cheating customers in eight different ways at the Winnemucca, Nevada casino. Later that month,…
1925 Newton “Newt” Crumley, Sr., Goldfield, Nevada resident, met with William Doyle in September to discuss purchasing from him the Commercial Hotel in Elko, but they couldn’t agree on a price. Doyle wanted $5,000 more than what Crumley wanted to pay. No deal was done. A month later, they reconnoitered and, still haggling, flipped a…
1958 Casino workers at the New Star allegedly were caught in flagrante delicto. In April, a gambling detective — Michael MacDougall from New York — conducted a statewide, in-person survey of various gambling entities upon the request of Robbins Cahill, head of the tax commission, Nevada’s gambling regulatory agency at the time. MacDougall spotted dealers…
1960s-1970s More than a half-decade after the invention of the slot machine in 1887, liquor-filled decanters in their likeness became the rage, particularly at casinos. The version (in the photo), adorned with 24-carat gold, contained Ezra Brooks, 12-year-old, 90-proof Kentucky whiskey. It was 8.5 inches tall, 4.5 inches across.
1947-1970 For some businesses, the Red Line was beneficial; for others, detrimental. The Red Line designated a rectangular region of downtown Reno, Nevada in which casinos with unlimited gambling could exist. Clubs offering gambling outside the designated area were limited to 20 slot machines and three blackjack tables. The city council officially created this district…