1907-1958 Wertheimer was their name. Three of these four Michigan-born brothers became full-fledged, successful gambling operators in the first half of the 1900s, their reach spanning five states: Michigan, Ohio, Florida, California and Nevada. “As gamblers, Al, Mert and Lou became almost as well-known Detroiters as the automobile pioneers. However, the only thing the Wertheimers…
1920s-1930s It’s undisputed that Mobsters ruled early gambling in Reno, Nevada’s 1920s and 1930s. Two club owners who offered games of chance in the city courageously wrote, in their memoirs roughly two decades later, about the powers that were. Here are the authors and their depictions created with words: Harold Smith, Sr., I Want…
1935-1939 The reach of Reno, Nevada’s Mobsters into gambling during their heyday allegedly extended to a small Oregon hideaway for California’s rich and famous: Currier’s Village. William “Bill/Curly” Graham and James “Jim/Cinch” McKay are said to have operated the gaming at the secluded resort with “their friends from Los Angeles,” according to Al Moe in…
1963-1964 Mobsters Marshall Caifano (aka Johnny Marshall) and Charles Delmonico were arrested in Las Vegas on a federal warrant in July 1963 for conspiracy to commit extortion and engaging in interstate transportation in the aid of racketeering. The latter charge was because the two supposedly schemed in California to commit the crime and then tried…
1940-1941 In a series of raids in December 1940, Washoe County deputy sheriffs confiscated gambling-related paraphernalia from three Reno, Nevada locations: 1) Bank Club casino 2) Washoe Publishing Company (WPC) (room 311 in the Lyons Building) 3) Western News Company (WNC) (room 15 in the Fordonia Building). The equipment taken included teletypewriters,* Teleflash** units, telephones, switch boxes,…
1957 Inside the Golden Bank Casino on a Saturday afternoon, security personnel saw Merle Naughton, 40-year-old salesman, yanking and pounding on slot machines. When they told him to leave, he did. He went across the street, where he stood and yelled profanities at them. A while later, he went back inside the Reno, Nevada club…
1962 After the Seattle World’s Fair, or the Century 21 Exposition, the bronze coins used as trade dollars during that event appeared in slot machines throughout Nevada.
1969 For a week in May, the leader of a group of U.S.-based gamblers rented the Villa Casino, which overlooked Hyde Park in West London, along with two craps tables, the latter for $2,500 (about $17,000 today) and 10 percent of the profits. They offered a gambling trip to England for $960 ($6,500 today) for…
1951-1954 In October 1951, Southern California resident, Wayne H. Teipel, responded to a “For Sale” ad in the Los Angeles Examiner for a slot machine, pinball game and phonograph route business in Las Vegas, Nevada. The income touted was $1,000 a week (about $9,600 today) and the price, $28,500 ($276,000). Ray Wherrit of San…
1931 After a brand new roulette setup was put in use at a Las Vegas, Nevada casino, it was discovered the number 28 was black on the wheel, as it should be, but red on the betting layout. Confusion ensued, particularly concerning red or black bets, when the ball stopped at 28. Was it red…