Webb’s Wacky War On Poker

California, Embassy Club (Gardena, CA), Ernest "Ernie" J. Primm, Gambling, Gambling Laws / Regulations: CA Anti-Gambling Act, Games / Races: Poker, Gardena--California, It Really Happened, Law Enforcement / Judicial System: Lawsuit, Monterey Club (Gardena, CA), Politicians / Politics: CA California Attorney General Ulysses Webb, United States1 Comment

1936-Present If it weren’t for gambler Ernest J. Primm’s nerve and fortitude, California’s nearly 90 card clubs wouldn’t exist today. With a gambling license from the city of Gardena (in Los Angeles County), he opened a poker room there in 1936 — the Embassy Club. It was the first above-ground establishment of its kind since…

Quick Fact – Shill Losses

California, Club Primadonna (Reno, NV), Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Tax Evasion, Did You Know?, Ernest "Ernie" J. Primm, Gambling, Gambling: Shills, Games / Races: Poker, Gardena--California, Quick FactsLeave a comment

1952 When Ernest J. Primm owned the Monterey Club, a poker house in Gardena, California (a Los Angeles suburb), he claimed on his state income taxes the losses of his shills, up to $500 ($4,500 today) a month, as expenses or losses — illegitimate deductions. Seven years later, it caught up with him. The state’s Franchise Tax…