1962 The City of Winnemucca in Nevada had an ordinance that prohibited women from working in a casino in which they had some ownership. Bea Hawkins, who with her husband Don, owned the Ferris Hotel and Casino,* asked the city council members to amend the ordinance on the grounds it was unconstitutional. They refused. She…
1937-1938 In each of two consecutive summers, Northern Nevadans experienced on-site, parimutuel* betting on new types of organized races locally: first, midget car in 1937 and greyhound (the dog, not the bus) in 1938. The public events were held at Lawton’s Hot Springs,** a motel-casino resort located five miles west of Reno on then-U.S. 40.…
1931 Using a gambling table as her dais, Canada-born evangelist, Mildred “Minnie” Kennedy, delivered fire and brimstone, revival-type sermons upstairs at the Boulder Club in Las Vegas from Aug. 23 to 30. A large sign on the casino advertised: “HERE Mother Evangel Kennedy.” This followed Kennedy’s second marriage to her husband, Guy Hudson (he’d been…
1941 The man who played roulette in the Palace Club nearly every day for six months was noticeable for his suave appearance. Henry Helmut, age 47, had a bit of gray hair and sported a tasteful, waxed moustache, Pince Nez glasses with ribbon and sharp, tailored attire. “He looked like a college professor out on…
1904, 1915, 1936 Against a backdrop of sagebrush and dust in Nevada’s early, remote mining towns, saloons drew men for drinking and gambling. That combination, along with contrarian/antagonistic personalities, sometimes led to disputes that turned violent. Here are three stories in which tempers, as fiery as the summers, got the better of men and ended…
2017 In Ontario, Canada, the appropriately named gambling resort — Fallsview Casino — overlooks Horseshoe Falls, one of the three gushing cascades that comprise Niagara Falls.
1916 The year brought indictments in Las Vegas against individuals for violating Nevada’s anti-gambling statute, which was unusual because law enforcement generally ignored or poorly enforced it. Operating a gambling game then constituted a felony. In 1916, most games of chance were illegal except for these that the legislature had allowed via passage of an…
1956 When auditors for Nevada reviewed its books, they discovered the El Rancho casino on the Las Vegas Strip had underpaid the requisite gambling taxes over nine quarters by $39,000 ($350,500 today). Despite the claims of owners , et. al. that they believed they’d paid the proper amount, tax commissioners assessed a 100% penalty, the…
1946-1947 On the third Tuesday of April 1946, after work at the Southern Pacific Shop in Sparks, Nevada, Sam Lemel took the bus to Reno and went to Harolds Club where he played craps. He began by betting two half-dollars, which he lost. He left the casino and returned a bit later, only to lose…
1929 Le Casino Municipal in Cannes, France broke its record in January for the highest amount of money (in chips) in play at a baccarat table — $1 million ($14.3 million today). “Though individual bets seldom ran over 200,000 francs or $8,000, almost every five minutes saw $50,000 change hands,” reported The New York Times…